UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2016

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of children living in fuel poverty.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We are investing close to £1 billion a year to help consumers through a reformed supplier obligation and Warm Home Discount, and plan to reform both schemes to focus that funding better on those that need it most.

    Our ability to do that is strengthened significantly by the introduction of an improved definition of fuel poverty which captures those in genuine need who are facing the overlapping problem of a low household income and high energy costs.

    This low income high costs indicator has meant a change in the demographic of who is considered to be fuel poor in England – with homes with at least one child now accounting for nearly half of the fuel poor population.

    We will be consulting on our proposals to reform the supplier obligation and the Warm Home Discount later this year.

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote the participation of women in the Syrian peace negotiations.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK is committed to peace talks between the Syrian parties, under UN auspices in Geneva and continues to work closely with the International Syria Support Group. The UK encouraged the UN Special Envoy for Syria and the Syrian opposition to include women in the negotiations. The UN established a Women’s Advisory Board and the opposition’s negotiating team includes women.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to improve its ability to efficiently shift its involvement from providing short-term humanitarian assistance to long-term development projects in regions experiencing protracted crises.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    We are increasing our capacity to deal with protracted and multiple crises. We have set up a new team to develop thinking on our overall approach to protracted crises, and are working across the department to share lessons and build on best practice.

    We are also working with international partners to develop solutions for protracted crises – and more appropriate medium term financing. The UK co-hosted the “Supporting Syria and the Region” conference in London on 4 February 2016 which raised over $12bn in pledges, of which $6.1 billion has been committed for 2017-20 to enable partners to plan ahead. We are approaching the UN World Humanitarian Summit 2016 with an ambitious set of objectives to secure commitment to implementing a new approach to protracted displacement.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the take-up rate is of the HPV vaccine for girls in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) the UK.

    Jane Ellison

    Data for the Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group are included within the Nottinghamshire Local Authority, which is within the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Area Team.

    The uptake rates for the first dose of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine given to Year 8 girls (12-13 year olds) from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015 are:

    Nottinghamshire local authority: 89.1%;

    South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Area Team: 90.0%; and

    United Kingdom: 89.5%.

    The latest published figures for the HPV vaccination programme cover the 2014/15 academic year, and show the uptake rate for the first dose of this two dose programme. Vaccine uptake data covering the second dose will not be available until autumn 2016.

  • Lord Palmer of Childs Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Palmer of Childs Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer of Childs Hill on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the remarks made by the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Palestinian Authority calling for legal action against the UK over the Balfour Declaration, what representations they have made to the Palestinian Authority regarding the delegitimising of the State of Israel.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Officials from our Consulate-General in Jerusalem have discussed the remarks with Palestinian officials and politicians.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has had any discussions with the Home Secretary on the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) review of the classification of products containing cannabidiol since the MHRA’s news story on that review was published on 13 October 2016.

    Nicola Blackwood

    There have been no discussions at Ministerial level but officials from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Home Office have been in contact regarding this issue.

    At present, the MHRA has offered an opinion that products containing cannabidiol used for medical purposes should be regulated as medicinal products. If manufacturers do not accept this, the MHRA can use a statutory determination process to formally classify their product(s).

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the value of the agricultural and horticultural industries to West Lancashire; and how many people were employed directly and through the supply chain in that industry in that area.

    George Eustice

    In 2014 the value of agricultural and horticultural output for the north-west of England was £1.96 billion and gross value added (contribution to economy) was £0.82 billion. In 2013, there were 12,198 commercial agricultural holdings in the north west region. The total farmed area on these holdings was approximately 909,000 hectares and the agricultural labour force was made up of almost 32,000 people, 0.94% of the workforce in the region.

    Within West Lancashire in 2013 there were 406 commercial agricultural holdings. The total farmed area on these holdings was approximately 23,000 hectares and the agricultural labour force was made up of almost 2,300 people.

    Although farmers in West Lancashire are still uncovering the full extent of the damage caused by the recent flooding, we understand some arable producers have been badly affected. Under the Farm Recovery Fund these farmers will be able to receive funding towards the cost of restoring their agricultural land to the state it was in before it was flooded. Applications for this funding should be submitted by 1 April 2016.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the rollout of universal credit on the level of rent arrears to registered social landlords.

    Priti Patel

    This information is not collected centrally.

    Statistics are published annually on the total value of local authority social housing rent arrears, broken down by Local Authority area. They were most recently published on the Government’s website for 2014-15:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-housing-data#2014-to-2015

    “

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is his policy to accept and implement the (a) 25 recommendations made to NHS England and (b) 21 recommendations made to his Department by the Mental Health Taskforce in its report published in February 2016.

    Alistair Burt

    We welcome the publication of the independent Mental Health Taskforce report and accept its recommendations for the National Health Service and the Department. We will work with other Government Departments, NHS England and other health arm’s length bodies to work to embed the recommendations into our work programmes.

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moynihan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 9 July 2015 (HL Deb, col 243), what action the City of London Police and Action Fraud have taken to enforce the ticket touting controls set out in the Consumer Rights Act 2015; and what action is being taken in cases where the law is being broken.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    The City of London Police is working closely with the Society of Ticketing Agents and Retailers and is actively part of a number of initiatives they are taking to raise standards within the ticketing industry. They are also engaging directly with organisers of major ticketing events in an attempt to stop ticketing touts obtaining tickets on a large scale and proactively search for new websites set up to sell tickets which are in high demand. The City of London Police is also actively engaged with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in their review of secondary ticketing platforms.

    All ticketing fraud reports received through Action Fraud, where viable lines of enquiry can be identified and links between cases can be seen, are disseminated by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau to the local police force for investigation.