The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many properties in (a) England and Wales, (b) London and (c) each London Borough are registered with the Land Registry (i) in total and (ii) to off-shore companies.
Anna Soubry
The relevant data is attached.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his most recent assessment is of the number and location of sites which will be affected by construction of phase one of High Speed 2 which are known habitats of species subject to the strict protection requirements in Annex IV of the EU Habitats Directive.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Phase one of High Speed 2 does not adversely affect any sites designated as a Special Protection Area or a Special Area of Conservation.
HS2 Ltd have carried out habitats regulations screening assessments to determine if the railway might indirectly affect certain species associated with the Southwest London Waterbodies SPA/Ramsar site in the Colne Valley, and to consider potential effects of traffic pollution in the Chilterns Beechwood Special Area of Conservation. No significant effect was determined in either case.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of people who died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome in each of the last three years.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will take steps to ensure that the proposals to more closely align the approval process for the new cancer drugs fund with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence do not limit access to potential life-saving treatments such as Avastin for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
George Freeman
Since October 2010, the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) has helped over 84,000 people in England in accessing life-extending cancer drugs that would not otherwise have been available to them.
NHS England is responsible for the operational management of the Fund and has consulted, jointly with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, on new arrangements for the CDF which will go live on 1 July 2016.
NHS England has advised that, under these new arrangements, it envisages that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning. This will be as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and better evidence being available through the Fund as to longer term patient outcomes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Richards of Herstmonceux on 2016-07-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to terminate the contract with CarillionAmey for service family accommodation, and if so, what plans they have for the service to be provided in-house.
Earl Howe
In response to the ‘Get Well Plan’ agreed with the Secretary of State for Defence in February, CarillionAmey’s performance has improved. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is now seeking assurances that the performance improvements made are sustainable over the life of the contracts for which CarillionAmey is responsible. The MOD will continue to prepare contingency plans, for potential termination, in the event that sustained improvements are not made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) Chad, (b) Cameroon, (c) Niger and (d) Nigeria on the humanitarian situation in the Lake Chad basin.
James Wharton
We are deeply concerned about the scale of the humanitarian crisis across the Lake Chad Basin. This will require a sustained, multi-year response to support communities devastated by the conflict. The UK is scaling up our support.
In addition to the £90 million of humanitarian assistance we are already delivering in the region, the UK has now pledged a further £80 million of humanitarian funding. £50 million will go towards meeting the needs of the worst affected communities in Nigeria with food assistance and access to essential household items and services, and £30 million to support those who have been affected by the spread of Boko Haram into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
HMG is using a range of opportunities to push our partners and governments across the region on scaling up and improving the quality of the response. This includes calling for a Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation which took place in July 2016; a joint demarche to the UN with the French and USA on the need to improve humanitarian capacity and performance in mid-August; chairing a Lake Chad Basin meeting in the margins of UN General assembly in September 2016, and ongoing high level bilateral meetings with UN officials.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to help the combatants in Yemen to agree a ceasefire and to remove the external blockade, in particular of supplies.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK welcomes the positive progress made at UN-facilitated talks held between 15 and 20 December 2015 and the ceasefire that commenced on 15 December including the intention to extend this until 28 December. We fully support the UN’s efforts to return to an inclusive political process and strongly encourage all parties to the conflict to respect the ceasefire, which will allow urgent medical and humanitarian aid to reach those in need. The engagement of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), our Ambassadors, and the UK Special Envoy to Yemen Sir Alan Duncan, with key Yemeni actors has supported this process. We are also providing financial support to the UN Special Envoy’s Office. As Yemenis are highly reliant on food and fuel imports for their basic needs (food, health, water, electricity), one of our top priorities is to help commercial shipping return to pre-conflict levels. We welcomed the Government of Yemen’s commitment in October to allow commercial ships access to Yemen. The number of ships has increased in recent weeks: over 50 ships have berthed in both October and November. However, commercial imports are still far below pre-crisis levels. We will continue to monitor this closely and are funding the new UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism along with the US, EU and Netherlands to speed up clearance processes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to operate from the UK Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft belonging to (1) the US Navy, or (2) other allied nations, with British crews prior to the first UK P-8s entering service.
Earl Howe
Although a number of options are under consideration to deliver early capability, there are no current plans to operate US Navy P-8A, or those of other Allied nations, from the UK with British crews.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of people applying for a Blue Badge affected by (a) Alzheimer’s disease, (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis and (c) autism were successful in the latest period in which figures are available.
Andrew Jones
Local authorities administer the Blue Badge scheme and the Department does not hold this information. People with any disability may qualify for a badge if they have very considerable difficulty walking.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department’s practice for staff not to action correspondence until six weeks after receipt; and if he will take steps to ensure that priority is given to correspondence remaining not actioned after four weeks.
Justin Tomlinson
Ministers aim to reply to correspondence from hon. Members within twenty working days. This also applies where officials are replying to correspondence to Ministers from members of the public.