Tag: 2016

  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support the electric car industry.

    Anna Soubry

    The UK offers one of the most comprehensive packages of support for ultra low emission vehicles in the world, and has committed funding of more than £600m by 2020. This includes plug-in car and van grants, support for recharging infrastructure, a joint government-industry communications campaign, as well as substantial investment in R&D. In addition, the Government and industry are investing around £1bn over 10 years in the Advanced Propulsion Centre to develop, commercialise and enable the manufacture of advanced propulsion technologies in the UK. The UK manufacturers around one in five of the pure electric cars sold in the European Union.

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what response his Department plans to make to the reports published on 9 September by (a) the Office for National Statistics and (b) Public Health England on drug-related deaths; and if he will make a statement.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Government is concerned by the increase in the number of drug-related deaths registered since 2013, particularly among ageing heroin users.

    Effective drug treatment helps prevent drug-related deaths. The Government provides local authorities with funding to provide drug treatment through the Public Health Grant, and the Public Health Outcomes Framework includes an indicator measuring drug-related deaths. Last year the Government amended the Medicines Regulations to enable more people to have access to naloxone which reverses the effects of heroin overdoses. Many ageing drug users also have health problems that can and should be treated by the National Health Service.

    Public Health England (PHE) and the Local Government Association convened an expert group to investigate the causes of the rise in drug-related deaths and how to prevent future premature deaths. The inquiry report was published on 9 September and a copy is attached. PHE will develop a further programme of work to prevent drug-related deaths in response to the inquiry report’s recommendations.

    The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has set up a working group to investigate and better understand drug-related drugs at the United Kingdom level, and we will respond in due course to any recommendations.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether parity of esteem is applicable to terrorists who operated in Northern Ireland and resided in the Republic of Ireland.

    Lord Dunlop

    I have nothing further to add to my earlier responses on parity of esteem.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on developing proposals for implementing the Youth Obligation; and what organisations his Department are consulting to inform that process.

    Priti Patel

    The detailed policy design is still under development. We will set out our policy design for the Youth Obligation in due course.

    We will be conducting a stakeholder engagement exercise with organisations and employers shortly.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse was of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information.

    Matthew Hancock

    The total expenditure of the Commission will be published in due course.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to prevent the growing of cannabis.

    Karen Bradley

    Growing cannabis, whether for personal use or organised supply, is illegal and those who do so can face significant jail sentences.

    The investigation and prevention of illegal cannabis cultivation is an operational matter for the police. The police use proactive operations and seizures to target dealers and the organised gangs behind illegal cannabis farms and promoting cooperation with all partners including the fire service, energy companies and the property sector.

    They are also working to continually improve their knowledge and understanding of the trade through activity-led intelligence gathering.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total size was of the Government’s fleet of M3 Amphibious Rig bridging vehicles in each of the last six years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    38 M3 Amphibious Rigs have been in service with the British Army in each of the last six years. No additional rigs have been loaned from the German Army during that time. The planned out of service date for the M3 amphibious rig is 2027; early work is under way to provide a wide wet gap crossing capability in future. No decisions have yet been made about future basing sites for the M3 Amphibious Rig.

    The following table shows the number of recorded equipment failure reports (EFR) in each of the last six years.

    Calendar Year in which EFR recorded

    No of EFRs recorded in calendar year

    2010

    16

    2011

    0

    2012

    5

    2013

    1

    2014

    4

    2015

    0

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the costs of insurance for motor vehicles.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Insurance Fraud Taskforce was set up by Government in January 2015 to make recommendations to reduce insurance fraud, ultimately lowering costs for consumers. In January 2016, the Taskforce published 26 recommendations for industry, regulators and others, including 6 for Government. A Written Ministerial Statement was published on 26 May 2016 to announce that the Government accepts each of the recommendations addressed to it.

    The Chancellor also announced in his 2015 Autumn Statement that the government intends to introduce measures to end the right to cash compensation for minor whiplash injuries. This will remove over £1 billion from the cost of providing motor insurance and the government expects the insurance industry to pass on to consumers an average saving of £40 to £50 per motor insurance policy.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the equality between mothers and fathers of court judgments on child custody and access to children; and if she will make a statement.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    The law requires the welfare of the child to be the court’s paramount concern when making any decision about a child’s upbringing, including with whom the child is to live or spend time. The courts must consider the individual facts of each case when making a decision.

    Decisions in these cases are a matter for the independent judiciary.

  • Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what options were considered during the decision-making process of privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government considered a number of options for the Green Investment Bank’s (GIB) future but none were deemed to be as effective in meeting the Government’s objectives as the current proposals of moving GIB into majority private ownership.

    These alternative options were set out in our policy paper of 18 November 2015.