Tag: 2016

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports the Government has received on the operations of Daesh in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We assess that there is a risk that terrorist groups such as Daesh-Yemen, as well as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) may take advantage of the continued instability in Yemen. Countering such terrorist threats remains a priority for Her Majesty’s Government. We continue to work with regional and international partners to understand, assess and counter the terrorist threat from Yemen.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the security situation in Burkina Faso since the recent terrorist attacks in that country.

    James Duddridge

    The Government is concerned about the security situation in Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel region. We condemn the shocking attack that took place in Ouagadougou on 15-16 January, and offer our heartfelt sympathies to the families affected by this terrible act of terrorism. This is the first ever terrorist incident in Ouagadougou, though there have been incidents near the Malian border over the past year. We will continue working with our international partners to support stability and development in the Sahel region.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which company has been given the contract for billboard advertisement distribution for the new National Living Wage campaign; and by what process that company was selected.

    Nick Boles

    48 sheet billboards, 6 sheet bus stop posters, and bus interior panels are being used in the National Living Wage campaign.

    All poster sites were bought through Carat, the government’s appointed media buyers. The media owners of the poster sites are PML, Clearchannel Outdoor, Exterion Media and JCDecaux.

    The poster sites are selected based on a combination of population data, poster site availability, and analysis of data showing regions where recipients of the NLW are expected to be highest.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus develop an emergency strategy for the supply of power and water to those Areas.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Sovereign Base Areas have contingency plans in place for the supply of water and power. The strategy for power is based on emergency back-up generators which support key facilities across the Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) and the intention is to increase this capacity to other areas. The SBA Administration is also working with the Cypriot authorities develop a 20MW commercial photo-voltaic power plant in the Western SBA to be linked to the national grid. For water, the Ministry of Defence has its own dam in the Western SBA, providing three months’ water supply and in the Eastern SBA obtains sufficient water capacity from reservoirs, boreholes and desalination plants.

  • Sir Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Sir Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with which Commonwealth countries the UK has (a) defence arrangements and (b) training and co-operation agreements.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    Commonwealth countries with which the UK has formal defence arrangements are:

    Australia

    Bahamas

    Botswana

    Brunei

    Canada

    Cyprus

    Guyana

    India

    Kenya

    Malaysia

    Malta

    New Zealand

    Nigeria

    Pakistan

    Seychelles

    Singapore

    South Africa

    Tanzania

    Commonwealth countries with which the Ministry of Defence has training and cooperation agreements are:

    Australia

    Belize

    Botswana

    Brunei

    Canada

    Cyprus

    Ghana

    India

    Jamaica

    Malaysia

    Malawi

    Mozambique

    Namibia

    New Zealand

    Nigeria

    Pakistan

    Rwanda

    Sierra Leone

    Singapore

    South Africa

    Sri Lanka

    Tanzania

    Uganda

    Zambia

  • Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many midwives in the UK will complete their training in 2016.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is not possible to predict with certainty how many midwives currently studying in the United Kingdom will successfully complete their training in 2016. All students studying midwifery need to successfully complete their course and pass their exams in order to complete their training and graduate from their courses.

    Health Education England forecast that the total number of midwives due to complete their training in 2016 is 1,902.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the European Council decision of October 2014 on a Climate and Energy Policy Framework to set EU-wide energy targets for 2030, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of a vote to leave the EU on the UK (a) reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2030, (b) making the target for renewable energy at least 27 per cent and (c) meeting the indicative energy efficiency target of at least 27 per cent.

    Amber Rudd

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement given by the Prime Minister on 24 June:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/eu-referendum-outcome-pm-statement-24-june-2016.

    “

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Government’s recently-published childhood obesity action plan, how he plans to work with the public health community to ensure that approaches to reduce child obesity are evidence-based.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The policies in the plan are informed by the latest research and evidence, including from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition report Carbohydrates and Health, Public Health England’s evidence package Sugar reduction: the evidence for action, other government departments, debates in this House and various reports from key stakeholders including the Health Select Committee.

    In delivering the plan, we will continue to work with the public health community and other partners to ensure implementation is aligned to our proposals.

    Copies of Carbohydrates and Health and Sugar reduction: the evidence for action are attached and are available at:

    www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445503/SACN_Carbohydrates_and_Health.pdf

    www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470179/Sugar_reduction_The_evidence_for_action.pdf

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the (a) number and (b) proportion of junior doctors who work on average more than (i) 48, (ii) 56, (iii) 72 and (iv) 91 hours a week.

    Ben Gummer

    The Electronic Staff Record System shows that 1% (around 500) of junior doctors receive a Band 3 pay supplement – 100% addition to basic salary – which applies to working patterns that are in breach of the current contractual limits on hours or rest.

    The Working Time Regulations (WTR), which provide the same protection to junior doctors as to other workers, limit working hours to an average of 48 per week. Junior doctors, as is the case for all workers, may choose to opt-out of the WTR and work beyond the limits; however, where they do so, their contract imposes a limit of 56 hours per week.

    The vast majority – 99% – of junior doctors are working average hours within these current limits of 48 or 56 per week.

    Under the proposed new contract the limits on average weekly hours will continue to apply and there will also be limits that go further. There will be a cap on the maximum number of hours that junior doctors can work in any one week: whilst it is possible under the WTR to work 91 hours in a single week and still remain within the 48 hour weekly average, the proposed new contract will limit the maximum number of hours that can be worked in a single week to 72.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 24092, whether the transport grant his Department provides for Transport for London (TfL) is included within, or is separate from, the general grant paid to TfL and the Greater London Authority.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    They are one and the same thing. Under section 101 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, the Department for Transport provides an annual grant to the Greater London Authority, known as the GLA transport grant, for the purposes of Transport for London. In recent years the grant has had both a capital and a resource element to it, sometimes referred to informally as TfL’s “investment” and “general” grants. In 2015/16 the GLA transport grant amounted to a little over £1.5 billion in total, split between some £925 million of capital funding (TfL’s “investment grant”), and some £659 million of resource funding (TfL’s “general grant”).