Tag: 2016

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had on devolving responsibility for rail services to the Midlands.

    Claire Perry

    West Midlands Rail made a submission to the Secretary of State in October 2014 to devolve rail services in the West Midlands region. The Secretary of State confirmed his support in a letter to West Midlands Rail in March 2015 for rail devolution in the West Midlands and set out the expectation that West Midlands Rail will work with the Department for Transport in developing the specification for the re-letting of the next franchise. A public consultation was launched jointly with West Midlands Rail in December 2015 to inform the specification of the next West Midlands franchise. The new West Midlands Franchise is expected to commence in October 2017.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the completion date, and (2) the impact on electricity sale prices, of (a) the Swansea Lagoon project, and (b) the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    EDF have said that they expect Hinkley Point C to start generating electricity in 2025. Hinkley Point C is a good deal for everyone including consumers – Hinkley would provide reliable energy at an affordable cost, powering nearly six million homes for around 60 years and creating more than 25,000 jobs.

    The negotiations regarding a Contract for Difference for the proposed Swansea Bay lagoon remain ongoing.

    On 10 February, the Government announced an independent review to consider alternatives approaches to financing tidal lagoons, providing an evidence base to ensuring decisions are taken in the best interest of bill-payers.

  • Ann Coffey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Ann Coffey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many offences with code (a) 17B, (b) 19D, (c) 19E, (d) 19H, (e) 20B, (f) 2, (g) 22B, (h) 74 and (i) 88A under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 were recorded by police each year since 2008.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has provided for her officials on the identification, screening and processing of people potentially entitled to make an application for family reunion under the Dublin III Regulation.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK is working with other EU Member States to ensure that the process for applications for family reunion under the Dublin III Regulation is running effectively and efficiently. We have seconded experts to certain other EU countries to assist with this. They are working in accordance with guidance and processes issued by the European Asylum Support Office and the relevant governmental authority.

  • Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Oral Answer of 4 July 2016 to Question 905617, on Mindfulness in Schools, when she plans to publish the results of the national survey.

    Edward Timpson

    The survey will provide the first nationally representative assessment of activities carried out by schools and colleges to support their pupils’ and students’ mental health and development of character traits.

    The fieldwork for the survey has now begun and the Department expects to publish the results early in 2017.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on conservation in the country of origin of the importation of lion trophies into the UK.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    We have not carried out an assessment of the effect of lion imports into the UK on wider conservation in the country of origin. However as part of the application process for an import permit, we assess the impact of lion imports into the UK on the conservation of the species. The UK’s scientific advisors for fauna, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, consider for each lion imported into the UK whether the import would be harmful to the conservation of the species or the extent of its range. An import permit is only issued if the trade is not considered to be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding her Department plans to allocate to support the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project.

    Nick Gibb

    Every young person should be taught about the Holocaust and the lessons it teaches us today. In recognition of its significance, the Holocaust is compulsory within the national curriculum.

    For the past ten years the Department for Education has funded the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project which has taken more than 28,000 students to visit the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp.

    The Department will continue to promote, support and fund the teaching of the Holocaust.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was paid in (a) child tax credits and (b) child benefit for children within the European Economic Area outside the UK in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the effect on the level of such payments of proposed reforms to the payment of those benefits to such children under the terms of the renegotiation proposed by the European Council.

    Damian Hinds

    The information is not available in the form requested.

    The Government’s new settlement means that EU nationals whose children live abroad will ultimately receive Child Benefit at a rate that reflects the conditions – including the standard of living and child benefit paid – of the country where their child lives. This will restore fairness to the system. Meanwhile, Child Tax Credit is being phased out, and we do not have to pay the new Universal Credit for children living in other countries. That means as Universal Credit is fully rolled out, the only benefit we will pay for children living in other Member States will be the indexed rate of Child Benefit.

  • Baroness Pinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Pinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Pinnock on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to Main Finding 4 of the 2014 Annual Report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator relating to the admission arrangements of schools that are their own admission authority.

    Lord Nash

    The Department is giving careful consideration to the findings in the Chief Schools Adjudicator’s annual reports published in December 2014 and November 2015 as part of our current review of the School Admissions Code. We will be conducting a full public consultation in due course.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the statistical trends set out in the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 20933, what plans he has to tackle drug use in prison.

    Andrew Selous

    We take a zero tolerance approach to drugs in prison in England and Wales. We recently introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including new psychoactive substances, face up to two years in prison. Those who involve themselves in the distribution of drugs in our prisons should know that they could face prosecution and extra time behind bars.

    We have a comprehensive range of security measures and searching techniques in place to detect drugs, and to prevent smuggling into prisons. We are also piloting the use of body scanners to reveal drugs concealed within the body. If successful, we will use these to complement existing tactics to prevent the smuggling of illicit drugs.

    In addition, there is a wide-ranging programme of work being undertaken by NOMS and its partners to tackle the use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), which we know are having a particularly destructive effect in prisons. This includes legislation to control the supply, possession and conveyance of any NPS into a prison. We have also trained more than 300 dogs to specifically detect NPS as well as piloting mandatory drug testing of prisoners for psychoactive substances in 34 prisons. We are evaluating the effect of the test and will continue to monitor prisoner drug use so that we can continue to support meaningful interventions and provide an effective testing regime.

    We are also working with the Department of Health and others to improve our understanding of the risks NPS present for offenders and to provide appropriate information, guidance and support to offenders and those working with them in prison.