Tag: 2016

  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all areas of the UK benefit from the award of 2.3 and 3.4 GHz spectrum bands.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The 2.3 and 3.4 GHz spectrum bands are being made available across the UK as part of the Government’s programme of public sector spectrum release. Ofcom takes independent decisions on how to assign spectrum, including whether and how to auction it and the conditions of licences granted. The licence obligation on Telefonica together with the Government’s 2014 agreement with mobile network operators means that by the end of 2017 95% of premises in Scotland will have indoor 4G coverage and complete not-spots for voice and SMS text will halve.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which arts organisations have been allocated capital grants of more than £5 million in the last three years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Arts Council publishes data on the organisations that have received regular funding and capital funding on their website: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/apply-funding/apply-for-funding/capital-investment-2015-18/large-capital-grants/"

    “

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage coffee chains to recycle paper coffee cups.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Paper coffee cups are captured under the Packaging Waste Regulations. The UK meets its packaging waste recovery and recycling targets through a market-based approach. Packaging producers who put more than 50 tonnes a year of packaging materials on the market, and have an annual turnover of more than £2 million, are required to recover and recycle a proportion of their packaging waste. As a result most major coffee chains pick up a financial obligation to recycle their packaging waste, including paper coffee cups, through this mechanism.

    Defra is also working with campaigners and industry to develop a National Litter Strategy for England.

    In addition, we are aware of many major chains who are taking their own action to incentivise environmentally friendly behaviour, for example by offering a discount on drinks if customers bring their own reusable cups.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of weapons smuggled into the UK from Albania, Bosnia and Serbia.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Criminals from a wide range of countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Serbia, attempt to smuggle weapons into the UK and other EU countries illegally.

    Border Force works with partners, including law enforcement agencies from the UK and overseas, to disrupt the increasingly sophisticated attempts to smuggle prohibited goods into the UK. Border Force uses intelligence generated from a wide variety of sources and state of the art technology to seize weapons and other prohibited goods at ports of entry across the country.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff of his Department at what grades have received training on the international human rights context for freedom of religion or belief in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    Since 2010, the FCO has run an Advanced Human Rights course which has included a module on freedom of religion or belief (FORB). Approximately 160 staff from across all grades have attended this course over this period. For the vast majority of that period we have also covered FORB on our Introduction to Human Rights Course. We estimate that around 600 staff have attended this course. Training on FORB remains a core element of human rights training under the FCO’s Diplomatic Academy. In addition, we have run a course on religion and foreign policy since 2013. 188 people have completed this course since Autumn 2015.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what change there has been in passenger numbers on trains in West Yorkshire since 2010.

    Paul Maynard

    Information on the number of journeys made by rail is shown below.

    Year

    Number of journeys in West Yorkshire

    2014/15

    44,419,978

    2013/14

    42,584,787

    2012/13

    40,775,454

    2011/12

    39,676,018

    2010/11

    38,552,743

    2009/10

    34,779,614

    Source: The Office of Rail and Road

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of changes to the cap on religious selection on the opening of new Catholic state schools.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Some faith groups, including the Catholic Church, have felt unable to open new schools through the free schools route because they believe it contravenes religious rules. This has meant, for example, that in areas where there has been significant growth in the Catholic population, the Catholic Church has not set up sufficient school places to meet demand.

    We want more high quality providers to be able to set up new schools and we are consulting on how best to do that. The consultation document, ‘Schools that work for everyone’ is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone

    “

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many requests have been made to the DVLA for vehicle owner addresses in the last 12 months by private parking companies.

    Andrew Jones

    Requests to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for vehicle keeper data can be made electronically or manually by post.

    In 2015, 3,623,724 requests for vehicle keeper data from private parking companies were made electronically. A further 253,500 requests were made manually by post. The figure for manual requests includes enquiries from private parking companies and other organisations or individuals who can demonstrate reasonable cause for needing the information.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has been approached by (a) Stockport local authority, (b) Tameside local authority and (c) Greater Manchester combined authority to approve the removal of protected school land for development under Schedule 14 of the Education Act 2011 in the last three years.

    Edward Timpson

    Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:

    • 1 application from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, this is currently being considered.
    • 4 applications from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, all have been approved.
    • 19 applications from the Greater Manchester combined authority, 1 is being considered and the other 18 have been approved.

    These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.

    The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. Secretary of State consent is also required under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where local authorities wish to dispose of playing field land that has been used by a school in the last ten years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new school.

    There are a range of reasons for these disposals. Some disposals are leases from the academy trustees back to the local authority, which allow a children’s centre on site to continue or which provide land for another school. A substantial number of consents refer to local authority maintained school sites for outright disposals where the school has closed or relocated to a new build site.

  • 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 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK (a) military and (b) civilian personnel have been deployed on UN peacekeeping operations in each of the last six years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The tables below show the numbers of military and civilian personnel the UK has deployed to UN mandated peacekeeping and special political missions in the last six years, as at 26 February 2016:

    Military Personnel

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    UNFICYP (Cyprus)

    271

    273

    270

    274

    274

    274

    MINUSMA (Mali)

    1

    2

    2

    2

    UNMISS (South Sudan)

    3

    2

    4

    3

    3

    MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo)

    5

    4

    5

    5

    5

    5

    UNSOM (Somalia)

    2

    2

    UNSMIL (Libya/Tunisia)

    1

    1

    TOTAL

    276

    280

    278

    285

    287

    287

    Civilian Personnel

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    MONUSCO

    1

    1

    1

    1

    1

    UNMISS

    4

    4

    2

    UNSMIL

    1

    1

    MINUSTAH (Haiti)

    3

    3

    3

    UNMIL (Liberia)

    1

    1

    TOTAL

    1

    1

    1

    8

    10

    7

    The civilian figures represent deployments from the Stabilisation Unit; other Government Departments also deploy civilians on UN Peacekeeping missions.

    The figures do not include deployments to UN Agencies.