Tag: 2016

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when RFA Tidespring will reach the UK and become fully operational; and what are the planned operational dates for the delivery of her three sister ships.

    Earl Howe

    The first of the Tide Class of Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) Tankers, RFA TIDESPRING, is due to arrive in the UK for Customisation and Capability Assessment Trials in 2017 before entering service.

    On current plans, we expect all four MARS Tankers to have entered service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary by the end of 2018.

  • Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage innovation in paint products to make better use of resources, and what steps they are taking to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to create new markets for paint products.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    I am pleased to highlight a project by Akzo Nobel, Newlife Paints and Seymour Consulting supported through our delivery arm – Innovate UK – to industrialise the process of recycling paint through increased automation which has proved successful and could lead to significant commercial opportunities as well as a better environmental outcome.

    Additionally, the Government’s Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund is supporting a RePaint project in Cheshire which is working across the local community to minimise the amount of paint going for disposal.

    The disposal of liquid waste, including liquid paint, to landfill is banned under the Landfill Directive (Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste). The ban is implemented in England through the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (as amended) and is enforced by the Environment Agency through the environmental permits it issues to landfill operators.

    The creation of new markets for paint products was one of the recommendations from the British Coatings Federation’s “Paintcare” initiative which was launched last year. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is taking steps to encourage consumers to recycle/reuse household paint by providing information through the Recycle Now campaign. This includes a postcode locator to pinpoint local facilities and information on how to deal with paint.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 903457, when the Spending Review settlement to her Department will be fully allocated.

    Rory Stewart

    Budgets for 2016/17 to 2020/21 have not yet been finalised. Defra’s internal business planning process is still underway, and it would not, therefore, be appropriate at this time to comment on how particular policy areas may be affected.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Women’s League of Burma’s call for the National League for Democracy to focus on bringing peace to the ethnic states.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The National League for Democracy, which is due to lead the incoming Government in Burma, made the peace process and political dialogue its primary manifesto pledge. The peace process is also a priority for the UK. We are providing £19 million over five years to the Peace Support Fund and, with a £5 million contribution, the UK is also the largest donor and currently chair of the multinational Joint Peace Fund. We stand ready to provide further assistance to the incoming government as requested.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.28 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, when she plans to amend the model articles of government of academies to require each school in a multi-academy trust to have a school level governing body; and whether she plans that those model articles will set out the role of school level governing bodies to focus on understanding and championing the needs of pupils, parents and the wider local community.

    Edward Timpson

    The model articles of association give multi-academy trust (MAT) boards the freedom to appoint a local governing body. The board is also free to decide on what, if any, governance functions they delegate to subsidiary governance structures at the level of either individual schools or clusters of schools. Whatever arrangements MATs use, they must set out and publish on their website their chosen arrangements in a clear scheme of delegation.

    The White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere outlines our intention to place a new expectation on all academies to put in place specific arrangements to engage with all parents in a meaningful way to listen to their views and feedback. To enable a move to fully skills-based governance, the White Paper also announces an end to our requirement on new and existing trusts to reserve places on the board for elected parents.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government is taking steps to reduce the number of flights between non-UK airports entering UK airspace.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is not seeking to reduce the number of overflights in UK airspace. The ability to overfly UK airspace is a freedom of the air which we have granted to other signatories of the International Air Services Transit Agreement as well as non-signatory States on a bilateral basis.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure garden cities offer affordable homes and a place to live for all age groups.

    Brandon Lewis

    It is our ambition that garden communities will provide a range of homes that meet the needs of all age groups and all types of tenures. We intend that they will provide a range of affordable homes, including Starter Homes aimed at first-time buyers aged between 23 and 40.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the governments of Syria and Jordan concerning the Syrian refugees trapped at the Syria–Jordan border; what responses they have had; and what plans they have for securing food and essential services for them.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation for the people camped in the no man’s land between Syria and Jordan. We are working closely with the Jordanian authorities and humanitarian agencies to resume relief supplies as soon as possible. Our Ambassador visited the area in March and we have regularly raised the issue with Jordan at the highest levels, including during the Secretary of State for International Development, My Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel)’s visit to Jordan in August. Understandably, the Jordanian Government’s priority is their national security. We welcome their decision to supply water and allow a delivery of food and other essential aid in August, and continue to press for a long term solution that addresses both the humanitarian situation and Jordan’s security needs.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of exit payments in the (a) private sector and (b) public sector in the last 20 years.

    Greg Hands

    The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on the potential impacts of the cap and sets out which organisations the Government intends to capture within scope of the public sector exit payment cap. The final policy is in line with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.

    The consultation ran from 31 July to 27 August 2015. Over 4000 responses were received. These representations were considered during and after the consultation to inform the Government response that was published on 16 September 2015.

    The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf

    An impact analysis was published within the exit payment cap consultation document which respondents had an opportunity to comment on. Further, the Government worked with departments and took into account consultation responses received after the official deadline to inform the impact of a public sector exit payment cap set at £95,000 in different sectors and for different categories of workers. This assessment gave due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

    The exit payment cap is intended to capture organisations classified as public sector by the Office for National Statistics with few exceptions as identified in the consultation response.

    The Government does not expect the cap to have a widespread impact on the take-up of voluntary redundancy.

    At the 2015 Spending Review the Government announced it will consult on further cross public sector action on exit payment terms. This consultation will provide a good opportunity to collect further information on the trends in the level of exit payments between the private and public sector.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of the coal burnt in UK coal-fired power stations originated in the USA in the first nine months of 2015.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC does not hold figures on the proportion of coal burnt in UK coal-fired power stations, by country of origin. However, from January to September 2015, 16,784 thousand tonnes of steam coal (mainly used by coal-fired power stations) were imported into the UK, while coal used for electricity generation was 22,512 thousand tonnes during the same period.

    The USA provided 3,231 thousand tonnes of steam coal imports, 19% of all steam coal imports, while Russia provided 7,237 thousand tonnes (43%)

    Source:

    Energy Trends tables 2.1 and 2.4, available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends

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