Tag: 2016

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the importance of play as a key element of policy on parenting and life chances, and what consequential action they are taking.

    Lord Nash

    The Department for Education recognises that play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning.

    Play is integral in the early years and is covered in the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework which states: “Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others.”

    The Government’s forthcoming Life Chances Strategy will set out a comprehensive plan to fight disadvantage and extend opportunity. Within this, we are considering how we can support early years and parenting to give children the best start in life.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the National Grid’s (a) Supplementary Balancing Reserve and (b) other Black Start ancillary support contracts to coal plants on the capacity market auction price.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC does not have access to all the commercially confidential details of National Grid procurements such as ancillary support and Supplementary Balancing Reserve (SBR) contracts.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the yearly contributions by her Department to WaterAid in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    WaterAid received over £24million of DFID funding from April 2013 to March 2016. We have so far committed £4.7million in funding for April 2016 to March 2018.

    DFID funding has contributed to WaterAid directly reaching more than 2 million people with safe water and over 3 million people with sanitation in the last year alone. In addition, our Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) funding, effective from 2011 until the end of 2016, enabled WaterAid to improve their overall organisational effectiveness by supporting them to develop stronger Monitoring and Evaluation systems; improve their Value for Money framework and supported growth and innovation throughout the organisation.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to support track upgrades on the West Anglia Main Line to enable that region fully to benefit from the recently announced plans for new rolling stock.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Department for Transport is working closely with Network Rail and the recently confirmed operator of the next East Anglia franchise, to fully understand any infrastructure enhancements required to release the full benefits of the new rolling stock. Once an agreed position has been established, we will work with all parties to consider how best to implement such enhancements.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether trade union groups based abroad will be eligible to bid for funding from the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy.

    Mr David Lidington

    Any individual or organisation can apply to the fund. All parties that submit bids are subject to due diligence checks to ensure they have the capacity/ability to deliver their proposed project in line with the funds objecitves. This applies to all Foreign and Commonwealth Office programme funds. Bids will be rigorously assessed against the criteria set out in our programme guidance and strategy, available online.

  • 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 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK civilian personnel are currently deployed on military operations; and in what capacity such personnel are deployed.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There are 84 UK civilian personnel currently deployed on behalf of the Ministry of Defence on military operations. 26 of those are deployed as UK civil servants undertaking a range of essential roles including policy, legal and scientific advice, financial and commercial services, and delivery of the Government’s ex gratia redundancy and intimidation schemes for locally employed civilians. 58 of those 84 are deployed as contractors, undertaking a range of support roles.

    In both cases, the roles are undertaken principally in Kabul and locations across the Gulf.

  • Mark Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mark Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what value of dairy produce was imported from each country of origin in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    The HMRC data has been provided on a ‘country of despatch’ basis, rather than the requested ‘country of origin’ basis, as ‘country of despatch’ trade data is considered a more accurate representation of actual levels of trade.

    The table below shows the value of dairy produce imported into the UK, for the last five years, according to HMRC trade statistics:

    £/million

    Country

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    *2015

    Irish Republic

    689.1

    662.6

    767.3

    702.6

    594.1

    France

    484.2

    510.0

    559.5

    568.4

    392.0

    Germany

    286.3

    283.5

    336.5

    345.1

    241.4

    Netherlands

    169.2

    237.2

    277.2

    252.1

    187.3

    Belgium

    216.3

    209.5

    239.4

    196.0

    142.0

    Italy

    174.1

    162.4

    168.5

    174.5

    111.9

    Denmark

    214.1

    195.1

    153.1

    160.0

    70.7

    Greece

    44.8

    44.9

    53.7

    60.7

    70.2

    Poland

    28.4

    31.9

    42.0

    43.4

    41.2

    Spain

    31.8

    36.8

    44.3

    39.6

    31.9

    Cyprus

    16.3

    17.2

    20.4

    26.6

    22.2

    Others

    96.8

    95.9

    102.6

    134.7

    91.9

    Grand Total

    2,451.4

    2,487.0

    2,764.4

    2,703.6

    1,996.9

    Source: HM Revenue and Customs. Data prepared by the Food & Trade Statistics team, Great British Food Unit, Defra.

    *2015 data are subject to amendments. Totals may not add up to the sum of their components due to rounding.
  • Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of speculation around the EU referendum on UK gilt auctions.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The average amount bid by wholesale Gilt-edged Market Makers (GEMMs) at gilt auctions between 14 May 2015 and 7 April 2016 was £202.17 million per GEMM per auction.

    As the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have said, the civil service is working to support the Government’s position that Britain is stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. Gilt auctions are expected to proceed as normal in the build up to the EU referendum, in line with UK Debt Management Office (DMO) plans published on 31 March 2016.

    As customary, the DMO will publish precise details of gilt auctions for July-September 2016 one month before the start of the quarter on 31 May 2016.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 27 April 2016 to Question 34978, what resources his Department plans to allocate to local authorities in Northamptonshire to develop their capacity to deal with flash floods in the next three years.

    James Wharton

    The Government provides funding to lead local flood authorities to carry out their duties in relation to managing and co-ordinating local flood risk under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. Local flood risk includes surface water run off. Previously this was paid through a special grant by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. In 2016-17 this funding transferred into the Local Government Finance Settlement, which distributes Revenue Support Grant to local authorities.

    Revenue Support Grant is an unringfenced grant. We have however protected the visibility of a number of named elements of funding within the Local Government Finance Settlement, including funding for lead local flood authorities, in order to signal the priority we attach to these issues and encourage local prioritisation.

    This funding will be supplemented by a new section 31 grant to ensure that these elements of funding for lead local flood authorities are protected in real terms in each year of the Parliament. Ultimately it is up to each local authority to set its budget taking into account local priorities.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support disabled passengers and passengers of reduced mobility on the Tees Valley Line for the duration of operation of Pacer trains.

    Andrew Jones

    The Northern franchise was recently awarded to Arriva Rail North, who took over operations in April 2016. Arriva Rail North sets out its policy for providing assistance to disabled passengers and passengers of reduced mobility in its Disabled People’s Protection Policy (DPPP). Publishing commitments to on-board assistance in a DPPP is a passenger train operating licence requirement and is approved by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). Arriva Rail North is also required to participate in the national Passenger Assist scheme for pre-booking assistance.

    ‘Pacer’ trains operated by Arriva Rail North on the Tees Valley Line will be replaced ahead of the 2020 accessibility compliance deadline. From that date, all trains operated by Arriva Rail North will have to be compliant with the accessibility standards mandated by the Persons of Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability (PRM-TSI). While Pacers do not meet the standards set out in the PRM-TSI, they do offer wheelchair spaces, audio announcements and manual boarding ramps to assist disabled passengers and persons of reduced mobility when travelling.