The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of steel used in the new Ajax armoured vehicles will be (a) sourced from the UK and (b) imported from abroad.
Mr Philip Dunne
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 February 2016 to Question 25075 to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Mr Doughty).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of refugee children seeking reunion with family in the UK who are currently in Europe.
Mr Robert Goodwill
We are unable to provide an estimate. Determining such figures is extremely difficult given the mobility of children within and between Member States, differing collection methods at different times and due to lack of registration and monitoring of children. The majority of estimates rely on partial censuses given different access rights and as such, figures can vary greatly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2016 to Question 45985 on extracurricular activities: offenders, what measures are in place to protect children when such classes are provided (a) privately and (b) on private property.
Edward Timpson
Any measures to protect children where they are attending privately run classes, including those provided on private property, rest entirely with parents. It is a matter of parental choice to allow their children to attend and to make a considered decision about the suitability of the individuals running the class.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Kennedy on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement powers for court orders relating to child custody.
Caroline Dinenage
The Government has not made any recent assessment. The family court has a wide range of enforcement powers to secure compliance with a child arrangements order.
Where a person named in a child arrangements order breaches it without good reason, the court may make an enforcement order requiring that person to carry out unpaid work. The court may also order that person to pay financial compensation for any loss suffered by another person named in the child arrangements order. These sanctions are in addition to the general powers of the court to treat the breach of a court order as a contempt of court, which is punishable by a fine or imprisonment. The court may alternatively vary the terms of the child arrangements order (reconsidering the provisions made) if it considers this necessary to make the arrangements work in the best interests of the child.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have had with the Premier League on investment in grassroots sport since 2010.
David Evennett
Details of Ministers’ and Senior Civil Servants’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk. Through our most recent discussions we are pleased to have secured a commitment from the League to at least double what they currently invest in grassroots football over the next three years. That equates to over £100million per annum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers are available to (a) parish, (b) district and (c) county councils to dispose of abandoned boats in coastal areas; and whether a disposal cost recovery scheme exists for such disposals.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Statutory Harbour Authorities (some of which are Local Authorities) have powers to deal with wrecks and unservicable and abandoned vessels within their harbour limits.
These powers are available under sections 52, 56 and 57 of the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 (exercisable by the Harbour Master) and in section 252 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The powers allow the removal of wrecks and unserviceable and abandoned vessels and recovery of the cost of doing so from the owner or through disposal of the vessel.
Where there is no statutory harbour authority or conservancy authority in place to use the powers in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, under s253 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 the General Lighthouse Authority may use the same powers set out in section 252 to deal with such vessels where, in the authority’s opinion the vessel is, or is likely to become, an obstruction or danger to navigation or to lifeboats engaged in lifeboat service.
The receiver of wreck, who only deals with wrecked vessels and is a statutory appointment under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, has powers under section 243 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 to dispose of unclaimed wrecks one year after they come into the receiver’s possession. The Act sets out the dissemination of the proceeds of sale after disposal expenses.
Statutory Harbour Authorities operate on a commercial basis without ongoing support from Government and the General Lighthouse Authority are fully funded from a tax on shipping, receiving no money from the UK exchequer. There are no plans for any other funding to be made available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what priority they give to the elimination of hepatitis C as a threat to public health.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The United Kingdom Government takes the issue of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C very seriously. Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England continue working together with key stakeholders to establish a strategic approach to tackle hepatitis C, including monitoring treatment access and uptake, as well as establishing Operation Delivery Networks (ODNs).
NHS England has invested in a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme to incentivise ODNs to meet their agreed rate of roll-out. If their treatment rates deviate from this agreed rate of treatment, they are no longer eligible for these incentives.
PHE is working together with NHS England and the National Offender Management Service to improve coverage of blood borne virus testing for people in prisons through implementation of opt-out testing.
PHE has also commissioned the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Certificate in the Detection, Diagnosis and Management of Hepatitis B and C in Primary Care to help raise awareness in primary care and among other professionals working with groups at high risk of chronic viral hepatitis infection. To supplement this, a new RCGP course was launched in April 2015, Hepatitis C: Enhancing Prevention, Testing and Care which comprises four lessons: understanding hepatitis C; preventing transmission; testing and diagnosis; and treatment and care.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by FALSE on 2016-04-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, with reference to their pamphlet entitled Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK and in the light of their statement that we will keep our own border controls”
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is not part of the Schengen border-free zone – we control our own borders which gives us the right to check everyone, including EU nationals, arriving from continental Europe.
Free movement is not an unrestricted right. Where an EEA national poses a threat, they can and will be refused entry or deported from the UK. The UK’s settlement with the EU will strengthen our ability to protect the UK public from those who pose a threat. We have refused entry to over 6500 EEA nationals at the UK border since 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the funding available to the Waste and Resources Action Programme in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.
Rory Stewart
The current 2016/17 grant agreement for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is £13m.
Future year’s allocations have yet to be finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether HS2 Ltd has used (a) InSAR surveys and (b) other survey methods to survey ground movements on the proposed route of phase 2B of HS2 between Crewe and Manchester/Leeds.
Andrew Jones
HS2 Ltd has not commissioned any satellite (InSAR) surveys nor (to date) any purchase of existing/historical data or bespoke analysis of that.
HS2 Ltd has carried out two Lidar surveys of the proposed route of phase 2B of HS2 between Crewe and Manchester, with a view to comparing the two datasets to appraise ground movements in the time between the two surveys. This is work in progress. Other available Lidar data (made available by the Environment Agency) has been used to manually appraise ground movements of specific locations in the saltfield.