Tag: 2016

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of staff it has hired to support the Air Cadet Organisation in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Air Cadet Organisation (ACO) is manned primarily by Cadet Force Adult Volunteer staff. The small permanently staffed Headquarters Air Cadets (HQ AC), alongside Headquarters 2 Flying Training School (HQ 2FTS) and the regional and wing formations, together have a staff of approximately 250 personnel.

    Glider maintenance and recovery is undertaken by contractors and it is their responsibility for the manning of the contracted work.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the introduction of the next BBC Royal Charter; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government will set out its plans for the future of the BBC in a White Paper in May.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2016 to Question 37198, how many of the leaflets entitled Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK have been returned to her Department; and what the postage cost to the Government has been of such returns.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    I refer the Hon Member to the Prime Minister’s response of 25th May 2016. This information is not collated centrally by the Department.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of occasions on which bailiffs have seized operational equipment from private providers of NHS services; what the details are of each such occasion; and what steps his Department takes to prevent this happening.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department does not hold this information. The National Health Service body commissioning a service from the private sector should ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to ensure access to essential operational equipment in the event of one of its suppliers getting into financial difficulties.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church of England has made an assessment of the effect of the First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund on the fabric of English cathedrals.

    Dame Caroline Spelman

    The First World War Centenary cathedral Repairs Fund has currently allocated £3.45million of the £40million total, this has as so far enabled 116 vital repair and restoration projects across 57 Anglican and Catholic cathedrals to be undertaken.

    Lincoln Cathedral has received £1.18 million for repairs to turrets and roofs, typical of the costs faced for high-level cathedral repairs involving extraordinarily complicated scaffolding. These repairs have gone a long way to complete the major repairs but with any building of this size and age constant maintenance is needed.

    The final grants are currently being processed, as the grants scheme comes to a close there will be a programme of formal evaluation to assess the wider social and economic benefits the projects have contributed, such as increased employment, training, volunteer opportunities and tourism. A copy of this evaluation will be made available to all Members early in 2018 so as to ensure it covers all works the Fund has invested in.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the analysis commissioned by Amnesty and Saferworld which concludes that the transfer of weapons capable of being used in the conflict in Yemen to Saudi Arabia constitutes a breach by the UK of its obligations under domestic and international law.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of reports on alleged violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen by the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition and take these very seriously. We have regularly raised with Saudi Arabia the need to comply with international humanitarian law in Yemen, and continue to engage with them on this. We have offered advice and training to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with international humanitarian law. The UK is satisfied that we are not in breach of our international obligations. The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control regimes in the world. All exports of arms and controlled military goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant information at the time of the application, to ensure compliance with our legal obligations. A licence will not be issued, for any country, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the UK Licensing Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 January 2016 to Question 20771, how many staff are employed in the Coalition Communications Cell; and what the annual operating budget of that unit is.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    There are currently nine full time equivalent members of staff working in the Coalition Communications Cell, including two secondees from Canada and the Netherlands.

    The operating budget is the amount the Prime Minister announced at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 which is £10 million; this covers staff costs and all project activity over two financial years. In addition, we are working with Coalition Partners to seek additional resources.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to counter people trafficking.

    Karen Bradley

    We are committed to tackling people trafficking and all forms of modern slavery. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 gives law enforcement agencies the tools they need to tackle modern slavery, ensures that perpetrators can receive suitably severe sentences up to life imprisonment, enhances support and protection for victims and places a duty on large businesses to report on what they are doing to stop modern slavery occurring in their global supply chains. We have successfully lobbied for the establishment of the first ever UN Sustainable Development Goal to end modern slavery and are working with a range of international partners to tackle slavery and its causes. We are also piloting a new approach to identifying and supporting potential victims of slavery through the National Referral Mechanism and we have appointed an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to spread best practice in the UK and overseas.

  • Anne Marie Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Anne Marie Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Marie Morris on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Department has paid in fines to the EU since 2010.

    George Eustice

    As from financial year 2010/11 Defra has accrued £336m for disallowance following the conclusion of EU audits, broken down by financial year as shown in the table below. This relates to a number of different Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Schemes over a number of historical scheme years as disallowance is paid in arrears. These are the only fines that have been imposed on Defra by the EU since 2010.

    Disallowance (*) £m

    10/11

    11/12

    12/13

    13/14

    14/15

    181

    42

    2

    30

    81

    (*) Reflects the sums the European Commission have ruled cannot be reimbursed (i.e. the amounts they have “disallowed”).

    “

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what priority issues were discussed and conclusions reached at the UK-US bilateral annual stocktake of the UK-US Mutual Defence Agreement on atomic energy matters in April 2016; who attended that stocktake from which organisations; and what the cost was of that stocktake.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The UK/US Stocktake took place in April 2016 and was hosted by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). UK attendees were from the MOD and the Atomic Weapons Establishment and US attendees from the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Defense, the US Air Force, the US Navy and Department of Energy Laboratories. No priority issues were discussed. As usual, technical and programme updates and discussions of collaborations took place. The costs were approximately £2500.