Tag: 2016

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20298, if he will publish the letter the Department wrote to the Office of Rail and Road in connection with the application from Arriva Trains Wales for additional train paths to and from Manchester Airport.

    Claire Perry

    A copy of the letter is attached. Please note that names and details of officials below the level of Senior Civil Servant, and those of non-government officials, have been redacted.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is part of the remit of the Rural Payments Agency to check the conformity to EU marketing standards of consignments of fresh fruit and vegetables entering UK ports.

    George Eustice

    All fruit and vegetables must meet the EU marketing standards in Regulation 543/2011. These standards require that fruit and vegetables which are intended to be sold fresh to the consumer, may only be marketed if they are of sound, fair and marketable quality and if the country of origin is indicated. Horticultural Marketing Inspectors are part of the Rural Payments Agency and carry out these inspections for Her Majesty’s Government.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if the Government will contribute emergency aid to Fiji and its surrounding islands following the recent cyclone.

    Justine Greening

    The UK is assisting Fiji in response to Tropical Cyclone Winston. The UK makes core contributions to the UN Agencies, CERF, ECHO and the Red Cross, all of whom may contribute to the response. We are also contributing technical support to strengthen UNICEF’s capacity and are ready to consider further requests for humanitarian experts should it be required. DFID has also offered to provide support to the UN Disaster & Coordination team and will remain in contact with Agencies in the region.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been received from the EU to meet expenditure arising from or in connection with High Speed 2 since 2009.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport was awarded €39.2 million for HS2 under the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. This funding will be provided in stages between 2015 and 2019.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many infraction proceedings the EU has initiated against his Department in each of the last 10 years; what the reasons were for each such proceeding being undertaken; and what the outcome was of each such proceeding.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each member state can be found. This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en

    “

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the financial regulators have completed their review of the risk algorithms to be used to permit cross-margining by central counterparties to facilitate the takeover of the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Borse; whether the results of this review will be published, and whether any further steps will be taken to strengthen confidence in central clearing houses.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The timings of regulatory reviews of any proposal by a CCP to make significant changes to its margining arrangements would be a matter for the company and regulators acting in accordance with the relevant legislation. The Bank of England’s 2016 Annual Report on the supervision of financial market infrastructures, laid before Parliament on 4 March 2016, provides further information about ongoing regulatory initiatives in relation to CCPs.

  • Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current anticipated outturn costs and in-service dates for (1) Project Mensa, and (2) Project Pegasus, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

    Earl Howe

    The anticipated outturn costs cannot be provided. The current approved costs and in-service dates for Project Mensa and Project Pegasus are shown below.

    In-service dates are shown in bandings to avoid prejudice to national security and defence.

    The Main Gate business cases for Projects Mensa and Pegasus include estimates for risk and uncertainty, which are contained within the approved costs.

    Project

    In-service period

    Approved cost (£million)

    Project Mensa (warhead assembly/disassembly)

    2016-20

    734

    Project Pegasus (uranium components)

    2016-20

    634

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people using mobile phones while driving; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The government’s recent consultation on bringing in tougher sanctions received near unanimous support for tougher penalties. The Secretary of State for Transport has pledged to bring tougher sanctions in as soon as possible, we expect them to take effect in the first half of 2017.

    Anyone using a hand-held device while driving will face higher on the spot fines and more points on their driving licence than they do today.

    The government is also developing a hard-hitting THINK! campaign to tackle this issue, to make it socially unacceptable like drink driving or not wearing a seatbelt.

  • Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Byron Davies on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support the Government is providing to tackle people-smuggling in the Mediterranean.

    Mrs Theresa May

    We have established an Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce of 100 officers from the NCA, Crown Prosecution Service, and the Home Office to disrupt organised immigration crime groups upstream, including through the Mediterranean routes, and in the UK. The UK is also supporting the EU Naval Forces Operation in the Mediterranean. We are determined to disrupt organised immigration criminal activities which impact adversely on our security and have such a wanton disregard for human life.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to raise awareness of the public health and public order effects of excessive drinking.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government, through the Public Health Outcomes Framework, measures alcohol harm and the impact of local authorities’ actions on public health. Public Health England (PHE) produces local alcohol profiles which provide local authority level data to enable professionals and the public to see the harms that alcohol contributes to in their area.

    PHE has recently run a campaign, Health Matters, aimed at public health professionals and others to highlight the costs of harmful drinking and dependent use of alcohol, and the benefits that come from local areas investing in interventions to reduce those harms.

    For the last two years, PHE has worked with the charity Alcohol Concern, in promoting the ‘Dry January’ campaign. This mass participation event encourages people to ‘go dry’ for a month. In 2015, 50,000 people signed up, with 67% of participants reporting lower drinking levels six months later. PHE has continued to support Dry January in 2016.

    PHE also offer specific marketing programmes aimed toward young people to reduce the uptake of risky behaviours, including alcohol consumption.