Tag: 2016

Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34222, on the humanitarian situation in Madaya, for what reasons approval was not given for aid convoys to access five of the eleven besieged locations.

Mr Desmond Swayne

We are relieved that, as a result of the work of the International Syria Support Group, humanitarian convoys have reached over 220,000 – 45% – of the 487,000 people living in besieged areas since February 2016. However, progress is too slow. In particular, the Syrian Regime has still not granted approval for convoys to the besieged areas of Duma, East Harasta and Darayya, all of which are in dire need and mere minutes’ drive away from UN warehouses in Damascus.

Reasons cited by the regime for not authorising access include the lack of civilians in these areas as well as their inability to guarantee security for humanitarian actors. However, reports from humanitarian actors, including the UN, demonstrate the significant presence of civilians in areas to which access has been denied. For example, on a recent mission to besieged Darayya on 16 April, the UN reported the presence of thousands of civilians including women and children. In addition, whilst we recognise the importance of security concerns, experience in other besieged areas demonstrates that these populations can be reached safely.

January 1, 2023
Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people, and of what nationalities, the UK is training as international peacekeepers; what is the form of such training; and by which UK personnel it is provided.

Earl Howe

Her Majesty’s Government makes a significant contribution to improving the effectiveness of peacekeeping forces through its training activities.

The Ministry of Defence delivers training to overseas militaries through the deployment of Short Term Training Teams (STTTs) and deployable experts, and via our overseas training establishments:

– British Peace Support Team (East Africa) (BPST(EA)), focused on delivering training to African Mission in Somalia contributing countries.

– British Peace Support Training (South Africa) (BPST(SA)), focused on training troops deployed to West Africa (Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Mali).

– British Military Advisory Training Team (Czech Republic) (BMATT Czech), providing Peace Support Operations (PSOs) training to partner nations including Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, and Romania.

– Peace Support Operations Training Centre (PSOTC) (Sarajevo), delivering training to personnel from Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) and other countries including Austria, Croatia, Turkey, Tunisia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

These establishments provide training on a range of themes including theatre specific pre-deployment training, as well as courses on gender, Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI), and Human Trafficking. The training is carried out by a wide variety of UK Armed Forces personnel, most of whom are dedicated trainers in their fields. They also draw on the expertise of other specialists within the Forces.

In the last 12 months, BPST(EA) and deployed UK-based Short Term Training Teams have trained more than 7,000 soldiers and police from nine countries through 68 different training tasks. Training is adapted depending on the needs of the country. BPSTs adjust courses to include high-end technological intelligence training, logistics, counter-IED, and leadership and operational planning.

In the same period, BPST(SA) has trained 1,700 Malawian military personnel in preparation for their deployment to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). In the coming year, 600-800 Zambian troops are due to be trained by BPST(SA) before their deployment to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

BMATT Czech has provided training in Peace Support Operations to 424 personnel from partner countries, a number of whom are now capable of delivering Peace Support Operation training in-country themselves.

PSOTC, now under command of BiH forces, supported by UK trainers, has trained 46 military personnel from a number of countries in preventing sexual violence in conflict.

January 1, 2023
Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the area of new woodland planting was in 2015-16; and what assessment she has made of progress towards meeting her Department’s target for such planting.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Forestry is a devolved matter and the answer refers to England only.

Figures published by the Forestry Commission show that between April 2015-June 2016, 1,292,000 trees were planted on 968 hectares, supported by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

In addition, the Forestry Commission estimates that a further 165 hectares of woodland was created without RDPE support during 2015-16.

The Government remains committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament.

January 1, 2023
Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who has responsibility for delivering the Northern Powerhouse.

Andrew Percy

The Northern Powerhouse is a partnership between local civic and business leaders and the whole of government; all departments, therefore, have a responsibility to support its delivery. The Prime Minister appointed me as Minister for the Northern Powerhouse to help ensure the whole machinery of government gets behind the Northern Powerhouse as part of our efforts to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.

January 1, 2023
Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the security of data transmission between the F35B Lightning II fighter and remote monitoring and control stations.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Autonomous Logistics Information System is part of the ground based information system and is not fitted on board the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft. Both the Autonomous Logistics Information System and the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft have been subject to a comprehensive independent programme of penetration testing.

Risk assessments of the Autonomous Logistics Information System and its interfaces with the F-35B Lightning II fighter are conducted continuously throughout the test programme. All classified data transmissions to and from the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft are fully encrypted.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions have been made under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 in each month since May 2013.

Andrew Selous

The number of offenders found guilty at all courts for offences under Section 127 of the Communication Act 2003, in England and Wales, in each month since May 2013 to December 2014 (the latest available) can be viewed in the attached table.

January 1, 2023
Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of her Department’s policy of providing information on failed asylum claims to the government of their country of origin on the safety of those claimants on their return to that country.

James Brokenshire

We carefully consider all asylum claims on their individual merits and provide protection for those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This includes an assessment about whether a person who has spoken out against their government is likely to be at risk of persecution or serious harm on return.

We do not provide any information relating to an asylum claim to the government of a claimant’s country of origin. No one who is at risk of serious harm in their country is expected to return there, but we do expect those who do not need our protection to return home voluntarily.

January 1, 2023
David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to increase the level of voter registration in schools, colleges and universities.

John Penrose

The Government has made it easier and quicker to register to vote than ever before through online registration. Since June 2014, 3.6 million people aged 16-24 have applied to register to vote, with 2.7 million of these applications made online. The Government has also worked with various youth organisations such as NUS and Sixth Form Colleges Association, to encourage voter registration among students.

January 1, 2023
Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34465, if his Department will take steps to allow web-users to include honours when completing Government online forms.

Mr Robert Goodwill

My Department provides a wide variety of online forms across multiple systems. Most of these are designed to enable web users to use perform a transaction, such as to book a driving theory test. Therefore we only ask our users the minimum information required to process their requests to enable them to complete these transactions as quickly as possible.

I am mindful that there could be an additional cost to the taxpayer in making changes to online systems to capture and store additional data.

January 1, 2023

Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the annual cost of providing assessment and testing materials in primary schools in England in each of the last five years.

Lord Nash

The comprehensive net expenditure of the Standards and Testing Agency in each of the last five years was as follows:

Year ending	Cost
Year ending March 2015	£46.2m
Year ending March 2014	£45.9m
Year ending March 2013	£38.7m
Year ending March 2012	£28.8m
Year ending March 2011	£40.3m

January 1, 2023