Tag: 2016

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to promote collaboration between farmers by setting up producer organisations in the dairy sector.

    George Eustice

    Collaboration is a powerful way for groups of farmers to share knowledge and expertise, market information and good farming practice, exercise joint purchasing power and strengthen their negotiating position within the supply chain.

    We have put in place the legal framework that allows dairy producer organisations (DPOs) to form and provided some initial funding through the launch of the £5m Dairy Fund in 2013. The first domestic DPO, Dairy Crest Direct, was formally recognised by the Rural Payments Agency in May 2015, bringing together 1,050 dairy farmers across England and Wales.

    In 2015, AHDB Llaeth/Dairy commissioned Promar International to carry out a study into ‘The Feasibility of a Dairy Producer Organisation in Wales’ on behalf of a group of Welsh dairy farmers. A report is available at: http://dairy.ahdb.org.uk/resources-library/market-information/adhoc-reports/the-feasibility-of-a-dairy-producer-organisation-in-wales-report/

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  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of the UK’s energy was generated from renewable sources in the last 12 months.

    Amber Rudd

    In 2014, the latest full year for which data is available, 7 per cent of the UK’s energy came from renewable sources, and 19 per cent of the UK’s electricity. This is a 15 per cent increase from the level of electricity generated from renewable sources in 2010.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) migrants and (b) people seeking asylum who have attempted to travel to Europe via Egypt in each of the last two years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We do not hold figures for the number of migrants and asylum seekers who have attempted to travel to Europe via Egypt. According to the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex), in 2014 there were 170,760 detections of illegal border-crossings on the Central Mediterranean route (not only from Egypt). In 2015, the number of detections was 153,946.

  • Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to increase the effectiveness of the UK Border Force as a law enforcement organisation since it was established as an independent operational command within her Department in 2012.

    James Brokenshire

    Since it was established as an operational command of the Home Office in 2012, a number of positive changes have been made to Border Force’s working practices in order to make it a more effective law enforcement organisation. In 2012, Border Force was, for the first time, provided with an operating mandate which set out parameters for operational decision-making, including the need to maintain 100% checks on all passengers arriving at passport control at all times. Border Force has also become more intelligence-led – adept at utilising increasing volumes of advance data to make targeted interventions against potentially dangerous passengers and consignments of goods upon arrival in the UK.

    Other important changes include: an improvement in command and control arrangements so that Border Force can rapidly respond and adjust to evolving security threats across different locations; employing new leadership in headquarters and ports across the country to install a more security-focussed culture in the organisation and plan effective operations with partner organisations at both a national and international level. Border Force has also increased the capability of its officers to respond to security threats, by equipping all permanently employed staff working at passport control with powers and training to detain individuals that pose a threat to the public who are subject to an arrest warrant or otherwise liable to arrest.

    These reforms have had a transformative effect on Border Force. As well as undertaking its traditional immigration and customs roles more effectively and efficiently, it has also proved capable of meeting a range of new strategic priorities, including rapidly implementing a screening regime in response to the global ebola outbreak and being a international leader in its work to identify victims of trafficking and slavery. Furthermore, in the past year Border Force has seized nearly 8 tonnes of Class A Drugs, more than two and half times as much as in 2009/10.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Attorney General, what progress he has made on increasing the number of prosecutions for disability hate crime.

    Robert Buckland

    In 2015/16, the CPS completed 941 prosecutions for disability hate crime, an increase of 41.3% on the previous year when it completed 666 prosecutions.

    The number of convictions rose from 503 in 2014/15 to 707 in 2015/16, an increase of 40.6%.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the educational resources available to (1) teachers, and (2) parents, to encourage healthier living among children and young people.

    Lord Nash

    This Government wants all children to lead healthy and active lives and schools have a key role to play in teaching children about healthy lifestyles. Schools have the flexibility to choose which educational resources they use to support their teaching and there are opportunities across the curriculum for pupils to be taught the knowledge and skills they need to support heathy living.

    The national curriculum is compulsory in state maintained schools and sets the expectation that across a variety of subjects, pupils are taught about the importance of leading a healthy active lifestyle. Physical education (PE) is compulsory at all four key stages in the national curriculum and should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way that supports their health and fitness. Across science and design and technology, pupils are taught about the importance of healthy eating and nutrition.

    Change4Life is the Government’s flagship social marketing programme aimed at inspiring everyone to eat well, move more and live longer. In 2015 more than 385,000 families signed up to the “10 Minute Shake up” campaign, which are designed as fun activities for children to squeeze short 10-minute bursts of activity into their day. In January 2016, Change4Life launched the Food Detective campaign. Developed by educational experts, these curriculum-linked resources encouraged pupils to become Food Detectives and to learn more about sugar and 5 a day to support a healthy and balanced diet.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps are being taken to ensure the maximum number of people meet the 31 January 2016 deadline for providing their tax returns.

    Mr David Gauke

    The vast majority of Self Assessment customers complete their returns on time (92% last year).

    This year, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is sending millions of targeted emails and texts to remind customers to submit their return by 31 January, for instance to customers who missed the deadline last year or those who are new to Self Assessment. Alongside this, HMRC is running a national marketing campaign to remind customers of the 31 January deadline. Support is available to those who need it as HMRC is putting hundreds of extra people on its helplines during this very busy period, and has introduced new support channels like webchat and online video guidance.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether meetings of Rail North will be held in public.

    Andrew Jones

    Whether Rail North holds its meetings in public is a matter for that organisation.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Indonesian counterpart on freedom of access by journalists to West Papua.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We welcome the Indonesian government’s commitment to improving the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. President Joko Widodo has visited 3 times since his election, most recently spending New Year in Papua. During his visit in May 2015, he granted clemency to a number of prisoners and announced the lifting of travel restrictions for foreign journalists and international organizations. Since then, a number of foreign journalists have successfully visited and reported from Papua and West Papua. Our Ambassador in Jakarta last visited Papua in January. As well as raising these issues, he also discussed ways to ensure the sustainable and equitable development of the provinces with members of the police, and religious and community leaders.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Nick Gibb

    Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires. The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

    The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.