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Tag: 2016

  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what regulations govern the manufacture, import and sale of laser pens in the UK.

    Anna Soubry

    All products intended for use by consumers are regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) 2005 which implements the EU’s General Product Safety Directive (GPSD). This requires such products to be safe when placed on the market and applies to products where there is no other applicable legislation with more specific provisions on safety. This includes laser pens.

    In addition to the legislation, lasers sold in the UK and EU are covered by the safety standard BS EN 60825-1: 1994 Safety of Laser Products. This specifies those lasers which should be used by trained operators and therefore not suitable for use by the general public. Laser products up to 1 mW are considered safe for general consumer use.

    Trading Standards has the powers under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 to remove laser products from sale to the public, which are unsafe for general consumer use. If anyone is concerned about the safety of a product they should not use it and report it to their local Trading Standards department.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his French counterpart on the Treaty of Le Touquet; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Le Touquet Treaty is crucial to maintaining the UK’s border security. We meet regularly with our French Counterparts to discuss border security issues and look forward to further cementing our close cooperation at the upcoming UK-France summit on 3 March.

  • Baroness Jowell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Jowell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jowell on 2016-03-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what special steps have been taken to give better effect to Dublin III’s family reunion provisions in Italy and Greece, and what further steps they plan to take.

    Lord Bates

    As announced on 28 January the Government will provide further resources to the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), to help in border “hotspots” in Greece and Italy to identify and register children at risk on first arrival in the EU. We will continue to meet our obligations under the Dublin Regulation and have UK experts currently deployed in the Greek and Italian Dublin units to assist with the process and transfer of anyone eligible under family unity provisions contained in the Regulation. We continue to liaise closely with EASO to identify and provide resource where it is needed.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of her Department resigned in each of the last six years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    1144 employees have left DFID. Resignations for each of the last 6 years have been set out in the table below:

    FY 2010/11 FY 2011/12 FY 2012/13 FY 2013/14 FY 2014/15 FY 2015/16
    Resignation 66 56 64 65 65 73
  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which of his Department’s contracts in the last five years used the largest proportion of British steel.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The largest defence equipment procurement project during this period has been the construction of the two Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers. Updated figures show that the vast majority of structural steel used, some 95,000 tonnes, was manufactured in the UK.

    In the main, defence requirements for steel are sourced by our prime contractors taking into account cost, time and quality. UK suppliers have made a significant and valuable contribution to the supply of steel for our major defence programmes. New Government guidelines, which have been implemented in the Ministry of Defence, will also help them compete for future defence projects.

  • Karen Lumley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Karen Lumley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department maintains central records on the number of council tenants who are evicted from their tenancies and the reason for those evictions.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department collects and publishes statistics on local authority tenant evictions and reasons for eviction. The information is published in the annual Local Authority Housing Statistics tables on rents, lettings and tenancies, which are available at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-housing-data

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2016 to Question 40016, on unmanned air vehicles, if he will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum of understanding between his Department, the Home Office, the Civil Aviation Authority and the police.

    Mr John Hayes

    A copy of the memorandum of understanding will be placed in the House library.

  • 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 2016-01-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to provide assistance to people who have purchased homes under the Help to Buy scheme in the event that interest rates subsequently rise.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government does not have any plans to provide additional assistance to those who have purchased a home under the Help to Buy scheme, in the event of a rise in interest rates.

    Since April 2014, lenders have had to conduct an affordability assessment which includes a robust income and expenditure analysis. In addition, lenders must consider the impact of future interest rate increases on affordability.

    This ensures that mortgages are only advanced where there is a reasonable expectation that the customer can repay.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the cost to the public purse has been of the refurbishment of Crown Post Offices in Lancaster since January 2010.

    George Freeman

    Post Office Limited runs and manages its directly managed Crown post offices. Arrangements for employees of these offices and changes to the Crown network are the operational responsibility of the Post Office.

    I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to you on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the new Cabinet Office guidelines that no government grants may be used to lobby for new regulation or more government funding would preclude academics at publicly funded universities, or charities in receipt of grants for specific work, from giving evidence to parliamentary select committees drawing on such publicly funded research.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The new clause will not prevent recipients from performing activities that are part of the intended purpose of the grant. It makes sure that taxpayers’ money is not diverted from their intended purpose and wasted on political campaigning and political lobbying.
    As indicated at the House of Lords Science Technology Committee, BIS and Cabinet Office are looking into how this new clause will apply to academic research.