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Tag: 2016

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the outcome of the EU referendum on levels of overseas investment in the UK energy sector.

    Jesse Norman

    Since the EU referendum, the Government has been engaging with our key energy stakeholders, including overseas investors in the UK energy sector, to make it clear that we are open for business.

    The UK remains an attractive environment for investors in energy.

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what role Industrial Partnerships will play in delivering the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

    Jesse Norman

    A successful industrial strategy can only be developed by engaging with people, businesses and organisations across the country. As the Government’s Industrial Strategy develops, the Ministerial team in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will continue to travel to all parts of the UK and engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including Industrial Partnerships.

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes in the level of services provided by housing associations to tenants since 2013.

    Brandon Lewis

    As independent providers of social housing, it is for housing associations to decide on the level of services they wish to provide to their tenants.

    Housing associations are regulated by the Social Housing Regulator against its standards framework; where there are issues of non-compliance with the regulatory standards the Regulator has powers to intervene.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will maintain the level of funding of the Charity Research Support Fund in real terms over the next five years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government has protected the science budget in real terms to the end of the Parliament. Our intention is to formally allocate budgets to individual funding bodies in the coming weeks. The Government recognises the significant contribution made by charitable funders of research, which the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), has reflected through the charity support element of Quality Related research funding. Decisions by HEFCE on any funding beyond 2015-16 will be taken once they have received their annual Grant Letter which, sets out their funding allocations.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what additional training provision and schemes his Department plans to put in place to support job losses arising as a consequence of the national living wage.

    Nick Boles

    The 2015 spending review made provision for a major expansion of adult further education, to increase employment and productivity levels.

    The Government has maintained funding for the core adult skills participation budgets in cash terms at £1.5bn and is also increasing opportunities in technical and professional education by doubling the level of spending on apprenticeships by 2019-20 in 2010-11 cash terms, including income from the new apprenticeship levy. It will be almost £900 million higher in 2019-20 than in 2015-16. By 2019-20, spending on apprenticeships in England will be £2.5 billion.

    The combination of the levy, the protection of the AEB, the extension of advanced learner loans, and the introduction of the youth obligation means that by the end of the Parliament, the cash value of core adult FE funding to support participation will be at its highest ever. The total spending power of the FE sector to support participation will be £3.41bn by 2019-20, which is a cash terms increase of 40% compared with 2015-16 (real terms 30%).

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the timing of the referendum taking place in Darfur between 11 and 13 April, in the light of the levels of violence in Jebel Marra, Central Darfur.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain concerned by the timing of the Darfur referendum due to ongoing violence and the absence of a peace agreement. The continued fighting and level of civilian displacement in Jebel Marra is particularly troubling, and brings in to question the viability of holding the referendum at this time. We have raised such concerns with the Government of Sudan. We have also pressed for full humanitarian access to be granted, including at the UN Security Council and bilaterally as part our recent strategic dialogue with the Government of Sudan, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Africa Director. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum are monitoring the situation closely.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she made of the effect of a vote to leave the EU on school language exchange programmes.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education has not made any assessment of the effect that a majority leave vote in the European Union Referendum would have on school language exchange programmes.

    It is the Government’s view that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed European Union. A vote to leave the European Union would put this at risk.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to protect birds of prey.

    Rory Stewart

    All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which provides a powerful framework for the conservation of wild birds, their eggs, nests and habitats. The Government is committed to ensuring the protection afforded to wild birds of prey is effectively enforced. There are strong penalties for offenders, including imprisonment.

    Raptor persecution is one of six national wildlife crime priorities and is subject to a prevention, intelligence and enforcement plan.

    The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is part funded by Defra, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what contingency plans the Government has in place for winter 2016-17 to support pensioners and other vulnerable people in the event of a prolonged spell of below average temperatures.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government has various policies in place that will support pensioners and other vulnerable people with their energy bills throughout winter 2016/17,irrespective of temperature.

    The Warm Home Discount scheme provides eligible households with a £140 energy bill rebate. This winter, over 2 million low income and vulnerable households, of which over 1.2 million are pensioner households, will be helped under the scheme.

    Over 12 million pensioners receive the Winter Fuel Payment of up to £300 each winter while people on certain benefits, including Pension Credit, receive a £25 Cold Weather Payment for each seven day period of freezing temperatures.

    The Government is also reforming the Energy Company Obligation to have a greater focus on vulnerable and low income households. It will have a value of £640m a year, will run from 2017 until 2022, and and homes helped under the new obligation could see their energy bills fall by up to £300 per year.

    In addition, we are providing £1.3m to fund the Big Energy Saving Network and running the Big Energy Saving Week again. This is a grant scheme that supports vulnerable consumers to take action to reduce their energy costs by switching supplier and taking up energy efficiency, through outreach by trusted and trained community and third sector organisations.

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

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training his Department provides for women to enable them to serve in combat on the front line.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Women already serve in a variety of roles with front line units including pilots, submariners, medics, fire support team commanders, military intelligence operators, counter improvised explosive device operators and dog handlers. They have made and continue to make a valuable contribution to recent and current operations including Afghanistan.

    Women are currently excluded from serving in Ground Close Combat roles; the Infantry and Royal Armoured Corps, the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force Regiment. The Prime Minister stated on 20 December 2015 that he wants to see all roles in the Armed Forces opened up to women in 2016 and further physiological research currently under way will inform a final decision in mid-2016.