The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the Government’s welfare reforms on deprivation in (a) Glasgow East constituency, (b) the city of Glasgow and (c) Scotland.
Damian Hinds
The Government set out our assessment of the impact of the welfare policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Act on 20 July 2015, with similar assessments for previous changes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-10-24.
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
Robert Buckland
The number of sentences considered by my office has increased by over 108% since 2010 from 342 to 713 requests in 2015.
Of those, 136 were referred by my office to the Court of Appeal as potentially unduly lenient, with the Court agreeing to increase the original sentence for 102 offenders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to eliminate food insecurity in developing countries.
Baroness Verma
The UK believes that poverty is the main cause of hunger, as most people are hungry or undernourished because they cannot afford to buy sufficient nutritious food. Much of the solution to hunger will therefore depend on inclusive economic growth, in particular in the agriculture sector. We have just published our new Conceptual Framework on Agriculture which sets out our priorities to accelerate impact on economic development, poverty reduction, and sustainable food systems and nutrition.
Alongside this policy work, the UK has committed to a number of results that will deliver on the Global Goals, particularly on ending hunger. First, our nutrition manifesto commitment will improve by 2020 the nutrition of 50 million people who would otherwise go hungry. Second, with other Nutrition for Growth (N4G) signatories, we will prevent 20 million children becoming stunted. Lastly, in 2015, alongside other G7 countries, we will help address hunger and malnutrition among 500 million people by 2030 as part of the G7 Broad Food Security and Nutrition Development Approach agreed in Elmau.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the state aid approval in relation to BDUK requires BT to provide Wholesale Open Access to other communication providers for ducts and poles built with BDUK funding which are (i) over one km in length and cost more than £50,000 to build and (ii) less than one km in length and cost less than £50,000 to build.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The UK 2012 state aid Decision applied different wholesale access conditions to new and existing infrastructure. On new infrastructure over one km in length and costing more than £50,000 to build, BT must provide access for any purpose, while on existing infrastructure and on new infrastructure less than one km in length or costing less than £50,000 to build, the primary use must be retail services (with business services only permitted where it supports the primary objective.) Both cases exceed what is required by Ofcom under regulation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much public funding has been provided to (a) NHS Blood and Transplant, (b) Anthony Nolan, (c) NHS England and (d) other bodies for stem cell donation purposes in each year since 2003-04.
Jane Ellison
Since 2011, the Department has provided funding to both NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and Anthony Nolan to support the improvement of provision of stem cells in the United Kingdom. Details for each of the last four complete financial years is as follows:
|
Year |
Anthony Nolan |
NHSBT |
|
2011/12 |
2,000,000 |
2,000,000 |
|
2012/13 |
2,000,000 |
2,000,000 |
|
2013/14 |
2,000,000 |
2,000,000 |
|
2014/15 |
2,000,000 |
2,000,000 |
NHS England does not commission stem cell donation services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she is taking to ensure that farmers receive fair pricing for their dairy produce.
George Eustice
The £26.2 million aid package we secured from the European Commission has helped to provide some immediate relief. A number of supermarkets have also pledged to pay a premium over and above the current market price.
Longer term, we are working to develop futures markets in the dairy sector to help farmers manage risk.
At the most recent council meeting in the EU, the UK supported a package of new measures to try to help the dairy sector recover.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to publish the objectives of the Anti-Corruption Summit in May 2016 before it starts.
Matthew Hancock
The objective of the London anti-corruption summit is to bring together world leaders, business and civil society to agree a package of practical steps to:
expose corruption so there is nowhere to hide
punish the perpetrators and support those affected by corruption
drive out the culture of corruption wherever it exists
This is already published on the summit pages of the Gov.UK website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost was of operating the British Embassy in Ankara and the Consulate-General in Istanbul in each of the last five years.
Mr David Lidington
During the financial year 2015/16 the administrative cost of operating HMG’s network in Turkey was £8,598,421. For the financial year 2014/15 it was £11,085,874. For 2013/14 it was £9,402,577. For 2012/13 it was £8,462,061 and for 2011/12 it was £7,585,285.56. This includes the costs of all our missions in Turkey: the British Embassy in Ankara, the British Consulate General in Istanbul, the British Consulate in Izmir, the British Vice Consulate in Antalya, and the British Honorary Consulates in Bodrum, Fetiye and Marmaris. It does not include the cost of UK-based staff working in Turkey, which could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of recent changes in business rates on corporate demand for rooftop solar power.
Mr Marcus Jones
Draft 2017 rateable values prepared independently by the Valuation Office Agency will be published for the first time on 30 September 2016. Once rateable values are available we will look closely at the impacts of the forthcoming revaluation and consult on how to make sure the right support is in place for businesses to adjust to any changes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in local authority care are awaiting placement with foster parents.
Edward Timpson
The Department for Education does not collect this information. If any children are awaiting placement with foster carers, that information will be kept at local authority level. As at March 2015 there were 73,845 approved foster carers in England.