The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pauline Latham on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of mining companies that are registered in the UK.
Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page three of the HMG Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty 2010-2015, as revised in October 2011, what legal challenges to the mandatory death penalty his Department has been involved in involving (a) UK citizens and (b) non-UK citizens in each of the last five years.
Mr David Lidington
Using a range of funding tools, principally the Human Rights and Democracy Programme Fund, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has, since 2010, funded a number of non-governmental organisations to mount legal challenges to the use of the death penalty abroad both in specific cases and on matters of general principle. We do not fund the private legal costs of British nationals facing the death penalty, but we can refer cases to the FCO’s pro bono legal panel, where appropriate, to provide advice to the British national in question and their local lawyer on an entirely pro bono basis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24446, what reports her Department has received from the International Committee of the Red Cross on the spending by that body of humanitarian relief funds from her Department for humanitarian relief in Libya.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID’s £2 million funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Libya was given in response to their 2015 Budget Extension Appeal. The ICRC will submit to DFID, in accordance with agreed ICRC standard reporting timelines, an Annual Report, Financial Report and Annual Audited Accounts by June 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are employed as special advisers by his Department; and how many people were employed as special advisers by his Department on 1 January 2016.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The number of special advisers employed by the Department for Transport is published on a regular basis, the most recent information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486829/List_of_Special_Advisers_in_post_at_17_December_2015.pdf .
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of building the new general purpose frigate class in parallel with the Type 26 programme.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence has commenced pre-concept work on the new class of light General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) which will help inform the overall approach to the surface maritime programme following Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
As this work is in its very early stages it is not possible to make an assessment of the feasibility of building the GPFF in parallel with the Type 26 Global Combat Ships, or what the potential merits of that approach would be.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions the Government has had with (a) UK companies and (b) the Malawian government on oil exploration around Lake Malawi.
James Duddridge
Our High Commissioner to Malawi met a representative of UK oil exploration firm Surestream, who are now a minority shareholder of an exploration licence for one of the oil exploration blocks in Lake Malawi, on 29 February. Last month the High Commissioner also discussed with the Malawi Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining his desire for assistance to develop legislation and agreements that would conform to global good governance standards and protect Malawi’s national interests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve end-of-life care over the next five years.
Ben Gummer
We are committed to ensuring that everyone at the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care that is tailored to their needs and preferences.
The Government will shortly publish its response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care which will set out actions to improve quality, choice and personalisation of end of life care in the context of delivering the NHS Five Year Forward View throughout this Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on introducing automatic compensation for rail users whose trains arrive late.
Paul Maynard
The majority of train operators now operate the Delay Repay scheme and we are continuing to roll this out to all train operators through refranchising and / or as opportunities arise.
It is important that claims can be made easily and that passengers are made aware of their rights. This can be supported by automated systems that notify passengers when they are eligible to claim and electronic claims forms.
Some train operators have introduced fully automatic Delay Repay compensation: Virgin Trains West Coast for Advance tickets purchased through the operator’s website or app for registered passengers, and by c2c for all passengers with a registered c2c Smartcard. This is feasible when the passenger has a ticket for a specific train purchased from the operator or a smartcard.
Northern, TransPennine Express and East Anglia are also planning to introduce fully automatic compensation for certain passengers who buy Advance or Season tickets.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Bacon on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with his Ministerial colleagues on the legal status of foreign scientific researchers resident in the UK following the EU referendum.
Mr Robin Walker
The Department for Exiting the European Union has engaged with a wide range of organisations including Universities UK, the Royal Academies and the pharmaceutical sector, as well as colleagues from the Department for Education and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The Prime Minister has been clear that she is determined to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected in return.
The UK remains fully open to scientists and researchers from across the EU. We highly value the contribution of EU and international staff, and there are no immediate changes to their rights to live and work in the UK.
The announcement on underwriting Horizon 2020 funding underlines our commitment to do what is necessary to maintain the UK as an attractive place to conduct research and innovation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the end of financial year budget surpluses or deficits was for each health trust in London in each year since 2010.
Alistair Burt
The information requested is in the attached tables.