Tag: 2016

Lord Naseby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Naseby on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide emergency funding from the international aid budget to help Sri Lankan citizens affected by the recent floods and landslides.

Baroness Verma

The UK provides substantial funding to international NGOs and UN agencies, enabling them to respond to disasters around the world, including Sri Lanka. This includes the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which was established by the UN and other leading donors to enable rapid emergency response. The CERF is doing an assessment of the situation following the rainfall and landslips in Sri Lanka. The UK, along with other leading donors, will provide support as required through this coordinated response mechanism.

The UK is the biggest contributor to the CERF, having provided in excess of $855m in the last 10 years. The UK also provides funding to the European Union humanitarian agency (ECHO) which is also undertaking an assessment.

01/01/2023
Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which Minister in his Department is responsible for NHS Property Services.

Mr Philip Dunne

NHS Property Services is a limited company 100% owned by the Secretary of State for Health, to whom it is accountable. Within the Department, Ministerial responsibility for NHS Property Services is delegated to my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lord Prior).

01/01/2023

Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many level 3 apprenticeships have been available in her Department in each year since 2010; how many such apprenticeships were completed in full; and how many such apprentices subsequently progressed to level 4 or above.

Robert Halfon

The table below shows numbers of apprentices in the Department for Education in each financial year since 2009/10.

Financial Year	Number of Apprentices in DfE	Level
2009/2010	19	All Level 3
2010/2011	12	all Levels 2 and 3
2011/2012	0
2012/2013	32	all Levels 2 and 3
2013/2014	15	all Level 4
2014/2015	34	20 Level 4 14 Levels 2 and 3
2015/16	64	48 Level 4 16 Levels 2 and 3

The Level 4 apprentices were all from the Civil Service Fast-track apprenticeship scheme, which lasts at least two years. The Level 2 and Level 3 apprentices were recruited directly by the Department.

The Department does not hold information about progression between levels or numbers completing apprenticeships.

01/01/2023

Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of onshore oil and gas (a) licence blocks and (b) wells with permission to be drilled are in areas with high or medium flood risk; what the Government’s policy is on permitting fracking in areas of flood risk; what assessment she has made of the effect of flooding on the risks of water contamination associated with shale gas extraction; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

Prior to the launch of the 14^th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was undertaken for all areas offered for licensing applications, which addressed flood risk. The award of a Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) does not itself give any permission for operations to begin. Before a licensee can commence any operations they must apply for and be granted a number of further permissions and consents for each specific site within a PEDL area. These include planning permission and environmental permits from the Environment Agency.

Flood risk will be considered on a case by case basis where relevant as part of the consideration through the planning system of proposals for onshore oil and gas development, including development involving hydraulic fracturing. National planning policy is clearthat inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding shouldbe avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk. Where development is necessary, it should be made safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere. The policy is also clear that development should not contribute to, or be adversely affected by, unacceptable levels of water pollution.

Flood risk is also taken into account by the Environment Agency before any environmental permits are issued to drill for oil and gas. If a company wishes to carry out works in, over, under or near a main river, flood defence or a sea defence, they must apply to the Environment Agency for consent. To carry out work on watercourses which are not regulated by the Agency, a company will need to apply to the relevant regulatory body responsible for that particular watercourse.

01/01/2023
George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he will announce the level of grant funding available to Police and Crime Commissioners; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning

I wrote to Police and Crime Commissioners on 22 January 2016 to confirm their victims’ services commissioning grants for 2016-17. We have protected the total budget for victims’ services. PCCs allocations have been held at the 2015-16 level of £63.15m. PCCs will also be allocated an additional £4.7m to support victims of child sexual abuse.

01/01/2023
Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

Mike Penning

The Ministry of Justices (MoJ) Wellbeing strategy seeks to help foster a culture that promotes physical and mental wellbeing for all staff and to make the management of health and wellbeing part of our daily routine.

01/01/2023
Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-17.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Bank of England on utilising the University College London RSCoin proposal as an alternative to Western Union, CHAPS, BACS and the Faster Payment Service.

Harriett Baldwin

Digital currencies, and the distributed ledger technology that underpins them, have the potential to bring innovative services and products to UK customers and firms – particularly in areas like international transfers.

The Chancellor announced in March 2015 that the Government will bring digital currency exchange firms into regulation in the UK to help the legitimate industry flourish, and to create a hostile environment for illicit actors. We will publish proposals on this regulatory regime in due course.

As outlined in Deputy Governor, Ben Broadbent’s recent speech, the Bank of England is also exploring this emerging sector and the implications it could have for monetary and financial stability as part of its broader research agenda.

Separately, academics at University College London’s (UCL) digital currency research centre have also been looking at how the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital currencies could be harnessed by central banks. The Government is encouraged to see this research from one of the UK’s world-leading universities. However, this a theoretical paper by an independent institution, separate from the Bank of England’s work and from Government policy.

It is the Government’s ambition to foster the growth of legitimate digital currency firms as part of the wider FinTech ecosystem here in the UK. As part of this, the Government will consider the wider implications of a growing digital currencies sector for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole. Some parts of Government are also looking at how the benefits of distributed ledger technology can be harnessed to deliver greater innovation. However, the Government and the Bank of England do not currently have any plans to introduce a centrally issued digital currency.

The UK has been rated as having the world’s leading FinTech ecosystem in a recent global benchmarking exercise and attracted c. £524mn in investment in 2015.

01/01/2023
Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) construction of High Speed 2 through Eddisbury constituency and (b) dealing with engineering issues arising from salt mining, brine extraction or subsistence in such construction.

Mr Robert Goodwill

No specific estimates have been made for the cost of construction or dealing with engineering issues arising from salt within the Eddisbury constituency, however the cost of construction of this section of HS2 and risk provision for engineering issues arising from salt has been included in the overall funding envelope which was confirmed in November 2015.

01/01/2023
Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to protect children from in-game selling and promotions when playing games online.

Nick Boles

The Government is committed to ensuring that consumers are properly protected and that children’s vulnerability and inexperience is not exploited by aggressive commercial practices. We welcomed the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) investigation into whether children have been unfairly encouraged to spend money in online games and apps, in breach of consumer laws. The OFT’s subsequent Principles for Online and App-based Games were published in January 2014, to help ensure that online and app games publishers better understand their responsibilities and do not subject children to unfair or aggressive selling practices. The Competition and Markets Authority subsequently referred 3 games to the Advertising Standards Authority for further enforcement action.

01/01/2023
Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Nintendo about incidences of trespass or disrespecting of cemeteries or religious sites caused by players of Pokémon Go.

Matt Hancock

Many people in the UK enjoy playing Pokemon Go and most act responsibly whilst doing so. It is important that all players abide by the law and respect their surroundings. During the summer Pokemon Go’s developers in the US, Niantic, added some new warnings to the game’s loading screen, for example reminding players not to trespass and not to enter dangerous areas. Owners or managers of specific sites who are concerned about players visiting a nearby PokeStop or Gym are able to use Niantic’s report system to request that the stop is removed from the game.

Meanwhile, we are in touch with representatives of Niantic to discuss features of Pokemon Go and the advice they provide to consumers in the UK.

01/01/2023