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Tag: 2016

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the level of coal stockpiling in the UK in each of the last 10 years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC publishes data on coal stocks held in the UK. The table below shows the stocks held at the end of the last 10 years. This includes stocks held at electricity generators, ports and undistributed stocks held at coal mines.

    Year

    UK Coal Stocks at end of year (thousand tonnes)

    2006

    17,210

    2007

    14,155

    2008

    17,246

    2009

    24,091

    2010

    16,885

    2011

    16,041

    2012

    13,003

    2013

    14,287

    2014

    18,641

    2015 (provisional)

    14,500

    Source: Energy Trends Table 2.6, March 2016 available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends

    “

  • Jo Churchill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jo Churchill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Churchill on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support tourism through increasing the number of UNESCO-recognised World Heritage sites in the UK.

    Tracey Crouch

    World Heritage Sites are internationally recognised. As a result, they attract visitors from near and far.

    In July, the Gorham Cave Complex in Gibraltar became the UK’s 30th World Heritage Site. I very much hope to see the Lake District become our 31st in 2017.

    The Prime Minister’s Tourism Action Plan sets out how we are working to make it easier for visitors to travel around our country and discover these sites for themselves.

  • Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris White on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to prevent the small hive beetle from affecting the UK’s bee population.

    George Eustice

    A Contingency Plan for England and Wales and a Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) have been published for the small hive beetle. Elements of the Contingency Plan were tested during 2016 with the completion of two field exercises in England. Such exercises have been carried out annually since 2005 on a four year rolling regional cycle ensuring that all National Bee Unit field inspectors and support staff are trained in Contingency Planning and Operational Preparedness.

    Since the first detection in Italy in September 2014 UK bee inspectors have enhanced our inspection services and surveillance by:

    • tracing and checking past imports of bees from Italy;
    • increasing inspections of high-risk apiaries near ports and airports;
    • doubling the number of targeted exotic pest inspections carried out per year;
    • providing training and guidance materials on pest recognition to inspectors responsible for checking UK imports of plants and plant products (e.g. Plant Health and Seeds Inspectors and Horticulture Marketing Inspectors – as these products could provide a route by which the beetle is introduced); and
    • working with beekeeper associations, government agencies and importer trade associations (e.g. Fresh Produce Consortium) to raise awareness amongst beekeepers, plant produce importers and growers who use managed bees for pollination services.
  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the availability of access to fertility treatments in the NHS.

    Jane Ellison

    The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

    NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence fertility guidelines.

    On 14 December 2015 I met with stakeholders, together with colleagues from NHS England and Monitor,to discuss the provision of in vitro fertilisation. The Department, along with NHS England and Monitor, will be giving further consideration to the scope for improving the commissioning of these services.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which common electrical and propulsion systems are shared between the T26 Global Combat Ship and the Type 45 Destroyer.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Due to the specific requirements of Anti-Submarine Warfare operations and the availability of equipment on the open market, the Type 45 and Type 26 Global Combat Ship (T26 GCS) electrical and propulsion system architectures are fundamentally different; no major equipment will be common to both.

    Lessons learned from the Type 45 programme and the in-service experience drawn from the Type 23 Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates have all been applied to the T26 GCS electrical and propulsion system design.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) defections from North Korea and (b) unsuccessful defection attempts from that country in the last four years.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold detailed information on the number of defections from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Information on defections from the DPRK can be obtained from the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Unification

    http://eng.unikorea.go.kr/content.do?cmsid=3026

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on upgrading its IT systems in 2014-15.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department spent £38m on upgrading IT systems in 2014-15, including both software and equipment development. This includes around £31m for internally developed software, predominantly within delivery bodies of the department such as the Student Loans Company. It also includes the Core Department roll out of a new ICT system, Evolve, for use by all staff. This replaced the previous IT service. The total cost of the Evolve rollout was £3.5 million.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many hotel bookings were made for (a) ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department during the negotiation processes for local authority devolution deals in each of the last three years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Ministers, special advisers and civil servants in this department undertake a variety of visits to support the delivery of Government’s devolution and local growth objectives and other departmental business. We do not hold figures for the number of hotel bookings made specifically to support the negotiation of devolution deals.

  • Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policy of the recent UN Secretary-General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict and its Annex which lists the Saudi-led Coalition as committing grave violations against children in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of the UN Secretary General’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict which was published on 2 June, which includes a section outlining the impact of the conflict in Yemen on children. The conflict in Yemen has had a significant impact on children, in terms of the numbers of child casualties, the recruitment of children as soldiers, and attacks on hospitals and schools. We consider all these reports very carefully. We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter. A political solution remains the best way to bring this conflict and the suffering of the Yemeni people to an end. The UK Government remains fully committed to this endeavour.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to review progress towards commitments made at the 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit in London; and what the timetable is for further periodic reviews of that progress.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government remains committed to tackling corruption in all its forms. The new administration is currently considering the approach and the governance structures that will oversee this work. Such details will be confirmed in due course. In the meantime, departments are working to progress the anti-corruption agenda, including work that was set out at the London Anti-Corruption Summit on May 12.