Tag: 2016

Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission the Behavioural Insights Team to conduct research on efficiency and passenger journeys in the rail sector.

Paul Maynard

The Department has recently commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team to deliver a programme of workshops on the use of behavioural insights research in policy making, including rail passenger experience. In addition, the Department is currently exploring a range of behavioural insight approaches as part of its wider programme of rail research.

January 1, 2023
Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what cross-departmental structures her Department has established with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport since May 2015 to ensure progress on meeting the EU target of 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Andrea Leadsom

My rt. hon Friend has regular meetings with colleagues from all Departments with an interest in Climate Change and Energy policy.

The 2020 renewables target is relevant to a number of government policies, and my Department ensures that all views across government are taken into account.

January 1, 2023
Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to impose large extra tax rises or spending cuts at short notice in order to meet their target of cutting the deficit by 2019–20.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The government has set out a fixed target to achieve a surplus on the headline measure of public sector net borrowing by the end of 2019-20. This is a transparent commitment showing the government’s resolve to complete the repair of the public finances. The Spending Review and Autumn Statement set out the action required to return the country to surplus over the course of this Parliament and on the basis of the latest Office for Budget Responsibility forecast in their November 2015 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’ the government is forecast to achieve a surplus of £10.1bn by the end of 2019-20.

January 1, 2023
Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to update the Drug Driving (Specified Limits) (England and Wales) Regulations 2014, so as to reduce the amount of a drug that can be detected in blood for the purposes of the definition of that offence.

Andrew Jones

The Department is evaluating the new specified limits drug driving offence and a final report from the researcher is due at the end of 2016. The Department will consider its findings and assess whether there is any requirement to change the legislation, but currently there are no plans to amend the regulations. Thanks to the tougher law, police are catching and convicting more drug drivers.

January 1, 2023

Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) seafarers, (b) ship operators and (c) ship owners used each Marine Office in the UK in each year since 2009-10.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) maintain statistics regarding the number of surveys and inspections it carries out. However, the MCA does not collate statistics on how many seafarers, ship operators and ship owners visit each Marine Office, as contact is primarily through email and telephone.

Marine Surveyors at Marine Offices carry out oral examinations as part of the final stage of issuing a Certificate of Competency (COC) to seafarers. These examinations take place at either a Marine Office or at a maritime college. The attached table provides a breakdown of this activity by Marine Office by year. This is an indication of how many seafarers visit each location.

Table: Seafarer oral examinations by Marine Office by year

	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Aberdeen	120	146	184	178	168	74	189
Belfast	208	182	209	157	173	310	383
Cardiff	213	328	188	235	239	152	347
Falmouth	87	176	181	169	123	93	202
Glasgow	672	730	763	589	614	758	709
Gr.Yarmouth/Norwich	294	259	256	318	357	356	450
Harwich	20	25	18	37	26	17	160
Hull	118	93	186	233	288	292	230
Leith	8	34	45	44	67	89	96
Liverpool	938	864	868	773	905	835	812
Newcastle/Tyne	1124	1103	1156	897	1122	1045	1238
Orpington	0	7	0	2	2	0	194
Plymouth	173	184	151	140	85	122	271
Southampton	589	634	724	712	637	682	662
Total	4564	4765	4929	4484	4806	4825	5943

January 1, 2023

Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent representations the Government has made to the Ethiopian government on the Integrated Development Master Plan; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd

The Government of Ethiopia withdrew the Addis Ababa Master Plan in January 2016 in response to the wave of protests it had triggered in Oromia. The UK government has raised concerns about the unrest in Oromia, and particularly the reports of a large number of deaths, with the Ethiopian Government on a number of occasions. The Secretary of State raised our concerns directly with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister at Davos in January 2016.

January 1, 2023
The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current state of bilateral relations with Iran a year after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in Vienna on 14 July 2015.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was agreed in July 2015 which, along with the subsequent lifting of international sanctions, represents a new era in Iran’s relationship with the wider world. Since my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) reopened our Embassy in August 2015, significant progress has been made in developing the bilateral relationship between the UK and Iran. We welcomed Foreign Minister Zarif to London on 4 February 2016, in what was the first bilateral visit of an Iranian Foreign Minister since 2003. We hope to be able to upgrade to the level of Ambassadors in the near future.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect of the Government’s welfare reforms on low-income households who are in fuel poverty since 2010.

Caroline Nokes

The Government’s reforms simplify the system for claimants, helping move more people into work, and reduce the cost for taxpayers. Throughout these reforms the Government is ensuring that the vulnerable are protected. In every year to 2020 spending on disability will be higher than in 2010.

The Warm Home Discount scheme provides eligible households with a £140 energy bill rebate. This winter, almost a million low income working age households will be helped under the scheme.

We are 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 from 2017 until 2022 and could reduce the energy bills of those who receive energy efficiency improvements by up to £300 per year.

DWP provides help with the additional costs of heating during periods of severely cold weather to eligible claimants on certain income related benefits. In 2015-16, DWP made nearly 155,000 awards worth £3.9 million. For winter 2016/17 the cold weather payment rate will continue to be £25 for each seven day period of very cold weather.

January 1, 2023
Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department paid to charities in 2014-15; and what criteria were used to make decisions about those payments.

George Freeman

The Department works with charities and other voluntary sector organisations and makes grant and procurement payments to these organisations. In 2014-15, £120 million was paid to the voluntary sector. Payment data is held at voluntary sector level, as such, charities are not separately categorised within this data set. It would incur disproportionate cost to extract this subset of the information.

Payments made through the procurement route are processed in line with Departmental processes, which are consistent with payments made to other organisations. Grant payments are made in accordance with the individual terms of the grant.

January 1, 2023
Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton On 4 February (HL5341), what consideration the NHS has given to offering to share outcome data with test providers, where suitable consents can be captured, on the forthcoming re-procurement of the NHS regional genetics labs, such as from the National Cancer Intelligence Network; and what assessment they have made of the impact of doing so on their procurement process, in the light of the experience of Genomic Enterprise.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), strongly condemned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s satellite launch of 7 February, which used ballistic missile technology in clear violation of a number of UN Security Council Resolutions. On 8 February the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), summoned the DPRK’s Ambassador to make clear the UK’s strong condemnation of the launch. The DPRK’s actions are a further threat to regional security and the stability of the Korean peninsula. It is clear that the DPRK continues to prioritise its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes over the welfare of its people.

We continue to work closely with other members of the UN Security Council to ensure significant and substantive measures are agreed in response to the DPRK’s provocations. On 8 February the Prime Minister, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Foreign Secretary raised this with the Chinese Ambassador and reiterated the need for progress on a new UN Resolution.

We are not part of discussions with the Republic of Korea on a missile defence system, but we respect and support our allies’ need to defend themselves.

January 1, 2023