Tag: 2016

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department were employed to work on human rights in 2014-15; and what the cost of these employees was to the public purse.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    As I said in my published article marking Human Rights Day, human rights work "is the responsibility of all British diplomats". Calculating the proportion of each UK diplomat’s time spent on human rights work, and their associated cost, would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people under the age of 18 in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK were recruited to the armed forces in each of the last five years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    No information is held regarding the number of Service personnel under the age of 18 who were recruited in Scotland alone.

    The figures for the annual intake of under 18’s into the UK Regular Forces as a whole are summarised below.

    Ministry of Defence policy dictates that no-one under the age of 18 can join the Armed Forces without specific parental consent, both for the recruiting process to begin and again prior to joining; nor can they be deployed outside of the UK or to front-line operations.

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Number of people recruited into the UK Regular Forces under the age of 18

    2, 920

    2,260

    2,130

    2,180

    Notes: Figures reflect intake for the 12 months ending 30 September in each year. Statistics for 12 months ending 30 September 2011 have not been published, however, statistics for 12 months ending 31 March 2011 are available in Tables 5 to 7 of the Annual Personnel Report:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/280426/1-april-2011.pdf

    A detailed breakdown, by age, of the intake to UK Regular Forces can be found in Tables 8 and 8a of our Biannual Diversity Statistics publication:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2015

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Annex on a Comprehensive Franco-British Partnership on Civil Nuclear Energy, Franco-British Summit, on 3 March 2016, if she will publish the internal review of the Hinkley Point C project’s organisation.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The organisation of Hinkley Point C is a commercial matter for EDF. In the UK it is for developers to fund, build and operate new nuclear power stations.

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness King of Bow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to instruct local authorities to ensure that Discretionary Housing Payments are awarded to full-time carers affected by the benefit cap until their exemptions are implemented.

    Lord Freud

    It is important that local authorities are allowed to use their discretion to ensure Discretionary Housing Payments are awarded to those who most require assistance based on local circumstances. We have, however, amended the Discretionary Housing Payments Local Authority Good Practice Guide to reflect that those entitled to Carer’s Allowance or Universal Credit including the carer element should be considered as a priority group for whom Discretionary Housing Payments are specifically aimed.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many megawatts of Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine construction is taking place in the UK; and what the (a) size and (b) location is of each of those constructions.

    Andrea Leadsom

    There is currently one CCGT project under construction and commissioning. This has a connection capacity of 910MW and is located in Carrington, Greater Manchester.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for the introduction of proposals for a British Bill of Rights.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    We will set out our proposals for a Bill of Rights in due course. We will fully consult on our proposals.

  • Lord Allen of Kensington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Allen of Kensington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Allen of Kensington on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to appoint a new Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The process of identifying and appointing a successor Chief Executive will begin immediately.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the prospects for peace in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey of the imprisonment and enforced suspension of moderate politicians in that region.

    Mr David Lidington

    The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. The Turkish Government has responded by striking PKK targets in Turkey and Northern Iraq. They have also launched large-scale security operations involving curfews in some towns and cities in order to clear them of suspected terrorists.

    We are aware of reports of civilian casualties in the region, and a worsening humanitarian situation in certain areas in south east Turkey. The Turkish Government have said that 48 civilians lost their lives in clashes between 23 July and 23 December 2015. They also said that 93,000 people have fled their homes. We also understand that there have been investigations launched against elected officials and politicians. Any such investigations should be undertaken transparently and fully respect the rule of law.

    We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. As in any conflict, civilian casualties should be avoided and human rights need to be fully protected. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can.

    We continue to monitor the situation closely. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process. I raised these issues with my Turkish counterpart the last time we met in August 2015.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Sea King HC4, (b) Wildcat, (c) Gazelle, (d) Apache, (e) Chinook HC2/3, (f) Puma HC2 and (g) Merlin Mk 3/3A helicopters are (i) in the Forward Available Fleet, (ii) in the Sustainment Fleet and (iii) classed as Short-Term Unserviceable.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Forward Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable.

    The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in our Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

    Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis. Figures shown are the average for December 2015, the most recent data available.

    Query

    Sea King HC4

    Wildcat BRH Mk1

    Wildcat HMA Mk2

    Gazelle

    Apache

    Chinook HC2/3 Note 1

    Puma HC2

    Merlin Mk 3/3A

    Forward Available Fleet

    7

    19

    14

    19

    32

    0

    13

    17

    Sustainment Fleet

    0

    8

    3

    7

    18

    0

    10

    8

    Short-Term Unserviceable

    2

    12

    7

    12

    13

    0

    4

    10

    Note 1:

    All Chinook HC2/2a aircraft have undergone modification with new cockpit avionics and are now HC4 variants. In December 2015 there were 26 HC4 aircraft in the forward fleet and 12 in sustainment.

    The (eight) Chinook HC3 were all removed from the forward fleet last year and are undergoing modification with new cockpit avionics and a new digital automatic flight control system. Once modified, these aircraft become Chinook HC5 variants.

  • Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on implementation of the recommendations of the Bonfield report on public procurement of food; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    The Government is committed to providing food produced to British standards or their equivalent in all its canteens, restaurants and cafeterias by the end of this Parliament. Defra is working closely with other Departments and businesses to implement Dr Peter Bonfield’s Plan for Public Procurement of Food, including a balanced scorecard. The Ministry of Justice recently launched a tender for supplying food to prisons, worth £500m, which requires bids to use the balanced scorecard. Their current supplier has agreed that the 30 million portions of UHT milk served in prisons each year will be sourced from UK producers. All new Central Government food and catering contracts will use the balanced scorecard approach.