Tag: 2016

  • Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Life Chances Strategy will include the provision of funding to support positive family relationships; whether funding under that strategy will include families with teenage children; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    This government believes that families play an essential role in improving the life chances of children of all ages. As the Prime Minister announced in his speech on 11th January, funding for relationship support is being doubled in this Parliament with an extra £35 million to support family relationships. More details will be set out in the forthcoming Life Chances Strategy.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the Brazilian government on ensuring the safety of athletes and tourists travelling from the UK for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I met the Brazilian Minister for Sport on 7 June and discussed preparations for the Rio 2016 Games, including security. The British and Brazilian Governments, as consecutive hosts of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, have cooperated across a range of areas in preparation for the Rio 2016 Games. We have shared our experience of hosting London 2012 through visits to both the UK and Brazil by security and safety experts and through regular discussion of athlete and tourist safety. In advance of the Rio 2016 Games, we encourage all visitors to Brazil to consult our ‘Stay ahead of the Games’ consular campaign, which provides further advice on how visitors can best ensure their own safety during Games time.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to provide legal support to children already in the UK who wish to sponsor their parents to join them, and for other complex reunion cases.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    UK Visas and Immigration issues guidance to help applicants, and the types of evidence requested to accompany an application – such as marriage and birth certificates – will usually be straightforward to collate. For these reasons, there are currently no plans to make changes to the legal aid provision in such cases.

  • Robert Neill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Neill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Neill on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Law Commission as part of its scoping work on reform of surrogacy law.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Law Commission is currently consulting on proposals for its 13th programme of law reform, and has asked consultees for their views on whether a project about surrogacy should be included in the programme. The consultation closes on 31 October 2016. The Department wrote to the Law Commission on 20 May 2016 supporting the inclusion of a project about surrogacy in the list of suggested possible projects being considered for the programme. No discussions have taken place with the Law Commission about scoping.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support he is providing to the Inside Out programme run by Durham University.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and work.

    The Inside Out programme run by Durham University in selected north east prisons during 2014-15 is an excellent example of an innovative local partnership, aimed at higher level prisoner learners.

    The National Offender Management Service supported the programme through re-prioritising prison staff resources to make sure the learning could take place.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what support her Department is providing for the development of (a) technologies for the improved storage of electricity and (b) locally-based smart grids.

    Andrea Leadsom

    More than £80m UK public sector support (including Ofgem innovation funding) has been committed to energy storage research, development and demonstration activities since 2012, which is helping to drive down the costs of storage and bring new technologies closer to market. The Department has provided more than £18m of innovation funding for development and demonstration storage technologies; including funding for four technology demonstration projects.

    We are facilitating the deployment of a smart grid through:

    • Rolling out smart meters which are an integral part of a smart grid;
    • The DECC-Ofgem Smart Grid Forum with a range of active workstreams to remove barriers to smart grid deployment.
  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how (a) much funding has been paid to and (b) many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Advisory. Conciliation and Arbitration Service in each year since 2009-10.

    Nick Boles

    Set out below is the amount of funding paid to Acas and is full-time equivalent staff for each year since 2009-10.

    Financial year

    Staff no. (FTE)

    Grant in Aid (£’000)

    2009-10

    880

    55,687

    2010-11

    876

    47,200

    2011-12

    827

    48,009

    2012-13

    787

    46,450

    2013-14

    787

    45,800

    2014-15

    784

    44,240

    2015-16

    782 (end Feb)

    44,478
  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings he has initiated on steel in the last two years.

    Anna Soubry

    It is an established convention that Ministers of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested by the hon Member for the entire period given in his Question.

    I first met with Gareth Stace on 01 June 2015 and discussions with steel industry stakeholders continued thereafter to identify the policy priorities for dealing with the considerable challenges facing the sector. We convened a Steel Summit on 16 October 2015 which brought together all the major stakeholders, including key Government and industry participants as well as constituency MPs, recognising the significant part steel companies play in local communities. This led to the formation of three Ministerial Working Groups which took the lead on our efforts to deliver on the five key ‘Asks’ put to us by our partners in the steel industry.

    To ensure a sustainable future we set up the Steel Council, co-chaired by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to build on the achievements of the three previous Ministerial working groups, by looking at the longer term future of the sector and how we can strengthen the capability and competiveness of the UK steel industry both at home and globally. The Council met for the first time on 2 March.

    Since this Government took office, BIS Ministers have undertaken a number of visits to steel-producing sites across the UK, including: SSI Redcar; Tata Steel facilities at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Rotherham; Celsa in Cardiff and the former-Tata Steel site at Motherwell recently re-opened by Liberty Steel.

    To date we have made significant progress in addressing the challenges faced by the industry, including:

    • Paying compensation towards their energy costs: the Steel industry has received £80m in compensation since 2013;
    • Exempting the steel industry from renewable energy policy costs passed through in energy bills: this will save the steel industry hundreds of £millions over the course of this parliament.
    • Securing flexibility over EU emissions regulations.
    • Making sure that social and economic factors can be taken into account when Government procures steel;
    • Continuing to tackle unfair trading practices at an EU and an International level.
  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether during his recent visit to Mauritius the British Indian Ocean Territory Commissioner discussed prospects for resettlement with Oliver Bancoult, the Leader of the Chagos Refugees Group.

    James Duddridge

    The Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory, who also holds the position of Director of Overseas Territories in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, visited Mauritius to lead a UK delegation to continue official-level talks started in November in London to implement the recent UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Arbitral Tribunal Award. The Commissioner took the opportunity to, once again, seek Mauritius’ views on the question of resettlement, though as before this was refused by Mauritius. While in Mauritius, the Commissioner joined meetings between the British High Commissioner to Mauritius and Chagossian leaders, including Mr Bancoult. A range of matters were discussed, including the Government’s further work to develop its policy on the question of resettlement of BIOT. The Commissioner indicated that the UK is still considering its policy in this area and will announce developments in due course.

  • Baroness Walmsley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Walmsley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Walmsley on 2016-07-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the advice by Professors Stanley, Lawler, Graham, and others, to extend HPV vaccinations to boys to curb the spread of throat and other cancers.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the expert committee that advises Ministers on immunisation related issues, is currently in the process of considering the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination to adolescent boys. This includes assessing all the necessary evidence and information on the potential impact of a boys vaccination programme on non-cervical cancers caused by HPV.