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Tag: 2016

  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the use of administrative detention in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain concerned about Israel’s extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary. Officials regularly raise concerns about the treatment of administrative detainees with their Israeli counterparts.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to engage the private sector in sustainable investments in Africa and South Asia.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID is committed to supporting economic development in Africa and South Asia as it recognises the central importance of inclusive economic growth in eradicating poverty. One of DFID’s priorities is to partner with businesses investing in frontier markets in order to unlock economic opportunities that also have high development benefits.

    DFID is working to create a business environment in Africa and South East Asia which is more conducive to attracting private sector capital; key to this is ensuring that investments are made in companies which have responsible business practices. Within DFID we ensure that investment vehicles like CDC and Private Infrastructure Development Group have investment codes with sustainability at their core. We also support internationally recognised Codes of Conduct like the UN Global Compact and organisations which aim to drive better reporting standards like the Global Reporting Initiative.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure nurses are consulted on his Department’s future policies after the proposed closure of the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions policy unit in his Department.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department leads the health and care system in England, working closely with a range of organisations on whose expertise it draws, including the nursing and midwifery expertise in NHS England and Public Health England. The Department’s approach to ensuring that nurses are consulted about future policies is to flexibly access professional advice from a wide range of sources, including arms-length bodies, regulators, stakeholders and professional bodies.

    The Department’s policy teams will establish new networks and relationships with stakeholders and partners and collaborate with the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) to ensure systems are in place to secure advice when developing evidence based policy. These changes do not affect the role of the CNO, who as CNO of the Department already advises, and will continue to advise all Ministers and the Department on the range of nursing and midwifery issues.

    The Department is changing the way it works to deliver its essential work for the Government while achieving efficiency savings. All of the changes we are making through the resulting DH2020 programme are being done transparently and communicated to staff.


  • Baroness Janke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Janke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Janke on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that “structural and investment funds projects signed before the Autumn Statement and Horizon research funding granted before we leave the EU will be guaranteed by the Treasury after we leave”, whether they intend to publish the number and value of contracts signed for each funding stream approved between the Chancellor’s announcement and the Autumn Statement.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Treasury does not hold information about individual EU funded projects, so the detailed information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Information about EU funded projects in the UK is in the public domain, e.g. a list of European Structural and Investment Funds beneficiaries is available on Gov.uk.

    In line with the Chief Secretary’s letter of 12th August, a copy of which has been deposited in the Libraries of the House, further details will be provided ahead of the Autumn Statement.

  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken towards securing international agreement for the elimination of nuclear weapons in line with the Non-Proliferation Treaty; and what plans he has for further steps towards such agreement in the next 12 months.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    As stated in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the UK is working with our international partners to tackle proliferation and to make progress on multilateral nuclear disarmament. The UK plays a leading role on disarmament verification with the US and Norway. In February 2016 the UK proposed a Programme of Work at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva with the aim of reinvigorating the Conference’s work. The P5 Process, initiated by the UK, brings together nuclear weapons states to build trust and confidence to help create the conditions which would enable disarmament. Over the coming year we will continue to press for key steps towards multilateral disarmament, including the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and successful negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament.

    The Government continues to work to deliver the Strategic Defence and Security Review commitment to reduce our stockpile of nuclear weapons to no more than 180 warheads by the mid 2020s.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce food waste.

    Rory Stewart

    Through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Government has made significant progress to reduce food waste through the Courtauld Commitment, the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign and the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement.

    Household food waste reduced by 15% between 2007 and 2012 and Courtauld Commitment signatories reported a reduction in supply chain waste of 7.4% from 2009 to 2012, with interim results for Courtauld 3 showing a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

    Interim results for the Hospitality Agreement show signatories achieved a reduction in CO2e emissions of 3.6% by preventing food waste and the food and packaging recycling rate rose from 45% to 57% between 2012 and 2014.

    WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement with the food sector to build on this success. The Courtauld Commitment 2025 will take a whole food supply chain approach to food sustainability and will include new ambitious targets to reduce food waste. Courtauld 2025 is expected to be launched in March 2016.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage competition between rail services providers in the UK.

    Claire Perry

    Since the launch of the franchising programme in March 2013, the Department has introduced a series of measures aimed at increasing the number of companies in the market.

    Working with UKTI and other partners in Government, we have been actively seeking potential new entrants. We have engaged closely with a number of companies that are looking to join the market and have provided advice on the conditions and qualities of our market so they can begin the process of entry.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether his Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.

    Jane Ellison

    At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

  • The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Leeds on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iraq on resolving the budget impasse with the Kurdish Regional Government.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We regularly raise the importance of securing a new budget agreement between Baghdad and Erbil with senior representatives of the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

    During his visit to Iraq in March the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the issue with both Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani.

    The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), underlined the importance of a new agreement with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani in Iraq in December 2015.

    Officials at our Embassy in Baghdad and our Consulate General in Erbil continue to highlight the benefits of a united Iraq and the benefits to both sides of agreeing a new oil sharing and budget arrangement.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of dairy products procured for her Department was sourced from Northern Irish producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Figures which detail the origin of dairy products are not held by my Department.