Tag: 2016

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of the European Arrest Warrant.

    Robert Buckland

    The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) provides a basis for a swift and cost-efficient extradition process between EU Member States implementing the principle of ‘mutual recognition’ of judicial decisions. The UK continues to work closely with Member States to execute EAW following the referendum.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates, if any, they have made of the changes to the water table in Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire as a result of rainfall over the last six weeks.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Environment Agency’s water situation report for the north west of England (which is published on the Gov.UK website) reports the situation for observation boreholes in the main bedrock aquifer in Cumbria and Lancashire, the Sherwood Sandstone. The Sherwood Sandstone is moderately unresponsive to rainfall events and this is partly because of the high storage characteristics of the sandstone and also because much of it is covered by low permeability glacial clays.

    Hydrographs for Skirwith (Cumbria) and Yew Tree Farm (West Lancashire) are thought to be representative of this aquifer, although this monitoring is undertaken for water resources purposes not groundwater flooding purposes.

    • The Skirwith hydrograph shows that the groundwater level has risen quite dramatically since mid-November in response to recent rainfall..
    • The hydrograph for Yew Tree Farm shows a similar but less dramatic rise, with levels close to record highs (the site has been monitored since 1971 but with groundwater levels rising steadily since the late 1990s due to reduction in nearby abstraction).
    • The sudden rise in levels was from quite a low point due to a relatively dry year and especially early autumn. Both of the examples show a steady reduction in levels up to the rainfall starting in November.

    The Environment Agency routinely monitors groundwater throughout Yorkshire. Water levels in November 2015 were:

    • on the low side of average in the Chalk Principal Aquifer and the Corallian Limestone Principal Aquifer
    • just above average in the Magnesian Limestone Principal Aquifer
    • well above average in the Sherwood Sandstone Principal Aquifer

    Levels in all the aquifers in Yorkshire have responded to the rainfall in late December 2015 and early January 2016:

    • Levels in the Chalk have responded strongly to the recent rainfall.
    • Groundwater levels in the Corallian Limestone near Malton are now at record highs and the result is ongoing groundwater flooding in Malton. North Yorkshire County Council are coordinating a multi-agency response including pumping to minimise the impact on local communities.
    • Levels in the Magnesian Limestone and the Sherwood Sandstone have also responded to the rainfall and are now at maximum levels for the time of year.

    The Environment Agency undertakes monitoring and assessment of different aquifers locally, based upon the potential risk of groundwater flooding. A system of groundwater flood alerts and warnings is provided through our incident response procedures for those communities most vulnerable to potential groundwater flooding.

    Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs)(Local Councils) have responsibility for local flood risk including groundwater under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This Act gives LLFAs duties to prepare local flood risk management strategies and to co-operate with other risk management authorities, and powers to carry out local flood risk management.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the incidence of death during armed forces training.

    Penny Mordaunt

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 February 2016 to Question 24067 to the hon. Member for Romford (Mr Rosindell).

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which (a) GPs, (b) acute trusts and (c) mental health trusts failed to submit data to the Female Genital Mutilation Enhanced Dataset via the Health and Social Care Information Centre by (i) the 31 July submission deadline for Q2 2015, (ii) the 31 October deadline for Q3 2015 and (iii) the 31 January deadline for Q3 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    The data from the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Enhanced Dataset can be found at:

    http://www.hscic.gov.uk/fgm

    It became mandatory for all acute trusts to collect and submit to the FGM Enhanced Dataset from 1 July 2015 and for all mental health trusts and general practitioner (GP) practices from 1 October 2015. Therefore GPs and mental health trusts were not under a requirement to submit information during the period for which information can be provided. The third quarterly data set has been published today.

    “

  • 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 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Liberia.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    Liberia has made significant progress since the end of its civil war in 2003. However, Liberia’s second Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in 2015, highlighted continuing concerns over gender-based violence and victims’ access to justice; the length of pre-trial detention; investigative capacity of the police and judiciary; and the death penalty. The government of Liberia accepted 147 of the 186 recommendations made. The UK Government regularly presses for concrete action in these areas through our Ambassador in Monrovia and in multilateral fora.

    The UK is concerned about inflammatory statements by the Liberian opposition in the run-up to the country’s elections in 2017. In March, our Ambassador urged the Government of Liberia to show restraint by ensuring that their responses to such statements are proportionate.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his policy is on forcing overseas territories to publish public registers of beneficial ownership.

    Matthew Hancock

    It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

  • Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answers of 27 April 2016 to Questions 34797 and 34798, what assessment he has made of the implications for the UK’s role in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations of UK funding being used by UN-funded non-governmental organisations to commemorate Palestinian terrorists.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have made no such assessment.

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff at what civil service grades his Department employs.

    Greg Hands

    Following her appointment on 13 July 2016 the Prime Minister established the Department for International Trade (DIT). The DIT aggregates UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), UK Export and Finance (UKEF), Trade Policy Units from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as well as some new hires.

    Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes the Secretary of State as a corporation sole, DIT remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes.

    As DIT is currently being formed, the number staff the Department employs is being finalised while employee transfers and recruitment are taking place.

  • Peter Bone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Peter Bone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the Help to Buy scheme to shared ownership housing association tenants.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Government has recently launched the new Help to Buy: Shared Ownership scheme which enables people to purchase an initial 25% to 75% of a new home and pay rent on the remainder with the option to purchase more later. It is open to those with a household income below £80,000 in England or £90,000 in London. The Government has no plans to combine this with Help to Buy: Equity Loan.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Ofwat concerning the profits made by water companies between 2010 and 2015.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government has regular discussions with Ofwat about its strategic priorities and objectives for regulation of the water sector.

    Ofwat sets price controls independently of Government. This independence is crucial to ensure stable economic regulation which keeps investment costs down and customer bills low.

    In 2009, Ofwat set price controls for the period from 2010 to 2015. During this period water companies benefited from several factors outside their control, including low taxation and low borrowing costs. In March 2013, Ofwat challenged companies to share gains with their customers. The then Secretary of State wrote to companies in November 2013 in support of Ofwat’s drive. As a result, companies absorbed costs and provided water bill discounts worth £435 million over this period.

    In 2014, Ofwat delivered a tough price review which means that bills will fall by around 5% in real terms from 2015 to 2020.