Tag: Andrew Rosindell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in states which allow women to engage in close combat operations on effective implementation of that policy.

Penny Mordaunt

The Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary stated on 20 December 2015 that they would like to see all roles in the Armed Forces opened up to women in 2016 and further physiological research currently under way will inform a final decision in mid-2016.

The Ministry of Defence is working closely with other nations who have lifted the exclusion including Australia and the United States. This engagement includes collaboration between scientific and research bodies as well as on policy and training development. The UK research programme is investigating the long-term health effects of UK combat requirements which will benefit both male and female personnel.

I discussed this issue at length with counterparts in the US when I visited Washington in September 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether UK nationals who are also nationals of other Commonwealth realms are required to renounce their UK citizenship if they wish to use a titular honour or knighthood granted to them by Her Majesty the Queen or her representatives in right of another of her Commonwealth Realms or Overseas Territories; and whether his Department’s rules on the use, style and designation of honours to dual nationals has changed in the last two years.

James Duddridge

If a Realm honour has been awarded to an individual when they were a British national, whether or not they were also a national of that Realm, then permission will not be given for the use of a title at a later date if the recipient later renounces their British nationality.

The titles of Realm nationals, who are not British, and have been awarded a knighthood by their own country, are recognised in the United Kingdom as an official courtesy. Official courtesy means that other parties, including official bodies, may refer to the individual’s title if they wish to do so.

The recognition of foreign honours is a matter for the Royal Prerogative and is governed by convention. The convention has not changed in the last two years. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office does not set rules or regulations for these matters.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking with his EU counterparts to persuade Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to (a) accept a similar number of Syrian refugees as Jordan and (b) increase their financial support for such refugees.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK actively engages with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia, on humanitarian and development assistance, and the Gulf States continue to contribute generously to humanitarian support for the Syria crisis. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar are amongst the top ten bilateral aid donors. Contributions from these four Gulf States to UN appeals alone amounts to over $2.5bn. Additionally Kuwait chairs the Top Donor Group and has hosted three pledging conferences. Kuwait is also one of the co-hosts of the London Syria Donors Conference on 4 February. The Gulf States are also contributing through regional charities. For example, the UAE funds the Emirates Jordan camp which houses over 6,000 refugees.

The Gulf States are not signatories to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951, and there is no legal refugee status in these countries. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are living in Gulf States as migrant workers or on visitors’ visas. The EU is also engaging the Gulf States on the resettlement of Syrian refugees.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the UK’s outstanding public debt obligations are to China.

Harriett Baldwin

The majority of the government’s public debt is financed through the issuance of UK government bonds, known as ‘gilts’. Information on sectoral holdings of gilts is published on a quarterly basis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The latest figures show that £426.9 billion of gilts (25.9% of the total stock) is held by overseas investors, of which £73.3 billion is held by foreign central banks. The government does not hold detailed information on the identity of foreign central banks or other individual investors holding these gilts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the cost to the economy of unreliable internet connectivity and speeds in 2014-15.

Mr Edward Vaizey

We are not aware of any existing research about the annual cost to the UK economy of unreliable broadband internet connectivity or speeds in 2014-15. However, the economic benefits of broadband access are clear, for example, SQW Consulting’s UK Broadband impact study in 2013 estimated that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024.

In November, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) and our ambition is to set this at 10 Mbps. This new broadband USO will give people the legal right to request an affordable broadband connection from a designated provider, up to a reasonable cost threshold, no matter where they live. A consultation, which has now closed, was published on 23 March setting out the Government’s proposed approach to taking this work forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on the effect on black taxi drivers of the operation of Uber in London.

Andrew Jones

We receive representations on a number of issues from the Mayor of London, and this has included the impact of the increasing number of private hire vehicles in London on congestion, air quality and parking issues on London’s road network.

The Government is continuing to discuss with the Mayor ways of addressing these issues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of the effect on the care industry of the implementation of the living wage.

Alistair Burt

Out of an estimated 1.52 million adult social care jobs in England, up to 900,000 people are expected to benefit from the introduction of the National Living Wage.

More widely across the sector, higher productivity and better-quality care through efficiency would benefit employers and care home residents and there is potential for improvements in staff retention if higher wages engendered greater job commitment.

The Department continues to work in collaboration with delivery partners to support effective recruitment practices and improved retention of the care workforce.

Our assessment of the effect of the National Living Wage for the Spending Review drew on projections and data on pay including information from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of foreign language teachers are native speakers.

Nick Gibb

The information requested is not collected by the Department for Education.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 28925, if his Department will begin collecting information on the proportion of foreign graduates who take up employment in the NHS; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that the public purse receives value for money when subsidising medicine degrees for foreign nationals.

Ben Gummer

The Department has no current plans to collect information on the numbers of foreign medical graduates who take up employment in the National Health Service.

Non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals pay full tuition fees when studying medicine in the United Kingdom and make a contribution to the UK economy. The Government has no current plans to introduce legislation to secure better value for money from non-EEA nationals studying medicine in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the drop out rate for army recruit training was in 2015.

Mark Lancaster

The average rate of those leaving the Regular Army during recruit training in 2015 was 28%. This figure is for untrained Regular Army personnel only, and therefore excludes Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves.

For information relating to Army Reserve training rates, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Reserves (Mr Brazier) on 8 March 2016 to Question 29128 to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Ms Thornberry).