Tag: Anna Turley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that unspent financial resources from the Redcar Taskforce are spent in the local community.

Mr Nick Hurd

The Government has provided £50 million to the Redcar Task Force to support individuals directly affected by the SSI liquidation and to boost economic development across Tees Valley. £43 million of that funding has already been approved, with more than £30 million paid out to accountable local authorities and colleges. Task Force members continue to work closely with officials in the Department in delivering the remainder of the support package.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many meetings Ministers of her Department have had with social media companies to discuss harmful online content since May 2015.

Matt Hancock

Department for Culture, Media and Sport Ministers regularly meet a wide range of stakeholders, including social media companies, to discuss a number of issues including those affecting children and young people on the internet.

Details of Ministerial meetings with external stakeholders are available via the Department’s transparency returns, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/search?q=DCMS+ministerial+meetings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he made prior to the closure of SSI Redcar of the (a) opportunity to produce foundry coke at Redcar coke ovens and (b) potential market for foundry coke.

Anna Soubry

As with any business, prior to the liquidation of SSI UK, these were commercial matters for SSI.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staple foods in the UK are subject to mandatory fortification.

George Eustice

Wheat flour is the only food with mandatory fortification requirements in the UK. All wheat flour (except wholemeal) is required to be fortified with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin at specific levels prescribed in the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria the Government considers before making an application to the European Globalisation Fund.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The UK has not made any applications to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).

The European Globalisation Fund (EGF) provides a financial contribution for active labour market measures, aimed at reintegrating those made or at risk of being made redundant in the labour market. EGF Regulations state that these measures must complement actions at national, regional and local level.

The EGF Regulations also set out strict criteria and eligibility for potential applicants with regards to the number of redundancies that take place over a given period of time and the link between these redundancies and globalisation or the global financial and economic crisis.

The UK already offers a broad range of personalised support to workers made redundant through its Rapid Response Service and Jobcentre Plus, which could therefore not be duplicated or substituted by EGF.

The Rapid Response Service and the Jobcentre Plus Core Offer are effective reintegration tools which represent good value for money and are our primary and most effective means of response to support the industry.

In addition to this, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills also announced packages of support worth up to £80 million for SSI in Redcar.

It has, therefore, not been necessary to make an application for EGF funding to provide complementary support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve journey times on the Tees Valley Line.

Andrew Jones

As part of the new franchise award, the Northern franchisee will be required before October 2017 to undertake a feasibility study, identifying options for journey time improvements across the whole network, including services in the North East. This will include possible changes to existing infrastructure, improvements to rolling stock capability and reliability and the implementing of changes to service patterns.

Any resulting changes would be in addition to the local benefits secured as part of the franchise including the withdrawal of pacer trains and the refurbishment of all the existing carriages retained in the franchise long term.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the official receiver on the future of the former SSI UK site in Redcar since July 2016.

Mr Nick Hurd

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is in regular contact with the Official Receiver regarding the continuing safety and security of the former SSI UK site, and are providing regular updates to My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State and other Ministers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the power conferred on Ofcom to regulation offensive communications sent in the UK on (a) the internet and (b) social media platforms.

Matt Hancock

We are aware of concerns about offensive content on social media. Where this is the case Government expects social media providers to have robust process in place and act promptly when abuse is reported. The UK has strict laws governing such content, which apply equally online and offline.

Ofcom does not regulate offensive communications on either the internet or social media platforms. The Communications Act 2003 requires Ofcom to set standards to ensure that generally accepted standards are applied to the content of television and radio programmes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department made of the financial viability of the Redcar coke ovens and blast furnace as a standalone operation without South Bank coke ovens.

Anna Soubry

We have made no such assessment. On liquidation of a company, it is the responsibility of the liquidator to sell the free assets of the company. In the case of SSI UK, this was the Official Receiver who is independent. I am informed that the Official Receiver did maintain operations at SSI, including the coke ovens, for a period while he tried to find purchasers for the assets of SSI UK but as of the 12 October, no purchaser had been found and the Official Receiver ceased operations of the coke ovens and blast furnace.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many live births of children affected by (a) spina bifida, (b) hydrocephaly and (c) anencephaly there have been in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

Information on the number of live births affected by congenital abnormalities including spina bifida, hydrocephalus and anencephaly has been collected by the British Isles Network of Congenital Anomaly Registers and is currently available for the years 2009–2012 at:

http://www.binocar.org/publications/reports

There are no current mechanisms in place for monitoring the take-up of advice given on the NHS Choices website about preventing spina bifida.

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