Tag: Craig Whittaker

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the proposals in his Department’s White Paper, A BBC for the future, published in May 2016, what discussions he has had with the BBC on challenging a perceived culture of political bias at the corporation.

Mr Edward Vaizey

I have had discussions with the BBC throughout the Charter Review process. Under the plans in the White Paper, ‘A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction’, the BBC’s obligations for impartiality and accuracy will, for the first time, be regulated by an external body, Ofcom. The culture of the BBC will be a matter for the new unitary board in delivering its new mission ‘To act in the public interest, serving all audiences with impartial, high-quality and distinctive media content and services that inform, educate and entertain.’

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training and logistical support the armed forces have provided to Iraqi forces to combat the threat from Daesh in Iraq in the last 12 months.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK Armed Forces have continued to play a full part in the Global Counter-Daesh Coalition programme to build the capacity of Iraqi (including Kurdish) security forces. Over the past 12 months, we have contributed to the training of over 13,600 Iraqi army personnel and some 2,570 Peshmerga, to build vital counter-IED expertise and to enhance medical and infantry skills. The impact of this training can be seen in the success of Iraqi security forces over the past year in taking back territory previously held by Daesh. Some 40% of occupied territory has now been recovered. In terms of logistic support, following the UK’s substantial contributions of non-lethal support, heavy machine guns, ammunition and military equipment to meet immediate Kurdish Peshmerga needs in early 2015, the UK has provided airlift to facilitate other international contributions and, subject to parliamentary approval, is planning to provide a further £1 million of ammunition later this summer for Peshmerga use.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many convictions there have been for offences relating to cases of immigration marriage fraud in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The table below gives the number of individuals who were successfully prosecuted by Home Office Immigration Enforcement for offences relating to immigration marriage fraud.

Prior to 2014, the records were not held centrally.

The decrease in the number of referrals to the Home Office can be aligned to the introduction of the Immigration Act 2014.

This legislation extends the notification period for those seeking to marry up to 70 days and provides time for the Home Office to investigate whether the marriage is sham. The effect of this is that those marriages deemed to be sham can be prevented from taking place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the value of artwork and antiques held by local authorities.

Mr Marcus Jones

The information requested is not available.

However, the Department does collect information about total heritage assets held by local authorities which includes museum and gallery collections and works of art, as well as historical buildings, archaeological sites, military and scientific equipment of historical importance, historic motor vehicles, recordings of significant historical events etc.

The latest local authority figures that have been published are for 2013-14 and can be found in the drop down table entitled “Capital outturn return (COR5) 2013 to 2014 receipts and fixed assets for England” at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-capital-expenditure-and-financing-in-england-2013-to-2014-individual-local-authority-data

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults were recorded on prison staff on duty in 2014-15.

Andrew Selous

We do not tolerate violence of any kind in prison and any assault is treated extremely seriously. Any prisoner who commits an act of violence can expect to have action taken against them.

Statistics for assaults on staff are published in the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin.

The information requested may be found in the ‘Summary tables April 2004 to March 2015’ at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-march-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will introduce a National Defence Medal; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 December 2015 to Question 19127 to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Melanie Onn).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of rural bus services in West Yorkshire.

Andrew Jones

Decisions about the provision of bus services requiring local government subsidy are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.

The majority of public funding for local bus services is via block grant provided to local authorities in England from the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, my Department also provides around £40m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) funding directly to English local authorities to help deliver bus services, of which over £2 million goes to West Yorkshire.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential savings for Government departments due to the falling price of oil over the course of this Parliament.

Damian Hinds

No such estimate has been made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential economic benefits to the Calder Valley of accelerating the upgrade of the M62 to a four-lane smart motorway between junctions 20 and 25.

Andrew Jones

The recent Budget announced that funding had been brought forward to enable Highways England to accelerate the smart motorway investment for the M62 Junction 10 to 12 scheme by two years, and to accelerate delivery of the M62 Junction 20 to 25 smart motorway.

Design development work on these schemes is at the very earliest stage, and as such the analysis of the full economic potential of this investment is still being developed as part of the business case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase tourism in Yorkshire from (a) domestic and (b) foreign visitors.

David Evennett

Yorkshire had a record breaking year for inbound tourism in 2014 following the Grand Depart, and there were 1.29 million visits from international tourists to the region in 2015. Domestic overnight trips to Yorkshire were also strong in 2015: £1.92 billion was spent by these tourists in that year – an 11% increase on spending in 2014. Yorkshire also benefited from the £1m staycation campaign run early in 2016 to attract domestic visitors to the area following that winter’s floods.