Tag: Craig Whittaker

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of adults in (a) Calder Valley, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England have been diagnosed with dementia in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison

Information is not available in the format requested.

The number of people recorded on the practice dementia disease register is available in the Quality and Outcomes Framework, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, from 2006/07, when dementia indicators were introduced into the framework. The proportion of patients diagnosed is not available but the numbers of people on the dementia register are available. This is a measure of prevalence rather than incidence.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how often he reviews the level of threat to each of the UK’s overseas territories.

Penny Mordaunt

The Ministry of Defence undertakes regular assessments of potential threats to each of the UK overseas territories and ensures that we retain an appropriate level of defensive capability to address any such threats. We remain vigilant and committed to the protection of our overseas territories.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the influence of ISIS in Yemen; and what steps his Department is taking with regional allies to curb that influence.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We remain concerned by the terrorist threat in Yemen, including the presence of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Daesh-Yemen. Long term instability increases the risk that terrorist groups continue to exploit the deteriorating situation to consolidate their support base and capabilities.

Throughout 2015, we saw an expansion of Daesh-Yemen, albeit starting from a small base. We judge that they remain a threat to UK strategic interests in the region, rather than a direct threat to the UK. We continue to work with regional partners to tackle the terrorist threat from Yemen. For operational reasons we cannot comment in detail on this activity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Brazilian government on ensuring adequate security for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mr Hugo Swire

I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 29 May given in response to PQ 38251.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the need for humanitarian aid and assistance in Yemen.

Rory Stewart

The United Nations’ 2016 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP), published in January 2016, reports that 21.2 million people in Yemen require some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs or protect their fundamental rights, particularly for food, water and sanitation, healthcare, and support to internally displaced people. The YHRP is currently 26% funded with donations of £351 million. The UK has so far committed to spending £72 million in Yemen over 2016-17. We continue to call on other donors to provide funding for the crisis.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support infrastructure development in West Yorkshire.

Mr David Gauke

The government is taking steps to improve infrastructure across the UK, including committing to over £100 billion capital investment by the end of the Parliament.

Since 2010, more than 200 schemes have been delivered in Yorkshire and the Humber. The National Infrastructure Pipeline sets out 29 projects and programmes worth £6.6bn for the region. This includes nearly £1bn for the West Yorkshire Plus transport fund, to help increase employment opportunities and economic growth by creating 20,000 jobs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to work with local authorities to reduce the level of fly-tipping.

Rory Stewart

Tackling fly-tipping is a Government priority and manifesto commitment. Next spring we will be giving councils the power to tackle small scale fly-tipping through fixed penalty notices as an alternative to prosecutions.

This builds on other Government action to tackle fly-tipping, which has included:

• working with the Sentencing Council on its guideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July last year;
• making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized; and
• continuing our work with the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of the use of performance drugs among young people in sport.

Tracey Crouch

Performance enhancing drugs remain a threat to the integrity of sport and the health and wellbeing of all our athletes. The Government supports the work of UK Anti-Doping which works tirelessly to ensure athletes and sport are clean. Through testing programmes, intelligence sharing with law-enforcement agencies on supplying and trafficking, and its excellent athlete education initiatives, UKAD is one of the world’s most highly regarded national anti-doping organisations

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to work with local authorities to reduce the level of fuel poverty.

Andrea Leadsom

We are working with Local Authorities on fuel poverty initiatives in several ways:

• In March 2015 we announced the £25m Central Heating Fund, a Local Authority competition designed specifically to implement the principles of the fuel poverty strategy. 20 Local Authorities were successful and are now delivering central heating systems to low income households in their local communities. Installing a central heating system can cut the cost of heating a home adequately by over £1,000 a year, making real progress towards our fuel poverty objectives.
• Also in March last year we distributed £1m to scale up nine existing Local Authority schemes focused on tackling cold homes to improve people’s health. The evaluation of these projects is now underway and we are working closely with the Local Authorities to assess their impacts on health and on fuel poverty, as well as the effectiveness of their different approaches to delivery.
• Green Deal Communities awarded 23 Local Authorities funding to provide subsidy to householders to install energy efficiency measures, mainly solid wall insulation. Many of these schemes are targeting and providing funding to householders in fuel poverty.
• We are also interested in the role Local Authorities could play in a future energy company obligation (such as ECO); using local knowledge and working with ECO obligated energy suppliers to identify households in the greatest need. We will be consulting on the design of a supplier obligation in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, when he expects the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to next review the (a) ward and (b) councillor arrangements in metropolitan districts in West Yorkshire.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England informs me that arrangements for both wards and councillors are recommended through its electoral review procedure.

The Commission further informs me that Leeds City Council is in the early stages of an electoral review to consider the number of councillors elected to the authority in the future and the ward boundaries which will accommodate those elected members. None of the other metropolitan districts in the West Yorkshire area are part of the Commission’s programme of electoral reviews for the next twelve months. The Commission’s programme of reviews for the following year will be agreed in autumn 2016.

There are three reasons why a local authority could become part of the Commission’s programme of electoral reviews. First, the Commission assesses levels of electoral inequality across all local authorities in England on an annual basis. Where the Commission determines that there are high levels of variances between wards or electoral divisions, namely where some councillors represent many more – or many fewer – voters than the average for the authority, it will initiate an electoral review to address the imbalances.

The Commission will also carry out a review at the request of a local authority. Since 2011, the Commission has carried out 48 electoral reviews of councils that have asked the Commission to intervene. The majority of requested reviews have been initiated by authorities that have asked the Commission, in particular, to consider the total number of councillors elected to the council.

Thirdly, the Commission will intervene where it believes that an electoral review will help an authority deliver effective local government. Such reviews have been conducted in Stoke-on-Trent, Doncaster and – currently – in Birmingham where an independent report recommended that an electoral review should take place.