Tag: Danny Kinahan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of the funding of £500 million for shared schooling in Northern Ireland is expected to come from her Department’s budget.

Mr Ben Wallace

In the ‘Stormont House Agreement’ signed on 23 December 2014, the UK Government agreed a contribution of up to £500m over 10 years of new capital funding to support shared and integrated education, subject to individual projects being agreed between the Executive and the UK Government.

In the recent ‘A Fresh Start: the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’ the UK Government agreed a number of further flexibilities to the funding commitments contained in the ‘Stormont House Agreement’ including that capital funding for shared and integrated education can be used to support shared housing projects, with individual projects to be agreed by the UK Government.

This funding to the Northern Ireland Executive will come from Her Majesty’s Treasury through the Northern Ireland Office.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent Inspectorate report of HM Prison Maghaberry.

Andrew Selous

Prisons are a devolved matter and responsibility for HMP Maghaberry lies with the Northern Ireland Department of Justice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Energy Bill on Northern Ireland’s ability to contribute to the achievement of the UK’s international climate change obligations.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government is committed to delivering on our domestic, EU and international climate change targets. We are confident of meeting our ambition of 30% of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2020.

Northern Ireland continues to play its part, with electricity generation from renewables increasing from 19.5% in 2013 to 22.2% in 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the variation in the number of teaching hours provided to and fees paid by university students.

Joseph Johnson

No such assessment currently exists. However, in our Green Paper: “Fulfilling our potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice,” we proposed that the new Teaching Excellence Framework could consider information about levels of teaching intensity and contact hours. We will be setting out our response to the Green Paper in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to promote an international antiquities code of conduct to prevent the illegal trade in such objects.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The UK welcomes steps towards developing a collaborative approach to tackling the illicit trade in antiquities and plays a key role in supporting international initiatives on this matter.

The Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 makes it a criminal offence to deal dishonestly in tainted cultural property from anywhere in the world. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has issued guidelines to the relevant UK sectors.

In addition, in the UK, trade associations for dealers in antiquities have codes of conduct for their members. For example, the Antiquities Dealers Association’s Code of Conduct obliges its members to ensure to the best of their knowledge and belief that all objects sold are genuine and as described and legal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on securing infrastructure funding for projects in Northern Ireland when the UK withdraws from the EU.

Kris Hopkins

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has regular discussions with colleagues on a range of issues regarding the UK’s exit from the European Union.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed on 13 August that European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs) projects signed before the Autumn Statement will be fully funded, even when these projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.

For projects signed after the Autumn Statement, the Government will work with the devolved administrations on funding arrangements to allow them to prioritise projects within their devolved responsibilities. As we transition to longer-term arrangements, we will ensure the devolved administrations are treated fairly and that their circumstances are taken into account.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the funding levels are for Combined Cadet Forces in schools in 2016-17.

Mark Lancaster

There is no set budget for the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) and the cost of Ministry of Defence (MOD) sponsorship of the CCF is calculated retrospectively.

The latest assessment of the cost to the MOD of funding the CCF was for Financial Year (FY) 2013-14 when the total was £30.144 million. This figure covered the running costs and fixed costs of over 350 cadet units with a total of over 41,000 cadets. Running costs include equipment, rations, uniforms, transport, and remuneration for Adult Volunteers. Fixed costs include training infrastructure and overheads, regional structures, and central management administration and support.

The baseline cost of the CCF for FY 2016-17 will not be substantially different from the 2013-14 figure, although the Government has committed an additional £50 million from LIBOR fines to the joint MOD/Department for Education Cadet Expansion Programme to increase the number of cadet units in schools to 500 by 2020. Most of the new units will be CCF contingents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to restore the cider differential.

Damian Hinds

The government recognises that small cider producers are a traditional part of rural economies and its support for small cider producers has helped create a diverse and vibrant market, improving consumer choice and creating jobs. To support the wider industry, at the March 2015 Budget the duty on lower strength cider was cut by 2 per cent.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason a representative of Northern Ireland was not present at the COBR meeting on 15 November 2015.

Mr Oliver Letwin

As is the case with information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, detailed information about attendance at COBR meetings is not disclosed. As a general principle, where an emergency directly affects areas of competence of a Devolved Administration, then they will either be invited to attend or advised on significant developments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place greater emphasis on improving cancer diagnosis rates when forming his Department’s policies in future.

Jane Ellison

Improving early diagnosis of cancer is a priority for this Government. We will continue to work with NHS England, Public Health England and other partners to achieve early diagnosis through improved screening programmes, Be Clear on Cancer campaigns to raise awareness of symptoms of cancer to encourage people with symptoms to present promptly to their general practitioner (GP), and help for GPs to refer more accurately.

We have committed to implementing recommendation 24 of the Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report Achieving World-Class Outcomes that by 2020, everyone referred with a suspicion of cancer will receive either a definitive diagnosis or the all-clear within four weeks. NHS England is working with partners across the health system to consider how best to take this forward. This standard will be underpinned by investment of up to £300 million more in diagnostics each year by 2020.

NHS England has launched a major early diagnosis programme, Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate (ACE), working jointly with Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support to test new innovative approaches to identifying cancer more quickly. Outputs from the first wave of test sites, which commenced in April 2015, will be delivered on a phased basis, with the majority falling between September 2015 and December 2016. It is expected that ACE Wave 1 evaluation will be complete by mid-2017.

In June this year, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an updated guideline ‘Suspected cancer: recognition and referral’. The guideline focuses on key symptoms, to make it easier to use and will continue to support GPs to identify patients with symptoms of suspected cancer, and urgently refer them as appropriate. The guideline recommends a lower referral threshold for urgent referrals where cancer is suspected.