Tag: David Anderson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effects of court closures between 2010 and 2015 on access to justice.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Effective access to justice has been maintained between 2010 and 2015. Access to justice is not just about proximity to a court.

We have secured over £700m of funding to invest in our courts and tribunals. We have worked closely with the senior judiciary to develop a plan for investing this in reforming the courts and tribunals so they can deliver swifter, fairer justice at a lower cost. This will include digitisation and modernisation of our IT infrastructure. This will mean court users can attend hearings remotely, and not be inconvenienced by having to take a day off work to come to court. It will also mean victims of crime can give evidence from somewhere they feel safe.

We are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services, including the use of other civic buildings and extending video conferencing facilities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will instruct HM Ambassador to Ethiopia to investigate allegations that paramilitary and security forces have killed more than 60 people in the Oromia region of that country following protests about enforced evictions of indigenous people; and if he will make a statement.

James Duddridge

The UK Government takes these allegations extremely seriously. We have raised concerns with the Ethiopian government about the use of force and urged the authorities to exercise restraint. The Department for International Development Parliamentary Under Secretary of State raised this issue with the Ethiopian Deputy Prime minister on 11 December, as did our Chargé d’Affaires with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs on 15 December. Our Embassy in Ethiopia is monitoring closely the situation. We will continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Ethiopia, including on the use of force.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to (a) Libya, (b) Kenya and (c) Somalia in the last three years.

Penny Mordaunt

UK Reapers are currently operational in Iraq and Syria. No UK Reapers have been deployed to Libya, and no personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to Libya, Kenya or Somalia in the last three years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the level of payments by Remploy to Experts by Experience; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has advised that it has taken into account the application of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 in the new contracts with Choice Support and Remploy Ltd.

The CQC issued a press release on 28 January 2016 on this matter. It advised that the CQC’s contractual discussions with Remploy Ltd and Choice Support are still ongoing. The CQC understand that Remploy has now written to Experts by Experience confirming they will pay an hourly rate of £15 for the first six months of the contract – commencing 1 February 2016.

Departmental Ministers have not received any representations about the importance of Experts by Experience in the National Health Service or the level of payments by Remploy to Experts by Experience.

The Department has not received any direct correspondence about the importance of Experts by Experience in the NHS or the level of payments by Remploy to Experts by Experience. We are, however, aware of one email on this subject that the Department has been copied into that was sent to the CQC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, within what timeframe his Department is able to deploy Reaper drones to Libya.

Penny Mordaunt

I am withholding the information on the deployment timelines of Reaper Remotely Piloted Air Systems as its disclosure would or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will assess the suitability of the hinterland of the Port of Blyth as a location for an ultra-super critical coal fired power station; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

With the exception of proposals for nuclear generating stations, the choice of location for any energy generation project is a matter for the developer concerned, and the location`s suitability will be considered as part of the consent application process. Any new coal plant must demonstrate carbon capture and storage on at least 300 MW of its proposed generating capacity and comply with the Emissions Performance Standard.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 27212, on what data work commenced on Joint Services Policy (JSP) 900 UK Targeting Policy – Edition 2.

Penny Mordaunt

Work to create JSP 900 UK Targeting Policy Edition 2 began in January 2014 and the document was in the process of being finalised in September 2014. However, further work was required to ensure the Ministry of Defence’s Full Spectrum Targeting (FSpecT) policy was coherent with the evolving National Full Spectrum Effects (FSE) approach.

In September 2015 Defence Instructions and Notices (DIN) 2015DIN03-024 "Full Spectrum Effects For Defence Operations" was released. The DIN set the framework for FSpecT policy within FSE; JSP 900 Edition 2 was released shortly afterwards. A review of JSP 900 Edition 2 is under way and it is expected that a new edition will be required to incorporate lessons identified from operations in Iraq and Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce new initiatives to increase the uptake of new technologies on the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman

The Government is actively supporting a number of initiatives to accelerate access to innovative treatments. These include the Early Access to Medicines Schemes which supports access in the United Kingdom to unlicensed or off-label medicines and represents a significant advance in treatment in areas of unmet medical need and the Accelerated Access Review, which aims to speed up access to innovative drugs, devices, diagnostics and digital products for National Health Service patients, and to make the UK the best place to develop these innovations.

NHS England supports the invention and adoption of transformative healthcare technologies. This includes existing technologies, where the benefits are already proven but wider adoption is critical to benefit all patients, and new technologies, which require larger scale trials to test out their impact individually and in combination. Current initiatives include the sponsorship of 15 Academic Health Science Networks (£48 million core funding in 2015-16), the Small Business Research Initiative (£20 million in 2015-16), and the Test Bed programme which is providing funding for frontline health and care workers to evaluate the use of novel combinations of interconnected devices such as wearable monitors, data analysis and new ways of working.

NHS England has been tasked under section 7.1 of the NHS Mandate to “Implement the agreed recommendations of the Accelerated Access Review including developing ambition and trajectory on NHS uptake of affordable and cost-effective new innovations”.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33237, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health risks of the use of lasers by driverless vehicles.

Anna Soubry

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills believes that the General Product Safety Regulations should ensure that lasers used by driverless cars do not present an unacceptable health risk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-05-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of coal produced and imported into the UK is used for (a) electricity generation, (b) steel production, (c) cement manufacture, (d) domestic uses, (e) carbon fibre goods, (f) liquid fuel manufacture, (g) mobile phone components and (h) heritage railways in the latest year for which figures are available.

Andrea Leadsom

The table below gives the proportion of coal produced and imported into the UK by sector for 2014. DECC only produces industry consumption data for the main industrial sectors. Therefore, data is not broken down specifically for cement manufacture, carbon fibre goods, liquid fuel manufacture and mobile phone components. For industry the table shows the two largest consumers and iron and steel.

	Thousand Tonnes	Proportion %
Total Demand	48,500
Transformation	45,665	94.1%
Of which: Electricity Generation	38,400	79.2%
Industry	2,240	4.6%
Of which : Mineral Products	1173	2.4%
Pulp, paper, printing, etc	136	0.2%
Iron and Steel	54	0.1%
Heritage railways	13	0.03%
Domestic	547	1.1%
*Other	35	0.1%

*includes energy industry use, public administration, commercial and miscellaneous.

Source:

DUKES table 2.4 available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes.

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