Tag: David Nuttall

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to commission an independent assessment of the effect of any new tobacco control measures on small businesses prior to their introduction.

Jane Ellison

The Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before laying legislation using standard government methodology. These assessments are set out in Impact Assessments which are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument. Impact Assessments specifically look at the impacts on small and micro businesses. A number of the tobacco measures contain commitments to further review the impact of the legislation within five years of them coming into force.

The Department assesses the impact of tobacco control measures on an ongoing basis as it develops policy and considers new measures. In September 2013, the Department published An Audit of the impact of the Department of Health’s Regulations upon business. A copy of the report is attached. The Audit report covered all regulations for which the Department has responsibility believed to have a potential cost to business, including those relating to tobacco control. As advised in the report, there is a robust cost-benefit case for the tobacco control regulations considered and experience shows that initiatives to reduce smoking prevalence work best in combination, with cumulative effects over time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the grants awarded by the tobacco policy team in his Department are so awarded only after competitive bids have been invited.

Jane Ellison

Grants made under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 can be made in a number of ways. Grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health have been assessed as most appropriate for the non-competed route.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-03-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) Government’s net contribution to EU institutions and (b) UK’s current account balance with those institutions in 2014; and what estimate the European Commission has made of that contribution and that account balance.

Mr David Gauke

Both Government and European Commission outturn figures for the UK’s net contribution to the EU Budget in 2014 can be found in European Union Finances 2015 (Cm 9167), Tables 3A and 3C respectively. Since outturn figures are available there is no estimate. The difference between the two figuresis primarily due to the fact that Government figures include only receipts administered by UK Government Departments. The European Commission figures include both these receipts and also those which are paid directly to UK private sector beneficiaries such as universities and small and medium sized enterprises.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many items of correspondence his Department has received from (a) the Chair and (b) other members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

The Department would incur a disproportionate cost in calculating how many items of correspondence have been received from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health (APPG) in each of the last five years.

592 letters from the APPG have been recorded as received by the Department’s Ministers over that period. The Group may also have written to officials direct but this information is not collected centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Common Agricultural Policy on the level of poverty among farmers in Africa.

George Eustice

In the past, the CAP ‘dumped’ EU surpluses on global markets through export subsidies. These export subsidies lowered prices for producers in the rest of the world and represented unfair competition with farmers, particularly in developing countries.

However, over time the CAP has reformed and negative impacts on producers in the rest of the world have been reduced. In the 1980s, export subsidies accounted for around one-third of the CAP budget, but during the last CAP period they represented only around one per cent of the CAP budget. Furthermore, the EU, along with other developed countries, recently committed to eliminating all export subsidies by 2020 as part of the February World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement in Nairobi.

The EU also grants tariff-free access to its market to Least Developed Countries through the ‘Everything But Arms’ (EBA) agreement. Many of the countries covered by this agreement are in Africa.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to safeguard gas and electricity supplies in the event of a terrorist attack.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government takes the security of the energy sector very seriously and DECC works closely with industry and the relevant agencies in order to ensure a robust and proportionate security regime.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Common Agricultural Policy on the level of poverty among farmers in Africa.

George Eustice

In the past, the CAP ‘dumped’ EU surpluses on global markets through export subsidies. These export subsidies lowered prices for producers in the rest of the world and represented unfair competition with farmers, particularly in developing countries.

However, over time the CAP has reformed and negative impacts on producers in the rest of the world have been reduced. In the 1980s, export subsidies accounted for around one-third of the CAP budget, but during the last CAP period they represented only around one per cent of the CAP budget. Furthermore, the EU, along with other developed countries, recently committed to eliminating all export subsidies by 2020 as part of the February World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement in Nairobi.

The EU also grants tariff-free access to its market to Least Developed Countries through the ‘Everything But Arms’ (EBA) agreement. Many of the countries covered by this agreement are in Africa.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to safeguard water supplies in the event of a terrorist attack.

Rory Stewart

In accordance with the Security and Emergency Measures (Water and Sewerage Undertakers) Direction 1998, issued under the provisions of section 208 of the Water Industry Act 1991, water companies are required to produce plans to deal with all types of emergency situations. This includes ensuring appropriate preventative measures are in place to secure the water supply from deliberate harm, as well as plans to deal with a situation if it were to arise. These plans are regularly tested and updated where necessary and are subject to an independent check every year.

Providing expert security advice is integral to the function of protecting national security against threats. Defra and the water industry work closely with the Centre for the Protection for National Infrastructure on the protection of water supply and on the reduction of its vulnerability to terrorism and other threats.

As I am sure you will understand, details of the specific arrangements or any procedures related to national security are highly sensitive and cannot be disclosed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his Department’s policy that DNA samples should be taken when the remains of British soldiers who died in World War One are recovered.

Mark Lancaster

When remains thought to be of a British Serviceman are located, DNA samples may be taken if there is a realistic chance of a positive match to living descendants.

With over 300,000 British and Commonwealth personnel who died in World War One still having no known grave, the chances of one individual being linked to recovered remains alone are extremely remote.

Whilst extensive efforts are made to positively identify any recovered remains, these must first concentrate on forensic analysis of the remains, artefacts and clothing recovered, along with examination of documentary records such as Regimental War Diaries. Only once this work has identified a relatively small group cohort of likely names would DNA testing prove practical.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016 will be added to his Department’s Treaty Series 2016.

Mr David Lidington

The Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, concerning a new settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union, will be published in the Department’s Treaty Series.