Tag: David Simpson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Prime Minister, whether he raised the issue of persecution and human rights abuse of Christians living in China during the recent state visit by President Xi Jinping.

Mr David Cameron

I was clear during my wide-ranging discussions with President Xi Jinping of the importance that the UK attaches to human rights as part of our wider relationship with China. The joint statement reconfirmed our commitment to the Human Rights Dialogue, an important part of our engagement.

We raise the range of our human rights concerns directly with China, including during the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, most recently in April 2015. We also highlight them publicly in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights. We will continue to pursue our concerns both privately and in public fora.

We believe that freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right. I remain concerned by the restrictions placed on Christianity in China. We are aware of reports of the closure or demolition of churches, the removal of crosses from buildings, and that individuals are being harassed or detained for their beliefs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-06-06.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that every region in the UK benefits from future economic growth.

Greg Hands

Economic development in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is the responsibility of the devolved administrations. At the 2015 Spending Review, the government announced that funding available for infrastructure investment via the block grant would rise by 12% in Northern Ireland, 14% in Scotland and 17% in Wales through to 2020-21. At Budget 2016 the government then committed an additional £220m of funding through the Barnett Formula to Northern Ireland, over £650m to Scotland, and more than £380m to Wales.

The government is also empowering England to take responsibility for economic growth. By May 2017, over half the population of the North of England will have a powerful new directly elected mayor. £200m has been committed to Transport for the North, strategic investments have been made in science (including £235m for the Sir Henry Royce Institute,) and Hull has been backed as the 2017 City of Culture. The government is investing in growth in all parts of the country, for example through creating a Midlands Engine Investment Fund of over £250m. Meanwhile our business rate reforms offer local authorities across England unprecedented new levers to drive growth.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans his Department has in place to include the devolved administrations in UK trade negotiations in the future.

Greg Hands

In due course, Britain will be leaving the EU. This offers us an opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world: to negotiate, in time, our own trade agreements and to be a positive and powerful force for free trade. The Prime Minister has established the Department for International Trade to promote British trade across the world and ensure the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. The Government is currently reviewing its trade policy. We will engage fully with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland governments and with a broad range of stakeholders over the coming weeks and months as we prepare for negotiations with our international partners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the disparity between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in the price farmers are able to achieve when selling livestock.

George Eustice

We are part of a single market across Europe and as such we should not dictate what a fair price is for farmers and consumers. We support the farming industry by reducing red tape, funding research to foster innovation, extending the tax averaging period for self-employed farmers and working to open up new export markets.

In recognition of the difficulties faced by Northern Irish dairy farmers, the UK government pressed for additional money to be paid to Northern Irish dairy producers as part of the support payments. 71% of Northern Irish dairy farmers have now received their payment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that increases in the number of foreign, high-fee-paying students does not jeopardise access by UK students to places at their local university.

Joseph Johnson

International students are not in competition for places with British students. The UK is the second most popular destination for international students, and those coming here to study count towards our education exports. International students pay fees to fund their places, and also bring other benefits including providing diversity on our campuses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been invested in the protection of honey bees in the UK in each of the last five years.

George Eustice

Defra has spent between £1.5 million and £2 million on protecting honey bees in England in each of the last five years.

Our programme aims to protect honey bees from pests and diseases, including tackling disease outbreaks and monitoring for exotic pests such as the Asian hornet.

Defra also contributed an additional £2.5 million to the £10 million Insect Pollinator Initiative carried out between 2010 and 2015. This was a joint initiative to look at different aspects of pollinator declines. Of the nine projects funded, two were specifically about honey bees and six were aimed at benefiting both honey bees and bumble bees.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of people who have lost money through telephone scams (a) in each region and (b) in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-06-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that private pension providers facilitate access by policyholders to details of their investments.

Harriett Baldwin

At Budget 2016 the government announced that it will ensure the industry designs, funds and launches a pensions dashboard by 2019. This will help people to ensure that people can clearly view all their pension savings in one place.

This work will be industry-led. The Treasury is starting the work on catalysing and challenging the industry to deliver and I will set out next steps in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to address the change in Britain’s self-sufficiency rating.

George Eustice

The government has a manifesto commitment to introduce a 25 year plan to grow and produce more food, both to increase consumption of British food in the domestic market and to export more.

The UK Food Production to Supply ratio in 2015 was 61% for all food and 76% for indigenous-type food. This compares with 62% and 76% respectively in 2014. This has remained steady over the last decade.

Global food security is dependent on a number of factors including increasing production sustainably, reducing waste and ensuring open markets around the world to facilitate trade.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people were recorded as homeless in each region in each of the last five years.

Mr Marcus Jones

The number of households accepted as being owed a main homelessness duty in each region of England in the last five financial years is shown in the atttached table.