Tag: Douglas Carswell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on creating a North-South water pipeline to bring water to London.

Rory Stewart

The Government is currently not considering any specific proposals to create a North-South water pipeline. Though we do recognise that increasing interconnection in our water supply system to allow water to be traded and moved will help improve long-term resilience, water is heavy and expensive to move over long distances and its transfer can also have adverse environmental impacts. In the short-term, the transfers that are most likely to be beneficial are strategic interconnection projects to join up water supply zones within, and between, water company networks.

In the longer-term, greater join-up between these networks could allow for the more strategic management of water transfers over a wider area. With the industry, we are exploring ways to increase cross-company collaboration over the next water resources planning period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of households with dependents under the age of 18 that will be affected by the draft Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015.

Damian Hinds

This information is not available.

This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor has made clear, the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will provide additional resources to North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group to allow GP surgeries in that group’s area to take on new patients.

Alistair Burt

The Department is aware that three general practitioner practices in Clacton have temporarily closed their list to new patients. This is a matter for NHS England.

NHS England advises that it is working with these practices to agree actions needed to re-open their lists in the near future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises in Essex that will have access to superfast broadband by completion of phase two of the superfast broadband programme.

Mr Edward Vaizey

By the end of phase two of the Superfast Broadband Programme approximately 93% of homes and businesses in Essex will have access to superfast broadband.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether his Office is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.

Mr David Cameron

At the February European Council the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

The civil service is working full-time to support the Government’s position. A document setting out the principal alternatives to our membership of the EU will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-17.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Bank of England on utilising the University College London RSCoin proposal as an alternative to Western Union, CHAPS, BACS and the Faster Payment Service.

Harriett Baldwin

Digital currencies, and the distributed ledger technology that underpins them, have the potential to bring innovative services and products to UK customers and firms – particularly in areas like international transfers.

The Chancellor announced in March 2015 that the Government will bring digital currency exchange firms into regulation in the UK to help the legitimate industry flourish, and to create a hostile environment for illicit actors. We will publish proposals on this regulatory regime in due course.

As outlined in Deputy Governor, Ben Broadbent’s recent speech, the Bank of England is also exploring this emerging sector and the implications it could have for monetary and financial stability as part of its broader research agenda.

Separately, academics at University College London’s (UCL) digital currency research centre have also been looking at how the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital currencies could be harnessed by central banks. The Government is encouraged to see this research from one of the UK’s world-leading universities. However, this a theoretical paper by an independent institution, separate from the Bank of England’s work and from Government policy.

It is the Government’s ambition to foster the growth of legitimate digital currency firms as part of the wider FinTech ecosystem here in the UK. As part of this, the Government will consider the wider implications of a growing digital currencies sector for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole. Some parts of Government are also looking at how the benefits of distributed ledger technology can be harnessed to deliver greater innovation. However, the Government and the Bank of England do not currently have any plans to introduce a centrally issued digital currency.

The UK has been rated as having the world’s leading FinTech ecosystem in a recent global benchmarking exercise and attracted c. £524mn in investment in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the outcomes have been of her Department’s programme of post-conflict development in Northern Uganda.

Mr Nick Hurd

The Post-Conflict Development Programme for Northern Uganda aims to improve service delivery in health, support the most vulnerable and help young people find employment, amongst other activities. This is in line with the new UK Aid Strategy which includes tackling the root causes of instability and conflict. Some of the main achievements include:

• Training 15,000 youth in vocational skills.
• Training 14,000 youth in entrepreneurialism.

• Construction of 1,738 homes for health workers and teachers to allow them to provide vital services in an under-served region, and reduce drivers of instability.

• Testing 60,992 children under five with high fevers for Malaria and providing treatment for those who were shown to be infected.
• Providing 10,000 food transfers in return for work to families at risk of malnutrition and unable to access employment opportunities due to the post conflict environment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2016 to Question 33257, what the Government’s policy is on (a) granting residency to and (b) possible prosecution of people who arrive in the UK as either refugees or asylum seekers who are married to a child under 16 when such marriages were undertaken legally outside the UK and were not performed under duress.

James Brokenshire

People of any age who are able to establish a protection need will normally be granted asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK irrespective of whether they are married to a child under 16 where the marriage was undertaken legally outside the UK and not under duress.

A person under 18 who seeks asylum as the spouse or civil partner of another asylum seeker will not be allowed to do so and must apply for asylum in their own right as a minor. Any minor seeking asylum or refugee granted leave on this basis who is known to be in a relationship akin to marriage will be referred to the local authority social services at the earliest opportunity, irrespective of the legality of the marriage or whether the marriage is believed to have taken place under duress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department had with (a) Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, (b) NHS Improvement and (c) the Care Quality Commission, prior to the announced merger of Colchester General Hospital and Ipswich Hospital.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, and the Chief Executive of NHS Improvement, Jim Mackey, decided jointly upon the recommendation for a long-term partnership between Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust and The Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust. A merger has not been announced.

The Department has regular conversations with NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission about trusts in special measures such as Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust. I also spoke with the Chair and Chief Executive of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, scheduled at their request, on 15 March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 13 of the report commissioned by her Department on Paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, published 19 October 2015, what assessment she has made of the extent to which the IRA’s Provisional Army Council oversees the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein with an overarching strategy.

Mr Ben Wallace

Further analysis of intelligence and actions relating as a consequence of the recent report is a matter for the Security Services and the Police. Ministers do not interfere with such operational decisions nor is it the policy of Her Majesty’s Government to comment publicly on such intelligence matters.