Tag: Edward Argar

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the tree-planting rates have been in England in each year since 2006.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Forestry Commission collect and publish National Statistics for England on the area, in hectares, of new woodland planting. It also estimates the number of trees planted, based on the average number of trees planted per hectare in the grant supported planting. In 2015-16 this average was 1,566 trees per hectare.

Table 1 below provides annual planting area published by the Forestry Commission since 2006 and its estimate of the number of trees planted.

In 2015-16 the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) supported 546 hectares of planting and it is estimated that 165 hectares of woodland was created, without RDPE support, bringing the total created during 2015-16 to 711 hectares.

In the period April 2016 to June 2016, a further 422 hectares of woodland was recorded as being planted with RDPE support.

The RDPE figures reflect the slow initial take up of Countryside Stewardship support for woodland planting. Planting is recorded at the time the grant is paid, which means that some planting will have taken place in the previous financial year to that in which it is recorded. Approximately 1,292,000 trees were planted in England with RDPE support since April 2015.

Table 1: New planting of woodland in England since 2005-06

Financial Year to 31st March	a) New planting by land area	b) Estimated number of trees
	Thousand hectares	Million trees
2005-06	3.7	4.1
2006-07	3.2	3.5
2007-08	2.6	2.9
2008-09	2.5	2.8
2009-10	2.3	2.5
2010-11	2.5	2.8
2011-12	2.7	3.0
2012-13	2.6	2.9
2013-14	3.3	3.6
2014-15	2.4	2.6
2015-16	0.7	0.8

Source: Forestry Statistics 2016 (Forestry Commission)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment the Government has made of (a) the condition of the port infrastructure at Hodeida in Yemen and (b) Hodeida’s ability to function as a port for the purpose of delivering and unloading international aid.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK assessed the damage to Hodeidah port in August 2015. The port is currently running but with significant constraints: cranes and warehouses have been damaged and the lack of a reliable electricity supply is affecting port operations. However, the port is still operational: it can receive and unload shipments and is capable of servicing between 3 and 5 ships at a time, dependent on size. Between 1-15 November (most recent data), 12 ships berthed in Hodeidah port.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the likely rate of tree-planting in England in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Forestry Commission has reported, as an Official Statistic, that 522 hectares of woodland, equivalent to 798,000 trees, was planted through Government-funded incentives to the end of June 2016. All agreements for schemes with planting planned for 2017 are currently being processed and have yet to be signed, meaning that no forecast of tree numbers can yet be provided. However, the Forestry Commission estimates that the likely rate of new woodland planting will increase in the remainder of 2016 and 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will set out for broadcasters the level of progress it expects to see on the provision of subtitles and audio-descriptions for on-demand content before it reviews the legislation in that area.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Authority for TV On Demand (ATVOD) are currently preparing the report "Provision of Video on Demand Access Services 2015". This report, combined with meetings with broadcasters, content providers and platform operators, will inform Government’s next steps.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timetable is for the publication of the findings of the Accelerated Access Review.

George Freeman

Sir Hugh Taylor published his interim report to the review on 27 October 2015. The review will conclude with Sir Hugh’s final recommendations to Government which are expected in spring 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-03-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Financial Conduct Authority plans to report the findings of its consultation on the Financial Advice Market Review.

Harriett Baldwin

The Financial Advice Market Review, a joint review undertaken by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority, will report around Budget 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on economic development in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

The Government’s long-term economic plan is delivering for Northern Ireland. The economy there is growing.

There are 51,000 more people in work today than there were in 2010. The claimant count is down by 40% since its peak in February 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what criteria her Department uses to determine the award of contracts for projects overseas.

Mr Desmond Swayne

To determine the award of contracts, tenders are assessed against pre-defined and published evaluation criteria by an evaluation panel with relevant expertise. This assessment follows the EU Public Procurement principle of selecting the ‘most economically advantageous tender’. The evaluation has two main sections – technical evaluation and commercial evaluation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what weighting is given to bids made by British companies tendering for contracts from her Department for projects overseas.

Mr Desmond Swayne

No additional weighting is given to bids made by British companies tendering for contracts for projects overseas.

100% of DFID aid assistance is untied. British companies have proven to be very successful, winning over 85% of contracts awarded by DFID and also competing successfully for contracts from other international development agencies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department’s contracts for projects overseas were competitively tendered in each of the last three years.

Mr Desmond Swayne

90% of contracts awarded during 2013-14, 86% of contracts awarded during 2014-15 and 94% of contracts awarded during 2015-16 were competitively tendered. During this time-frame there were a number of contracts which are not deemed as competitively tendered.

Any programmes not competitively tendered are subject to Procurement management review.