Tag: Emily Thornberry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2016 to Question 26146, on what programmes has contingency funding for the Defence Equipment Plan been spent in each year since 2012; and how much was spent on each programme.

Mr Philip Dunne

Centrally held contingency funding for the Defence Equipment Plan was introduced for the first time in 2012. During the 2014 Annual Budget Cycle, it was re-profiled into the later years to reflect better the level of risk in the equipment plan. As a result we have not spent any of the contingency in the years to date. However, we have allocated funding from it in future years to support specific programmes (Rotary Wing Flying Training System and Ajax Vehicles).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his policy for the House to be informed after his Department’s cyber strike capability has been used in cases where urgent action has been required such that it has not been possible to inform the House in advance.

Penny Mordaunt

We continue to develop the ability of our Armed Forces to deploy a broad range of offensive cyber capabilities as an integrated part of military operations. As with other sensitive defence capabilities, we do not reveal specific details in order to safeguard national security. As we have previously made clear in the context of the war powers convention, we do not propose to define the circumstances in which we would consult Parliament about the use of particular military capabilities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has (a) sought and (b) received permission for the use of (i) Italian or (ii) US facilities at Sigonella by RAF aircraft for operations in Libyan airspace.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We have had a long-standing presence at Naval Air Station Sigonella, and have made frequent use of it. However, it is not normal practice to comment on the details of arrangements with host nations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of Syrian opposition groups which the Joint Intelligence Committee has identified as non-extremist are currently represented in the UN-led peace negotiations in Geneva.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

There are currently four representatives of Armed Opposition Groups in the seventeen member negotiating team of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee in Geneva, including Mohammed Alloush (representing one of the armed groups), who is the Chief Negotiator.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the likelihood of (a) full ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty and (b) the commencement of negotiations on the proposed Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Strategic Defence and Security Review restated that the Government sees entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and successful negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty as key steps towards multilateral disarmament. While we cannot predict when other States will take the decisions necessary to achieve these goals, we continue to pursue both objectives, which were strongly supported in the G7 Foreign Ministers’ declaration at their meeting in Hiroshima.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total size was of the Government’s fleet of M3 Amphibious Rig bridging vehicles in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

38 M3 Amphibious Rigs have been in service with the British Army in each of the last six years. No additional rigs have been loaned from the German Army during that time. The planned out of service date for the M3 amphibious rig is 2027; early work is under way to provide a wide wet gap crossing capability in future. No decisions have yet been made about future basing sites for the M3 Amphibious Rig.

The following table shows the number of recorded equipment failure reports (EFR) in each of the last six years.

Calendar Year in which EFR recorded	No of EFRs recorded in calendar year
2010	16
2011	0
2012	5
2013	1
2014	4
2015	0

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Universal Credit (Work Allowance) Amendment Regulations 2015 (S.I., 2015, No. 1649) on work incentives for single parents in receipt of universal credit.

Priti Patel

Universal Credit (UC) has been designed to reduce poverty and ensure work pays. Once fully rolled out, up to 300,000 more people are likely to be in work as a result of the introduction of UC. The Government is also providing additional support for families by increasing childcare funding within UC from 70% to 85% of eligible costs, the introduction of Tax Free Childcare and the extension of free early years childcare for working parents from 15 hours to 30 hours.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to respond to its call for evidence on the cost of providing childcare published on 15 June 2015.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The call for evidence is part of the government review on the cost of providing childcare and is one of the sources of evidence that will inform its outcome. The review will inform decisions on funding for early years which will be made as part of the Spending Review on 25 November. The Department published the analysis of the responses to the call for evidence on GOV.UK on 8 October and the report is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-bill-policy-statement

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Ministry of Justice press release, Prison building revolution announced by Chancellor and Justice Secretary, published on 9 November 2015, what plans the Government has to ensure that redevelopment of prison sites in central London includes an element of social housing.

Brandon Lewis

Over this Parliament the Government is committed to releasing surplus public sector land with capacity for up to 150,000 homes by 2020. It is for local planning authorities, working with developers, to decide the appropriate level of market and affordable housing for each site having regard to the Local Plan and viability.

We strongly support the re-use of brownfield land that is suitable for new housing. The Housing and Planning Bill will require local authorities to have a statutory register of brownfield land suitable for housing, improving the availability and transparency of up-to-date information, as part of our ambition that 90% of suitable brownfield sites have planning permission for housing by 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of participants in (a) the Mandatory Intervention Regime, (b) Community Work Placements and (c) Daily Work Search Review under the Help to Work scheme have been sanctioned since April 2014.

Priti Patel

Information on how many participants in Mandatory Intervention Regime and Daily Work Search Review, who have been sanctioned since April 2014, is not available

The number of Community Work Placements individuals with an adverse benefit sanction applied due to Failure to Participate in the Community Work Placement is 7,880 (between April 2014 and June 2015). This represents 15% of the total number of individuals referred to Community Work Placements in this time period.