The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of wheelchair access at sports venues.
Tracey Crouch
I refer my honourable friend to my answer to question 44837, answered on 7th September.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of free wi-fi and improve bandwidth access for armed forces personnel in military bases in the UK to remove the need for such personnel to pay individual monthly subscriptions for access to the internet.
Mark Lancaster
Whilst there is no overall programme to deliver free Wi-Fi access to UK based personnel each service is making some provision. The Royal Navy has rolled out Wi-Fi to six Royal Navy and Royal Marine establishments and intend to continue to roll out services to all Royal Navy and Royal Marine establishments subject to funding availability within the next 12 to 24 months. The service is provided free of charge to all personnel based at, working in or visiting these establishments.
There is currently no programme in place to roll out free Wi-Fi access across all Royal Air Force (RAF) stations, as facilities vary from location to location and any improvements are currently provided on application. The RAF has a scheme to provide improved free Wi-Fi access in communal areas, whereby public funding (from Local Initiative Grants or other permissible funding) covers the cost of the enabling works and a charity (the RAF Association) meets the running costs. To date, eleven RAF stations have benefitted from the increase in Wi-Fi access under this scheme, though other stations have provided free Wi-Fi in their communal areas through other individual initiatives.
The provision of Wi-Fi in Army accommodation is under contract and is payable by those who use it. There are currently no plans for the Army to provide free Wi-Fi. However, once global connectivity is in place across Defence, the single Service Commands will be able to request WiFi through the catalogue service, subject to available funding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the French government on the deployment of armed police on ferries operating across the English Channel.
Mr Ben Wallace
Earlier this year officials met, and have since been working closely with, French counterparts to discuss the current trial deployments of French sea marshals.
Arrangements for maritime security, including on cross -channel ferries, are kept under constant review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of free wi-fi and improve bandwidth access for armed forces personnel in military bases overseas to remove the need for such personnel to pay individual monthly subscriptions for access to the internet.
Penny Mordaunt
In Cyprus we have recently funded a programme of work to have Wi-Fi installed in the Single Living Accommodation at RAF Akrotiri, Episkopi Garrison, Dhekelia Station and, more recently, Ayios Nikolaos. This demonstrates the value placed on overseas service and the efforts made to address perceived disadvantage. WiFi is also available to personnel at the other Permanent Joint Operating Bases (PJOBs) in Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Diego Garcia and Ascension Island. However, this is provided by civilian contractors and the quality and cost to personnel varies across the sites.
Furthermore, for personnel deployed on Operations overseas, connection to family and friends is recognised as beneficial to the well-being of deployed Service Personnel and is realised via a variety of methods including; phone, mail and internet provision. Some locations are harder to reach, including some parts of Africa. Therefore, wherever practicable, the best method of internet provision is considered based upon connectivity, cyber security, duration of operation and value for money. Subsequently, provision of internet for welfare communication is normally met at Public expense, noting that in some locations where the provision of internet is provided by coalition partners, the MOD pays for some provision, allowing personnel to ‘top up’ or buy a faster service at their own expense.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England aged over 60 had a free eye sight test in each of the last three years; and what proportion that was of the total number of people eligible for such tests.
David Mowat
The table below, taken from the General Ophthalmic Services Activity Statistics for England, published by NHS Digital, shows the number of National Health Service sight tests provided to people aged 60 and over in England, between 2013/14 and 2015/16.
|
Year |
Total NHS sight test for people aged 60 and over |
% of total NHS sight tests |
|
2013/14 |
5,576,957 |
43.6% |
|
2014/15 |
5,507,932 |
43.2% |
|
2015/16 |
5,651,025 |
43.5% |
It is not possible to estimate what proportion of people eligible for free NHS sight tests used their entitlement during the reported years.
Notes:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to assess the basing and maintenance options for (a) the Type 26 frigate and (b) the new general purpose frigate.
Mr Philip Dunne
As part of its normal forward planning, the Royal Navy routinely reviews its requirements for future waterfront infrastructure, including berths, docks and related facilities, to inform decisions regarding infrastructure investment, base porting and maintenance.
The next review is planned to be conducted later this year and will take account of decisions in last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review, particularly the announcement of a class of eight Type 26 Global Combat Ships and the proposed new class of General Purpose Frigate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of building the new general purpose frigate class in parallel with the Type 26 programme.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence has commenced pre-concept work on the new class of light General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) which will help inform the overall approach to the surface maritime programme following Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
As this work is in its very early stages it is not possible to make an assessment of the feasibility of building the GPFF in parallel with the Type 26 Global Combat Ships, or what the potential merits of that approach would be.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the power systems upgrade for the Type 45 destroyer will commence fitting; and whether that work will be carried out by a contractor using facilities at HMNB Portsmouth for each ship in the class.
Mr Philip Dunne
On the question of when the power systems upgrade for the Type 45 Destroyers will commence, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 25149 on 8 February 2016 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Mr Douglas Chapman).
A decision on where the work will be carried out will be taken when the technical option and delivery model have been selected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of fitting Mark 41 vertical launch capability to the Type 45 destroyer.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 directed that further investigation be undertaken into the potential of the Type 45 Destroyers to operate in a Ballistic Missile Defence role. This work is under way and a range of potential capability development routes are being considered. It would be inappropriate to comment on specific missile systems at this stage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote the participation of women in the Syrian peace negotiations.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK is committed to peace talks between the Syrian parties, under UN auspices in Geneva and continues to work closely with the International Syria Support Group. The UK encouraged the UN Special Envoy for Syria and the Syrian opposition to include women in the negotiations. The UN established a Women’s Advisory Board and the opposition’s negotiating team includes women.