Tag: Jeremy Lefroy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the potential contribution of measures to support freedom of religion and belief to achieving (a) Sustainable Development Goal 16 and (b) other sustainable development goals.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK will continue to promote universal human rights as an integral part of building prosperity and stability around the world and attaches great importance to ensuring that people of all faiths can participate fully in society and live without fear of abuse or discrimination. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) leads on the UK’s work in promoting freedom of religion and belief overseas. DFID works closely with the FCO to raise concerns about freedom of religion with partner governments to ensure that all citizens can claim their rights. This is indeed part of our work to promote the golden thread of democracy, and achieve Goal 16 and the other Sustainable Development Goals. For the UK, the Sustainable Development Goals’ pledge to leave no one behind is one of the most important principles of the post-2015 Agenda. We have been a champion of Goal 16 to promote peaceful and inclusive societies and access to justice for all. We are working to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals will be monitored closely.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what research and development her Department is funding into the potential role of agroforestry in improving soil health and condition and prevention of erosion.

Mr Nick Hurd

The Department for International Development supports a number of research programmes that assess the use of agroforestry to promote soil health and prevent as well as reduce erosion. This includes, for example, work with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the global Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security research programme (CCAFS).

My Department also supports a wide range of development programmes with agro-ecological components, from agroforestry, soil and water conservation, land use management to climate resilience and conservation agriculture. These include, for example, The Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP), and Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED). The full range of our programmes can be found on our Development Tracker website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost to the economy and (b) number of deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance in the last 12 months for which figures are available; whether he has made such estimates for future years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

A broad estimate of the cost of antimicrobial resistance to the National Health Service is £180 million per annum.

Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem. In the longer term, a forecast of the global economic costs and deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance is available from the independent review on antimicrobial resistance led by Lord O’Neill of Gatley. His review estimates that drug-resistant infections could kill an extra 10 million people globally every year by 2050, and have a cumulative cost to the world of around $100 trillion in lost output.

The United Kingdom is taking the lead in addressing antimicrobial resistance globally, investing £265 million in the Fleming Fund to strengthen surveillance of drug resistance and laboratory capacity in developing countries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department and NHS England plan to take to improve birth outcomes for women (a) from ethnic minority groups, (b) of lower socio-economic status and (c) from other groups who experience poorer birth outcomes.

Ben Gummer

In November, the Government announced a national ambition to halve the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth by 2030. To help meet these aims the Government established a capital fund of £2.24 million to support trusts to buy equipment to improve safety. More than 90 trusts were successful in sharing this funding. In addition, the Government is investing £500,000 to develop a new web-based system to be used consistently across the National Health Service so staff can review and learn from every stillbirth and neonatal death, and over £1 millon in multi-disciplinary training programmes to ensure staff have the skills they need to deliver world-leading safe care.

In February 2016, the report of the National Maternity Review ‘Better Births’ was published. It sets out a vision for the future of maternity care in England and puts forward a series of recommendations to ensure that services become safer, more personalised, kinder, professional and more family-friendly. Additionally, in March, NHS England launched the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle designed to support providers and commissioners of maternity care to take action to reduce stillbirths and early neonatal deaths.

There is evidence to suggest that when implemented the proposals outlined in Better Births will lead to a reduction in inequality of outcomes from maternity services. In particular, more continuity of carer and greater personalisation of care should result in improvements in services to groups of women who tend to experience poorer outcomes, and in turn lead to improved outcomes for women and their babies.

Later this year the Department will begin a targeted campaign to raise awareness of stillbirth, neonatal death and maternal death risk factors which will be aimed at 16-21 year olds, lower socio-economic groups and ethnic minority groups.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many undergraduates studying (a) soil biology, (b) soil chemistry and (c) combined soil biology and chemistry her Department is sponsoring at (i) UK universities and colleges and (ii) universities and colleges in third countries.

Mr Nick Hurd

DFID is not currently centrally funding any undergraduates studying (a) soil biology, (b) soil chemistry or (c) combined soil biology and chemistry at (i) UK universities and college or (ii) universities and colleges in third countries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2015-10-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the projected level of income tax that will be forgone by the taxpayer by providing higher rate income tax relief on pension contributions in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

Mr David Gauke

Information on the total cost of pensions tax relief is published in HM Revenue and Customs’ National Statistics table PEN6, available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/registered-pension-schemes-cost-of-tax-relief

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2015-10-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to establish a grant scheme to support charities providing rapid response vehicles for medical purposes.

Greg Hands

The government is currently finalising the administration arrangements for the rapid response grant scheme which will open for applications this financial year. The scheme will cover the VAT costs incurred in the purchasing and fitting out of medical emergency rapid response vehicles by charities which are not already in scope of existing VAT refund schemes or are not already funded for VAT. The total grant available across the UK will be £100,000 in 2015-16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total renewable installed capacity was on 30 June 2015.

Andrea Leadsom

At the end of March 2015, total renewable electricity installed capacity in the UK was 26.4 GW. Figures as at end of June 2015 will be available on 24 September 2015.

Source:

Table 6.1, Energy Trends section 6: renewables, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewables.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many entry visas for business purposes were granted to nationals of (a) China, (b) India, (c) Brazil, (d) Indonesia, (e) Malaysia, (f) Nigeria, (g) Tanzania and (h) Kenya in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2014-15.

James Brokenshire

The requested information is given in the table below, for skilled workers sponsored by business (Tier 2 of the Points Based System):

[Insert table]

The Home Office publishes statistics on entry clearance visa grants by work category in table vi_06_q_w (Entry clearance visas tables volume 2) within the ‘Immigration Statistics’ release.

A copy of the latest release, “Immigration Statistics April to June 2015”, is available from the Library of the House and the Home Office website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what analysis his Department has carried out on the comparative living costs of people (a) in the work related activity group of employment and support allowance and (b) on jobseeker’s allowance.

Priti Patel

The Department has not carried out any analysis on the comparative living costs of these two groups.

If claimants experience additional costs as a result of their illness or disability, they may be eligible to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which we have exempted from the Benefit cap and will continue to uprate by inflation.