Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 14012, what estimate her Department has made of the number of signatories to the Waste and Resources Action Programme.

Rory Stewart

The Waste and Resources Action Programme manages four voluntary agreements which support collaborative action to increase resource efficiency and reduce waste. The number of signatories to each agreement is currently as follows:

Courtauld Commitment 3

• 53 signatories including leading retailers, brands and manufacturers in the food sector.

Electrical and Electronic Equipment Sustainability Action Plan

• 69 signatories.

Hospitality and Food Service Agreement

• 115 signatories.

Sustainable Clothing Action Plan

• 45 signatories.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 14774, what data his Department holds on the number of voluntary carers in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

We take voluntary in this context to mean informal unpaid carers – those volunteering to care in a formal capacity are not included in these statistics which are set out below.

Data on provision of unpaid care from the 2011 Census was published by Office of National Statistics (ONS) on 11 December 2012. This showed that there were 6.5 million carers in the United Kingdom.

On 15 February 2013, the ONS published an article with the results of further analysis of the data, which shows that the overall number of unpaid carers in England and Wales has grown by 600,000 since the 2001 Census (approximately 5.8 million people, representing just over 10% of the population).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15281, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of teachers trained in the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

There are now more, better-qualified teachers in England’s classrooms than ever before. In November 2014 there were 454,900 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers, up 5,200 from the previous year and up 13,100 from 2010. A record 96.6 per cent of all teachers now hold a degree or higher qualification.

Teacher vacancy rates have remained stable at around 1 per cent of all posts for over a decade, and retention rates have also remained stable over the same period. Approximately 90 per cent of teachers are in service in the year after they qualify, and 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still teaching 5 years later. Over the longer term, over 60 per cent of teachers remain in service 10 years after qualifying.

Nevertheless, we recognise that teacher recruitment is a challenge as the economy continues to strengthen and competition for new graduates intensifies; this is particularly true in certain areas of the country. We are taking steps to attract more top graduates and career changers into the profession, particularly in those core academic subjects that help children reach their potential. This includes offering generous financial incentives, such as tax-free bursaries of up to £30,000 for top graduates in priority subjects such as physics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the budget is for implementation of the UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy (AMR) Strategy detailed implementation plan, published in December 2014, set out those activities that needed to be undertaken to deliver the strategy in each of seven key areas for action. No separate budget was identified. Activity in the plan is led by the Department of Health, Public Health England, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and NHS England and is incorporated within existing business plans for those organisations.

In March 2015 the Government announced the new £195 million Fleming Fund to strengthen surveillance of drug resistance and laboratory capacity in developing countries. As stated in the Overseas Development Aid Strategy, published on 22 November. The Government will invest a further £70 million in the Fleming Fund and deliver the new Global AMR Innovation Fund launched with China. The Government will continue to push for further international financing for research and innovation to tackle AMR.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the amount of funding will be for the Starter Homes Local Authority Funding Programme in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

We announced, as part of the outcome of the Spending Review in November, a £2.3 billion Starter Homes funding package to support the delivery of our manifesto commitment to build 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020. This is part of the £8 billion we are investing to deliver 400,000 new affordable housing starts. Further details about this funding will be announced shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of recipients of NHS bursaries in each of the last five years; how much has been so allocated; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

Information on the number of students who were in receipt of a bursary and the total cost of all bursaries made in each of the last five complete financial years is shown in the following table.

Financial Year 1	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Number of NHS Bursary recipients2	107,966	100,906	102,186	102,791	100,097
Total expenditure (£000)3	521,456	509,422	482,219	452,134	430,349

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Notes:

¹Covers the period 1 April to 31 March

²The figures relate to the number of students paid any bursary element in the period. As such figures exclude nil award holders (European Union) fees only students and students whose award was fully abated by means-testing. ³Covers all bursary award elements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Eastern Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

The security situation in eastern Ukraine remains fragile, although a ceasefire agreed in September continues largely to hold following an order issued by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ chief-of-staff on 25 November not to return fire unless in self-defence. Progress on the Minsk peace process was made at a Normandy-format Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 6 November, including agreements on the withdrawal of heavy weapons and de-mining. However these now need to be fully implemented alongside the ceasefire being fully respected.

A report published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 9 December reported that the total death toll since mid-April 2014 is at least 9,098, with another 20,732 injured. The report also reveals that serious human rights abuses against people in the separatist-held areas continue, including killings, torture, ill-treatment, illegal detention and forced labour, lack of freedom of movement, assembly and expression. An estimated 2.9 million people living in the conflict area continue to face difficulties in exercising their economic and social rights, in particular access to quality medical care. The already dire humanitarian situation is exacerbated by the lack of access to these areas by international humanitarian organisations. Sustained and unimpeded access by humanitarian organisations to these areas is vital.

I expressed my concern at the situation in Ukraine in a statement at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel on 3 December, where I called on the Russian Federation to withdraw their weapons and personnel, and use their considerable influence over the separatist leadership in order to bring an end to the crisis. I also raised the Government’s concerns about the situation in Eastern Ukraine with Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Titov in Moscow on 22 December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Bahraini counterpart on the number of political prisoners held in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain – including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting which was most recently held in November 2015. If we have specific concerns around convictions or sentencing, we raise these with the Government of Bahrain as part of our wider dialogue on human rights and reform.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) economic contribution of pollinator activity across the UK and (b) potential last economic value if pollinator populations continue to decline at present rates; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Bees and other pollinators play an essential role in our £100 billion food industry. In 2014, Defra published an independent review of the evidence on the status and value of pollinators[1]. The review estimated the total value of all pollinators through the value of insect-pollinated crops in the UK as approximately £600 million, updating estimates of around £400 million in previous Defra-funded research. It also concluded that there was insufficient data to calculate the ‘lost economic value’ of ongoing or likely future changes in pollinator populations.

[1] http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=18916

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will publish the results of its consultation into the Reform of the Landfill Communities Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds

The government published a summary of responses to the consultation Reform of the Landfill Communities Fund alongside Autumn Statement 2015. This document can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479337/Summary_of_consultation_responses-as15-final.pdf

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