Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of levels of food insecurity in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

The UK currently has a high degree of food security as shown by the UK Food Security Assessment (published in 2010 and reviewed in 2012) which analysed the different global factors affecting UK food supply.

Global food security is dependent on a number of factors including increasing production sustainably, reducing waste and ensuring open markets around the world to facilitate trade.

Following a period of higher food price inflation retail food prices have fallen by 7.0% since their peak in February 2014. The proportion of household income spent on food has remained stable at 11% for 2015/16 compared to 2008/09.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the regularity of incursions into UK airspace by foreign jets; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning

The airspace around and approaching the UK is permanently monitored on a 24 hour basis. There have been no unauthorised incursions by any foreign military aircraft into sovereign air space around the UK, which projects 12 miles off shore or to mutually agreed mid-points between adjacent nations over narrow straits such as the Straits of Dover. The UK civil air traffic region and the NATO Air Policing Area, which the UK has responsibility for monitoring, include large areas of international airspace through which foreign military traffic may legally transit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from mental health charities on the adequacy of mental health provision in NHS services; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

Ministers and Departmental officials regularly meet with various stakeholders, including charities, to discuss how to improve mental health services in the NHS. We will continue to seek opportunities to enhance the charitable sector’s valuable role in providing support to people with mental illness and their carers and families.

The independent Mental Health Taskforce, which is chaired by the Chief Executive of Mind, brings together health and care leaders and experts in the field, including people using services, to lead a programme of work to create a mental health Five Year Forward View for the NHS in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of private agency supply teacher services in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

Schools, academiesand local authorities are responsible for recruiting and managing their supply teachers and whether or not they use private supply agencies.Supply agency costs are a private commercial arrangement between schools, or local authorities, and individual supply agencies.

Agency supply teacher spend data at national and local authority level is available in the following publications:

For maintained schools – ‘Expenditure by Local Authorities and Schools on Education, Children and Young People’s Services: 2013-14’ (Table 3), at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-education-and-childrens-services-spending-2013-to-2014.

For academy schools – ‘Income and expenditure in academies in England: 2013 to 2014’ (Raw data SATS table) at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-and-expenditure-in-academies-in-england-2013-to-2014.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) complaints and (b) investigations into complaints made by civil servants against special advisers in her Department there have been in each of the last five years; and how many such (i) complaints and (ii) investigations are outstanding.

Karen Bradley

We have no records of any complaints against or investigations into Home Office Special Advisers in the last five years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many counter-terrorism personnel were employed in the West Midlands in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes

For security reasons we do not publish a breakdown of counter-terrorism budget or staffing by region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the Libyan Council of Deputies in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We receive regular representations from members of the House of Representatives (also known as Council of Deputies) and other parties in Libya. The UK welcomes the statement of support for a Government of National Accord in Libya signed by the majority of House of Representatives members on November 24, and notes that a majority of General National Congress members in Tripoli also stand firmly in support of a Government of National Accord. Only such a Government can begin the difficult work of establishing effective, legitimate governance, restoring stability, and preserving the unity of the country, as expected by all Libyans. We fully support the UN process led by Special Representative of the Secretary General Martin Kobler as he works to facilitate Libya’s political transition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of its ability to (a) forecast and (b) mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

The Flood Forecasting Centre – jointly operated by the Environment Agency and Met Office – combines world class science, knowledge and experience on meteorology and hydrology to forecast flood risk. The daily assessment of risk enables extra time for emergency responders to prepare.

The Government has recently announced funding for a £97m supercomputer that will cement the UK’s position as a world leader in weather and climate prediction. In addition to this, the Environment Agency operates a flood forecasting and warning service for over 3000 local communities at risk from both rivers and the sea. Advice is provided by phone and text to over 1.1m home and business owners when their property is at risk.

Further investment to improve timely and accurate information to the public is underway. A £6m programme of improvements to weather radar will be completed this year and live data on river levels from across England was made available on the Government’s website earlier this year.

Climate change is factored into all the modelling work that the Environment Agency does, but in light of this extreme weather we must look at that modelling and ensure it is fit for purpose for future decisions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff made up the BIS Automotive sector team in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

Information on the number of staff in the BIS Automotive sector team over each of the last five years is illustrated in the table below.

Year (Calendar)	Number of Staff (Full-Time Equivalent)
2011	15
2012	15
2013	17
2014	20
2015	20

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual maintenance spend by the (a) Royal Navy, (b) British Army and (c) Royal Air Force has been in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

Annual maintenance spend, on equipment support and property management, is not recorded by individual arm of Service. This is because our Armed Services operate as integrated joint organisations in which the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force work together and share land, buildings, facilities and equipment.