Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to relocate Civil Service staff from London to the West Midlands to support the West Midlands Combined Authority Deal; and if he will make a statement.

James Wharton

My Department has a number of staff who are already based in the West Midlands, who have worked closely – and who will continue to work closely – with the authorities of the West Midlands on the development and implementation of their devolution agreement and who support delivery of key growth programmes such as Enterprise Zones and European funding.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what humanitarian support and assistance her Department plans to provide to aid agencies in Yemen in each of the next 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Sir Desmond Swayne

The UK more than doubled its humanitarian commitment to Yemen in 2015-16 to £85 million, making us the fourth largest donor last year. We have so far helped more than 1.3 million Yemenis who have been affected by the conflict. Over the next twelve months, we will continue to work with a range of partners to address the widespread humanitarian needs across Yemen, as well as helping to de-escalate the conflict, improve commercial and humanitarian access, lay the groundwork for recovery and push for a sustainable political solution. Budgets for 2016/17 will be announced in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many Civil Service employees of his Department were based in Coventry in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has 6 civil servants currently based in Coventry. Prior to that, some BIS employees were working on a multi-site basis. To establish which employees had worked in the Coventry office and the proportion of time they had spent in the Coventry office, over each of the past 5 years, would incur disproportionate costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from his European counterparts since the outcome of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and I have been holding, and will continue to hold, discussions with our EU counterparts since the referendum and the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) attended the European Council meeting on 29 June to explain the decision the British people have taken.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2016 to Question 42035, how many projects her Department jointly funded to look into the ecological value of ash dieback; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Defra funded a number of research projects in response to ash dieback, including two research projects to assess the ecological impacts of the disease on woodlands and other species. These have now been published and are available on the Defra science website:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=18994&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=ash%20dieback&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=19187

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will review the powers of local authority pensions schemes to indirectly invest in companies linked with the manufacture of cluster munitions.

Mr Marcus Jones

Investment decisions in the local government pension scheme are the responsibility of the 90 designated administering authorities in England and Wales and must be taken on the basis of expert advice and in compliance with the Scheme’s regulatory framework. Since 2000, pension fund authorities have been required to publish a statement of investment principles, including their policy on the extent to which social, environmental or ethical considerations are to be taken into account in the selection, retention and realisation of investments. The regulations also require that each statement is published locally.

We have no immediate plans to change these existing obligations, but will keep them under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Relocation programme; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

We intend to resettle up to 20,000 Syrians in need of protection during this Parliament. We will continue to work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify appropriate cases, prioritising the most vulnerable. The numbers resettled in a particular period will depend on a range of factors including the flow of referrals from UNHCR in the field and the availability of suitable accommodation and care packages in the UK. We continue to work closely with local authorities to manage the arrival of the Syrian refugees in to the resettlement places they have pledged. We will manage the flows based on need and in support of the wellbeing of the people and communities involved, rather than rushing to meet arbitrary targets. However, we are clear that we want to help as many people as we can as quickly as possible.

The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Latest statistics published on 25 August confirmed that a total of a total of 2,898 Syrians have been resettled under the scheme since it began, 2,646 of these arriving since 1 October 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will estimate the total amount his Department has spent to date.

Greg Hands

The newly created Department for International Trade (DIT) has been forged out of the forerunner (non-ministerial) Departments UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), UK Export Finance (UKEF) and has assumed Trade Policy Unit responsibilities previously held by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes the Secretary of State as a corporation sole, DIT remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many meetings he has had with officials from the World Trade Organisation since the creation of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands

In addition to speaking on the phone and an exchange of letters, my Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade and my noble Friend the Minister of State for Trade Policy have each had one face-to-face meeting with the Director General of the WTO since the creation of the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on the Government maintaining its EU climate obligations after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK remains firmly committed to tackling global climate change. This commitment is enshrined in our domestic legislation via the Climate Change Act 2008. In line with this, we recently set the UK’s fifth domestic carbon budget in law. The UK remains a member of the European Union and existing rules apply.