Tag: Jim Cunningham

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2015 to Question 15657, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of support provided to the arts in the West Midlands in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government recognises the intrinsic, social and economic value of the arts and supports fair distribution of funding across the whole country. Following the announcement of the spending review on 25 November 2015, Arts Council England will continue to support community arts organisations throughout the country including the West Midlands.

The West Midlands has seen a number of high quality arts programmes delivered in the region over the last five years. These include The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry which has received over £2.5 million of Government funding since 2012 enabling them to create eight new Youth Theatre groups – among them the Asian Youth Theatre and the Black Youth Theatre, which aim to give a voice to local communities; The Courtyard in Hereford which, thanks to almost £1 million of Government funding since 2012, became the first arts venue to join the Dementia Action Alliance, and is now a recognised leader in the development of dementia-friendly arts venues; and The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, one of Arts Council England’s National portfolio organisations, which has been attracting national attention by challenging and changing people’s attitudes towards racism, domestic violence, forced marriage, poverty and crime.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of grassroots sports funding; and if he will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch

DCMS have recently gone through a detailed spending review process which has recognised the enormous value of investing in sport, resulting in an excellent settlement for Sport England. Earlier this year we consulted on plans for a new strategy for sport which will be published shortly and which sets a clear direction for future grassroots sport funding

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what forecast his Department has made of how much it will spend on the starter homes fund in the next financial year; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The Spending Review announced £2.3 billion would be made available to support the delivery of Starter Homes over the Spending Review period. Further details about the use of this funding will be announced shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security and political situation in Libya.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We welcome the signature of the Libyan Political Agreement on 17 December which paves the way for a new Government of National Accord in Libya. The security situation remains fragile and it is vital that the new government is formed quickly to tackle the threats from Daesh and people smuggling.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20200, what estimate his Department has made of its total spend on mental health specialists in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster

The average costs for military, reserves and civilian personnel for each of the last three years, the period for which figures are available, are provided in the table below.

Where gaps exist in military or civilian mental health services delivery staff, locums may be used, the costs of which are also provided.

Year	Military	Reserves	Civilian	Locums
	million	million	million	million
2013	£15.06	£0.37	£2.01	£3.24
2014	£15.12	£0.19	£2.06	£2.69
2015	£14.18	£0.20	£3.17	£2.77
AVERAGE	£14.79	£0.29	£2.41	£2.9

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the amount it will spend on (a) television, (b) print, (c) online and (d) billing advertising in the next 12 months.

Jane Ellison

The Department does not hold an advertising budget.

As such there is no expected spend on advertising over the next 12 months other than that for the advertisement of public appointments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received from thalidomide survivors’ groups; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The Thalidomide Health Grants are currently for 10 years from 2012 to 2022.They total £80 million in England, £14.2 million in Scotland, £7.5 million in Wales and £4.6 million in Northern Ireland. The Thalidomide Trust administer the Health Grants and the number of beneficiaries receiving the Grants since their inception is set out in the following table.My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (George Freeman) MP, had an introductory meeting with representatives from the Thalidomide Trust and its National Advisory Councilon 22 October last year.

Country	2012	2013	2014	2015
England	325	325	325	325
Scotland	58	55	54	55
Wales	30	31	31	31
Northern Ireland	19	19	19	19
Total	432	430	429	430

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the value of funding her Department has allocated to Libya which has been spent in the city of Sirte; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne

Due to security and access issues, we estimate that no DFID funding allocated to Libya was spent in the city of Sirte last year. DFID provided £2 million in aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for humanitarian relief, protection and immediate lifesaving assistance to vulnerable populations in Libya in 2015. This humanitarian programme is providing assistance to internally displaced persons across Libya, including those from the wider region of Sirte.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24446, what reports her Department has received from the International Committee of the Red Cross on the spending by that body of humanitarian relief funds from her Department for humanitarian relief in Libya.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID’s £2 million funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Libya was given in response to their 2015 Budget Extension Appeal. The ICRC will submit to DFID, in accordance with agreed ICRC standard reporting timelines, an Annual Report, Financial Report and Annual Audited Accounts by June 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will conduct an assessment of the appropriateness of the definition of houses in multiple occupation; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The Department considers the definition of a house in multiple occupation, as set out in the Housing Act 2004, is appropriate and has no plans to change it. We have recently issued a technical discussion paper on whether to extend mandatory licensing to those houses in multiple occupation with fewer than three storeys and plan to publish our response and proposed next steps in the coming months.