Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department had made of the capacity of rail services between Coventry and London; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

Rail services between Coventry and London are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due to be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast earlier this month. The outcomes of those consultations, including the key challenges and opportunities that the Department has identified for those franchises, will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number and value of arms export licences issued to Saudi Arabia since 19 March 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

Information on arms export licences are published as Official Statistics in the Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. They are available to view at GOV.UK.

The most recently published information covers the period to 31 December 2015. Information covering 1 January to 31 March 2016 will be published on 19 July 2016 and information covering 1 April to 30 June 2016 will be published on 19 October 2016.

All export licences are issued in strict accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what contribution her Department has made to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the last six months; and if she will make a statement.

Sir Desmond Swayne

The Global Goals are the starting point for DFID’s Strategic Objectives and are embedded across all that the Department does. In February this year we published our Single Departmental Plan (SDP), which sets out how we will play our part in delivering the UK Aid Strategy to help end extreme poverty, deliver the Global Goals and create a safer and more prosperous world.

This strategic approach reflects DFID’s commitments to economic development, girls and women and responding to humanitarian crises; as well as our ambition to lead the way internationally on engaging young people; tackling climate change; and investing more in research, technology and skills to maximise development outcomes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of British nationals claiming pensions who live outside the UK and in the European Economic Area; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson

No information is available concerning the number of British individuals who are living outside the UK and inside/outside the European Economic Area who are in receipt of a UK State Pension. This is because the UK State Pension is a contributory based pension, where nationality or citizenship do not form part of the eligibility criteria.

Information is available on the number of UK State pension recipients who live outside the UK by country; this can be found on the link below to the Department’s Tabulation tool.

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/cccountry/ccsex/a_carate_r_cccountry_c_ccsex_nov15.html

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40727, if his Department will increase the number of its employees based in Coventry in the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson

In the answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40727 the reference to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in the answer was specifically to BIS HQ and not any of its agencies.

BIS has no plans to increase the number of HQ employees in Coventry, given the decision to move to a single HQ and policy centre based in London.

The Skills Funding Agency has a significant presence in Coventry and our estate plans include a further education funding centre whose final location is yet to be decided but will initially be in Coventry.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on preventing the spread of ash dieback disease since that disease was first detected in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

We are monitoring and managing ash dieback and have invested over £4 million into surveillance and research.

Our surveillance programme involving Government, industry, conservation groups and the public, enables us to monitor the disease and to target resources effectively.

Investing in research on the development of tolerant trees is one of our key commitments in response to the disease. Ash trees have a very wide genetic diversity and have the potential for great levels of resistance compared to other tree species that have been affected by diseases.

The Government-funded research and screening trial of 155,000 ash saplings is unprecedented in its scope. It has now identified native ash trees that show tolerance to ash dieback, raising the possibility of using selective breeding to develop strains of trees that are tolerant to the disease.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to safeguard the status of non-UK EEA students in the UK as a result of the outcome of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

Joseph Johnson

Existing rules on EU and other EEA students remain in force. This means that existing EU and other EEA nationals and their family members eligible to receive student support (including loans) will continue to receive that support until they finish their courses. This applies to those who are either currently studying or who will begin courses in academic year 2016/17.

Further information is provided in a statement made by the Student Loans Company: http://www.slc.co.uk/media/latest-news/eu-nationals-and-student-finance-in-england.aspx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights record of the government of Bangladesh; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma

As I said during the adjournment debate on Bangladesh on 8 September, we are concerned about the protection of human rights in Bangladesh. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office named Bangladesh as one of 30 Human Rights Priority Countries in its 2015 report. The report cited the confrontational actions of the two main political parties, extremist attacks against secular writers and religious minorities and pressure on free speech, plus continued use of the death penalty as particular areas of concern.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of how much her Department will spend on children’s centres in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage

Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure sufficient children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. Local authorities must meet their statutory duties on children’s centres from funding that forms part of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Business Rates Retention Scheme. In addition, other government funding, including that for public health, adult skills training and troubled families may also be used locally to support services delivered wholly, or in part, through children’s centres.

Since April 2010 local authorities have reported actual and planned expenditure on children’s centres (regardless of the funding source) through annual Section 251 returns. This information is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/expenditure-on-education-children-and-young-peoples-services-academic-year-2011-to-2012 and: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/section-251-materials

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations she has made to the Football League and the Premier League on whether the Fit and Proper Person Test they use is appropriate and effective; and if she will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch

I have regular meetings with the Leagues, and have discussed the Owners and Directors Test (formerly Fit and Proper Persons Test) with them. The test exists to protect clubs from individuals who fall within the disqualifying criteria, and I am pleased that The Football Association, The Premier League and the English Football League have committed to keeping it under constant review so that it is achieving its intended purpose. This commitment is set out in the report by the Government’s Expert Working Group on Supporter Ownership and Engagement published earlier this year.