Tag: John Spellar

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether training in celestial navigation is provided for new recruits to the Royal Navy.

Penny Mordaunt

For new recruits, celestial navigational training is only undertaken by Royal Marine recruits in weeks eight and 10 of their training as part of the Royal School of Military Survey lessons. However, celestial navigational training (referred to as Astro(navigational) training within the Service) is taught to Naval Officers as part of targeted career training courses at the Maritime Warfare School at HMS Collingwood. These include: Initial Warfare Officers, the Fleet Navigation Officers Course and in a Specialist Navigation Course (for those officers undertaking specialist training in navigation at Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander rank with a view to navigating larger vessels such as carriers and amphibious assault ships).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that her Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

George Eustice

The Department’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service. In addition, in 2014 the government introduced the plan for public procurement of food and catering services and Defra has adopted the use of the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach to sourcing food which recognises factors like celebration of provenance, local food traditions and consumers’ connection to producers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) passenger vehicles, (b) vans, (c) public service vehicles and (d) heavy goods vehicles are licensed; and how many vehicles in each such category (i) use petrol, (ii) use diesel and (iii) are hybrid.

Andrew Jones

The numbers of licensed vehicles in the categories requested are shown in the table below.

Licensed vehicles of selected types of propulsion type in the UK as at 30 June 2015
Vehicle Body Type	Petrol	Diesel	Hybrid	Other	Total
Passenger Vehicles	1906892	11592134	22382	5956	30944434
Vans	1414	3518023	122	14328	3673873
Public Service Vehicles	4851	164107	1	504	169463
Heavy Goods Vehicles	2537	498816	0	1085	502438
Notes:
1. Vehicle types shown are based on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency vehicle body type definitions:
Passenger vehicles = cars; Vans =Light Goods with a gross weight of up to and including 3.5 tonnes; Heavy Goods Vehicles = Goods vehicles with a gross weight of over 3.5 tonnes;
Public Service Vehicles = Buses and Coaches (including minibuses with 9-16 seats)
2. Hybrid vehicles may be under-recorded for Public Service Vehicles and Heavy Goods Vehicles: other includes gas and electric

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the armed forces are taking in cooperation with other countries to prevent piracy off the coast of West Africa.

Penny Mordaunt

Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, as well as Short Term Training Teams (STTTs), work episodically to assist in building the capacity of maritime forces in West Africa in order that they may mitigate a range of security threats, including piracy. In 2015 HMS DRAGON, HMS LANCASTER and RFA GOLD ROVER delivered capacity-building training to maritime forces in Angola, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. In partnership with US maritime forces, STTTs conducted training in Angola, Cameroon, Gabon and Ghana while bilateral training was delivered in Mauritania, Morocco and Nigeria. In 2016/17 there are plans for RFA GOLD ROVER and HMS PORTLAND to continue these capacity building efforts and for an STTT to return to Nigeria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK Suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the likelihood of the Government’s net migration target being met.

James Brokenshire

Uncontrolled mass immigration increases pressure on public services and can drive down wages. That is why our ambition remains to cut net migration to sustainable levels. We continue to work across government to reduce net migration outside of the EU and seek reform in Europe to reduce the pull factor behind EU migration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the use of private companies to arrange foster care placements.

Edward Timpson

The arrangement of foster care placements is the duty of local authorities. All placements must be made with consideration to the child’s assessed needs through a robust care planning process.

The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 set the statutory framework for all fostering services, including Independent Fostering Providers. The regulatory framework for the provision of foster care placements is clear that local authorities must have access to sufficient placements to meet the needs of the children they look after. As long as placements meet the needs of the child, it is for local authorities to determine whether placements are provided in-house or by independent providers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

George Freeman

The Department’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure United Kingdom suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage the take up of organ donor cards among South Asian and other minority ethnic communities.

Jane Ellison

UK Government provides NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) with around £60 million a year to support organ donation. In 2013, NHSBT launched a UK – wide organ donation and transplantation strategy Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, setting the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates. The Department has also established the National Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Transplant Alliance with the aim of raising awareness about the need for stem cell and organ donation, and increasing the number of people from BAME communities who can benefit from either a stem cell or organ transplant.

South Asian people are more likely to need a kidney transplant than a Caucasian person but families are less likely to consent to organ donation. The result is that patients from South Asian background wait much longer for organ transplants, particularly for a kidney transplant. Therefore, to support the wider 2020 strategy, the Department funded Kidney Research UK to undertake a Peer Educator Programme within the Pakistani Muslim community in Birmingham with the aim of raising awareness of the lack of donors and increasing the numbers on the bone marrow and organ donation registers. Lessons learnt will support the roll-out of the programme in other similar areas of work.

NHSBT also has a wide range of leaflets promoting organ donation that are translated into a number of different South Asian languages including Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many complaints have been made to the DVLA about the issuing of private parking tickets in the last year; how many such complaints have been upheld; and how many companies have been barred from access to the DVLA data base in that period.

Andrew Jones

In 2015, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) received 59 complaints about 23 different private parking companies about concerns arising from the issue of a private parking ticket.

Six private parking companies were suspended from requesting DVLA data in 2015.