Tag: Laurence Robertson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on businesses which have entered into long-term supply contracts of the introduction of the national living wage.

Nick Boles

Businesses can respond to the introduction of the National Living Wage in a number of ways. In the case of supply contracts, the response is likely to vary from contract to contract according to specific circumstances. For example, some contracts will include provision for changes in statutory pay requirements.

The Government published a full impact assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage on 7^th December 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to support farmers in obtaining fair production contracts with supermarkets.

George Eustice

The Government introduced the Groceries Code Adjudicator so farmers receive fair contracting, adherence to the code, from supermarkets.

We are also pursuing a host of measures, including better branding and labelling in supermarkets, to improve the stability of the industry and help farming businesses to become more resilient and take advantage of the growing demand for British food both at home and overseas.

I have recently spoken to all the major supermarkets to encourage them to source more British produce, to promote British produce at point of sale and to consider greater use of aligned contracts linked to cost of production.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the number of part-carcasses that are imported from New Zealand.

George Eustice

The attached table provides imports of meat from New Zealand for January to November 2015, according to HMRC trade statistics, broken down by 8 digit commodity code. This represents the most detailed level of data available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funds his Department is providing from the public purse to deliver its autism strategy in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire; whether that funding is ring-fenced; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

Think Autism, the updated Cross Government strategy for adults with autism in England was published in 2014. A focus of the strategy is for public services and organisations to think about and engage with people who have autism more effectively and make reasonable adjustments or adaptations to improve outcomes and make better use of existing public resources. The Department made available revenue and capital funding of £4.5 million to support innovation and awareness in 2014/15 but no funds are individually ring-fenced. Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire local authorities both received £18,500 seed corn capital funding to make environments more autism friendly, and South Gloucestershire was awarded £8,300 for an Autism Innovation Fund project.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure suitable training and accreditation for support dogs.

Justin Tomlinson

Standards for assistance dogs are maintained on the basis of a voluntary regulatory framework. There is no specific legislation for the regulation of assistance dogs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of vaccinations that have been administered in each region to prevent the spread of bovine TB in the last 12 months.

George Eustice

Submission of data from vaccination projects for 2015 is not yet complete and so final figures are not yet available for the last 12 months. These will be made available in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of the coverage of high-speed broadband in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The roll-out of superfast broadband in Gloucestershire is being delivered by Fastershire which is a partnership between Gloucestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council with funding from central government’s BDUK programme matched by the local authorities. Over 68,000 homes and businesses in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire have access to superfast broadband which will increase to over 119,000 by September 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for therapy referrals and appointments for children with special needs (a) nationally and (b) in Gloucestershire in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

This information is not held centrally.

Currently in Gloucestershire, 94% of patients are accessing Speech and Language therapy and 99% of patients are accessing Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy within eight weeks of referral.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will extend the eligibility to apply for a registered assistance dog to adults with autism.

Justin Tomlinson

There is no register of assistance dogs. Assistance dogs are provided by charities and private sector organisations some of which are accredited member organisations of Assistance Dogs International or the International Guide Dog Federation. These organisations are responsible for making decisions on who they supply with an assistance dog.

Responsibility for deciding what treatment is best for patients rests with the doctors concerned who are required to exercise their clinical judgement, in consultation with the patient and informed by a patient’s medical history.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from farmers on the price of fertilisers and other chemicals used on farm land and its relationship to the price of oil.

George Eustice

I have received no specific queries about price of fertilisers and other chemicals and their relation to the price of oil. The Government does have regard to the impact of prices for agricultural inputs on farmers and publishes the Agricultural Price Index (API), which is a set of indices of the prices paid and received by UK farmers for agricultural goods and services.