Tag: Laurence Robertson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available for victims of sexual abuse under the age of 13.

Sarah Newton

The Government is committed to providing support for both victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. In 2016-17 we have made £7 million available to organisations working with victims and survivors of sexual abuse. £4.74 million has been provided to Police and Crime Commissioners to distribute to organisations working with victims and survivors locally. £600,000 was allocated directly from the Home Office to six organisations working with victims and survivors across the country.

The Government is committed to transforming mental health services for children and young people, and £1.25 billion has been provided to support this. It is expected that by 2020 an extra 70,000 children and young people will be helped every year.

On 13 September, I announced that £7.2 million had been provided by the Home Office to pilot two ‘Child Houses’ in London. The Houses will provide child-oriented multi-agency support for child victims under one roof. We are currently considering how, if the pilot is successful, we can make this model more widely available.

The Government is continuing to work with local areas to ensure that children of any age who are victims, or at risk of, abuse, can receive the support they need in a timely fashion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many regulated Retail Financial Advisory firms there are; and how many have five or more financial advisers working for them.

Harriett Baldwin

This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply to you directly by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on river dredging as a means of reducing flood risk.

Rory Stewart

The Government’s flood risk management work focuses on where it delivers the greatest flood risk benefit to people and property. Dredging and other kinds of conveyance work form an important part of the Environment Agency’s maintenance regime. The effectiveness of dredging in managing flood risk varies substantially for each stretch of river. The Environment Agency is spending a total of £21m on dredging in 2014/15 and 2015/16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the proportion of farmers who will have received their payments under the Basic Payments Scheme by the end of January 2016.

George Eustice

When part payments have been made in the past this has led to years of confusion for farmers and additional costs in processing and disallowance for the Rural Payments Agency. This is why the RPA continues to focus on making full payments on the remaining claims as quickly as possible.

As at 18 January the RPA had paid around two thirds of eligible Basic Payment Scheme claims received. The Agency continues to focus on making payments on the remainder of claims as soon as possible and remains on track to pay the vast majority of claims by the end of this month.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will increase Government funding for emergency food aid to Ethiopia.

Mr Nick Hurd

We are very concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation for 18 million people across Ethiopia. Britain is working closely with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure adequate funding for drought response activities.

We acted quickly and decisively at the onset of the drought by providing emergency food aid for 2.1 million people in 2015. This year, we have committed £40 million to provide food aid to a further 3.8 million people in April.

In collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, DFID is also ensuring that 120,000 severely malnourished children receive treatment in order to recover quickly.

Our overall funding for the drought to date is £113 million. We are continuing to work with the Government of Ethiopia and other donors to make sure needs are being met. We are monitoring the situation closely.

UK Aid resilience work with the Government of Ethiopia has helped prepare 10 million people to cope with this drought.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the opportunities to present evidence in child custody cases; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Phillip Lee

The law requires the welfare of the child to be the court’s paramount concern when making any decision about a child’s upbringing, including with whom the child is to live or spend time.

Any person who is a party to such proceedings will provide initial evidence and information to the court in their original application or in any response to an application. A party may make representations to the court about any further evidence they wish to put before the court. Rules of court indicate that it is for the court to determine how and when parties may submit evidence. The rules provide for different ways in which this can be done, including a party giving evidence in writing, orally or via video link facilities, where available.

In child arrangements proceedings, the court may also ask the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) to provide independent analysis and recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 2.21 of the Summer Budget 2015, what arrangements he has put in place to enable the funding provided for defibrillators to be disbursed.

Jane Ellison

Following our 2015 Budget commitment on defibrillators, we have awarded the British Heart Foundation (BHF) £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England.

More information can be found on the BHF’s website:

https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/nation-of-lifesavers/about-defibrillators/apply-for-a-defibrillator-in-england

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Government spent on creating flood prevention schemes since 2007.

Rory Stewart

Government funding on flood and coastal erosion risk management is available in the ‘Central Government Funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England’ document. This is available in the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480527/Funding_for_Flood_and_Coastal_Erosion_in_England_Dec_2015.pdf

This document sets out both capital and resource expenditure from 2005.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the trends in the level of farm borrowing.

George Eustice

Total UK farm borrowing in 2014 stood at £16.6 billion. Over the last 10 years borrowing has increased by nearly 70%, or by 34% in real terms (allowing for the impact of inflation).

However, the total value of UK farm assets has more than doubled in real terms over the last 10 years, largely due to the increased value of land. This has led to a significant increase in the net worth of the sector despite the rise in borrowing.

More details on the borrowing, value of assets and net worth of the sector can be found in the aggregate balance sheet for agriculture on the statistics (total farm incomes) page of the GOV.UK website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to encourage vets, re-homing centres and dog wardens to scan stray dogs for microchips.

George Eustice

It is already best practice for vets, re-homing centres and dog wardens to scan strays and they have a duty of care to do so. To assist dog wardens, the Kennel Club has provided free scanners to all local authorities. We will also be reminding these parties of the need to scan dogs.