Tag: Lord Blencathra

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-05-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have gathered on the reported decline of grey squirrels in areas with pine marten populations.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Forestry Commission is involved in the Vincent Wildlife Trust’s pine marten recovery project in mid and north Wales. The Forestry Commission in England is supporting a project in the Forest of Dean with the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Forest Research and others to pursue a pine marten restoration project. This project includes studies into impacts of pine martens including on trees and other wildlife. Natural England is also working with the Trust to restore viable populations of pine martens to northern England.

The Forestry Commission is also working closely with one of the authors of the paper that identified the decline in grey squirrel populations in the Irish midlands, which may be associated with the abundance of pine martens. The work with the author and others will further explore the relationship between red squirrels, grey squirrels and pine martens in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-07-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to (1) change the colour of the current British passport from maroon to dark blue, and (2) remove the words European Union” from British passports.”

Baroness Williams of Trafford

There are no immediate plans for changes to the format or colour of the UK passport. Parliament will be informed of any changes to the passport following UK withdrawal from the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Offender Management Service plan to adopt a regime based on isolation and solitary confinement for all those Muslim prisoners who are assessed as posing a risk of encouraging Islamic radicalisation whilst in prison.

Lord Keen of Elie

The government is committed to tackling all forms of extremism. Keeping the most dangerous extremists away from other prisoners is essential to the safe running of our prisons and fundamental to public protection. Planning is under way to create specialist units within the high security estate to allow greater separation and specialised management of extremists who pose the highest risk to other prisoners. The regime of the new units will not be based on isolation or solitary confinement but on removing a small subset of the most dangerous and subversive radicalisers from the mainstream prisoner population.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 June (HL475), what is the justification for requiring self-employed vehicle courier drivers to have third party insurance but not cyclist couriers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Current legislation requires the use of motor vehicles to be covered by third party liability insurance. Compulsory insurance only applies to motor vehicles because the average speed and construction of motor vehicles means that they are much more likely than a pedal cycle to cause serious property damage or personal injury to a third party.

We have no plans to make insurance compulsory for cyclists. However, all cyclists are encouraged to take out liability insurance and a range of products are available on the market.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any grant application by or award made to Action on Smoking and Health by the Department of Health in the last five years was not considered first by the Voluntary Sector Grants Hub.

Lord Prior of Brampton

All grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in the last five years have been awarded under Section 64 powers. There are a range of different circumstances under which it would not be appropriate or represent best value for money to run a competed scheme. The grants awarded to ASH have been assessed as most appropriate for the non-competed route.

The assessment of any grant application for funding from ASH is undertaken by members of the Tobacco Control policy team. Following this assessment, the Grants Hub makes a decision regarding whether or not to approve the application. These policy assessments contain policy advice to Ministers and so are not made public. Approvals are required from Ministers and from HM Treasury or are subject to a Departmental approval process that has been agreed with HM Treasury.

To identify relevant representations the Department has received would result in disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-05-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current level of financial support they provide to the Woodland Trust and its tree planting programme, and whether they have any plans to increase that support over the next four years.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

In the last financial year, the Government provided £55,338.12 to the Woodland Trust, to plant 35,400 trees with state primary schools across England in spring 2016. This support will increase over the next four years, as we expand the programme to fund the Woodland Trust to provide an additional 400,000 trees for schools for schoolchildren to plant in school grounds and local communities.

The Woodland Trust can apply for grants under the Countryside Stewardship scheme, as part of the Rural Development Programme, in the same way as any other land owner or manager and it receives grants from previous support mechanisms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-07-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have conducted any research into the possible mental and psychological impact on children of using Twitter and Facebook; and if not, whether they plan to do so.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department does not itself conduct research, but funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Department’s Policy Research Programme (PRP). The NIHR and the PRP have not funded specific research into the possible mental and psychological impact on children of using Twitter and Facebook and have no plans to commission research on this topic. In 2014-15 (the latest year for which data is currently available), the NIHR invested £72.6 million in research in mental health, including the mental health of children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish details of the Islamist de-radicalisation treatment and of the organisations that deliver it.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The new Desistance and Disengagement Programme will be launched as a pilot in October 2016. The pilot will focus on those convicted of terrorist, or terrorist-related offences, who have served their custodial sentences and are due to be released on licence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 September (HL1842), whether any of the soldiers who fought in Musa Qala in 2006 were considered for medals within the timescale of the five-year rule.

Earl Howe

The Ministry of Defence does not retain unsuccessful recommendations for Military Honours and Awards. It is, therefore, not possible to ascertain whether any Service personnel who fought in Musa Qala in 2006 were recommended for an award outside of the five-year rule.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the job titles of the officials and other individuals on the Department of Health’s Voluntary Sector Grants Hub.

Lord Prior of Brampton

As at 16 November 2015, the job titles of the officials and other individuals in the Department of Health’s Voluntary Sector Grants Hub are:

Civil Service Grade / Job Title	FTEs
Grade 7	1
Senior Executive Officer (SEO) – Team Leader	1.75
Higher Executive Officer (HEO)	1
Higher Executive Officer (HEO) – Senior Account Manager	4
Executive Officer (EO) – Account Manager	7

Job titles provided along with grades in instances where staff share the same job title.