Tag: Margaret Ferrier

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which local authorities in Scotland on what dates he (a) has visited and (b) plans to visit.

David Mundell

a) I have visited the following local authorities in Scotland:

1. City of Edinburgh – 29 July 2015
2. Western Isles – 30 July 2015
3. Highland – 25 August 2015
4. Angus – 2 September 2015
5. Dundee City – 2 September 2015
6. Perth and Kinross – 22 September 2015
7. East Lothian – 23 September 2015
8. Aberdeen City – 28 September 2015
9. Aberdeenshire – 28 September 2015
10. Ayrshire – 29 September 2015
11. Shetland Islands – 30 September 2015
12. Orkney Islands – 1 October 2015
13. South Lanarkshire – 8 October 2015
14. South Ayrshire – 8 October 2015
15. Glasgow City with PUS – 19 October 2015
16. Renfrewshire – 5 November 2015
17. East Renfrewshire – 5 November 2015
18. Inverclyde – 5 November 2015
19. North Ayrshire – 6 November 2015
20. Midlothian – 23 November 2015
21. West Lothian – 23 November 2015
22. Scottish Borders – 23 November 2015
23. East Dunbartonshire – 3 December 2015
24. Fife – 4 December 2015
25. Falkirk – 7 December 2015
26. Clackmannanshire – 7 December 2015
27. North Lanarkshire – 10 December 2015
28. Stirling – 14 December 2015

b) I plan to visit the following local authorities in Scotland in early 2016 (dates to be confirmed):

1. Argyll and Bute
2. Moray
3. Dumfries & Galloway
4. West Dunbartonshire

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will place in the Library the action plan produced by the current Tata Steel Task Force.

Stephen Crabb

The Welsh Taskforce was convened on 20 January and met subsequently on 1 February. The next meeting will be held on 15 February.

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, attended the meeting on 1 February and will attend future meetings whenever practicable. Due to prior commitments he was unable to attend the first meeting and the Wales Office Director represented the Department. UK Government officials also attend Taskforce meetings.

The Taskforce is chaired by Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, Edwina Hart. Minutes of the Taskforce and any agreed programme of work are matters for the Welsh Government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many Instant Rewards of what value were given to his Department’s officials in each of the last five financial years.

David Mundell

The following provides information on the number and total value of Instant Rewards given to officials in each of the last five years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has received representations from Amnesty International on photographs alleged to show UK-produced cluster munitions dropped in Yemen.

Michael Fallon

Amnesty International wrote to the Prime Minister on the 23 May, and to the Department on 3 June, on the alleged use of UK-produced BL-755 cluster munitions by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 29007, what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the badger culls in 2016.

George Eustice

Defra published an updated badger control policy value for money assessment on GOV.UK in August 2016, including estimated costs to government per licensed area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department has taken to promote use of the UK Guarantees Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ben Wallace

In the Northern Ireland economic pact, Building a Prosperous and United Community, the Government committed to applying its Infrastructure Guarantee Scheme flexibly to ensure that locally or regionally significant projects in Northern Ireland will be eligible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to reply to the letter of 26 November 2015 from the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West regarding mass executions in Saudi Arabia.

Mr David Cameron

A reply has been sent.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each year since 2010-11.

David Mundell

The Scotland Office spend on air, rail and taxi travel since 2010-11 is shown below:

The Scotland Office does not separately record information and expenditure on first or business class travel. It is Scotland Office policy not to use first or business class travel for officials. All ministerial travel is undertaken by the most efficient and cost effective way, in accordance with the Ministerial Code, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department attended the Scottish Steel Task Force meeting on (i) 29 January 2015, (ii) 13 November 2015, (iii) 26 November 2015, (iv) 11 December 2015 and (v) 14 January 2016.

David Mundell

As the hon Member knows from our discussions on this issue, Scotland Office Ministers have taken a close interest in this matter, including meeting with BIS Ministers to discuss the impact of Tata Steel closures in Scotland. While Scotland Office Ministers have not attended the Taskforce, the Scotland Office has been represented by officials at all of the Scottish Steel Taskforce meetings to date.

In addition, we have worked with BIS colleagues to ensure that Scottish Government officials have been able to fully participate in the three UK working groups, and Scottish Government have been invited to be part of the newly formed Steel Council.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-03-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward measures for Vehicle Excise Duty rates on motorcycles to be based on carbon dioxide emissions where such data is available.

Damian Hinds

It has only been since 1 January 2016 that it has been mandatory for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions data to be included as part of the type approval process for motorcycles. Therefore, it has not been possible to base VED rates for motorcycles on CO₂ emissions.

The current engine capacity based rates offers the most practical and easy-to-understand way to reflect the respective emissions of motorcycles.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer keeps all taxes under review as part of the regular Budget process.