The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the BBC on an extension of the current BBC Charter period by order of the Queen in Council.
Mr Edward Vaizey
I and my officials continue to have an ongoing dialogue with the BBC regarding the content and process of the BBC Charter Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department will launch its consultation on the universal service obligation on superfast broadband; and for how long that consultation will be open.
Mr Edward Vaizey
We intend to launch our consultation on proposals to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation in early 2016. The duration of the consultation will be proportionate to the issues under consideration, as advised by the Cabinet Office guidelines, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492132/20160111_Consultation_principles_final.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 78 in the Autumn Statement 2015 and page 91 of the Budget 2016, for what reason the estimate of his Resource DEL budget for 2015-16 has changed from £1.1 billion to £1.2 billion.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Resource DEL budget (excluding depreciation) for 2015-16 in the Autumn Statement 2015 reflected the Main Estimate cover of £1,140m; the Resource DEL budget (excluding depreciation) for 2015-16 in the Budget 2016 reflected the Supplementary Estimate cover of £1,166m. The movements that make up the change of £25,899,000 are scheduled on pages 507-508 of the Supplementary Estimate 2015-16.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans to publish its White Paper on the arts; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Edward Vaizey
We published our Culture White Paper today. I refer the hon Member to my Statement HCWS643.
The white paper is attached and is in the library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which local authority areas in England have no schools with sixth form provision.
Nick Boles
As at 22 March 2016, two local authority areas in England, City of London and Isles of Scilly, have no state funded schools with sixth form provision.
This information is publically available through the EduBase system run by the Department for Education, available at: http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtml.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how his Department plans to allow rural communities to table collective requests for broadband connections.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Ofcom has been commissioned to provide technical analysis and recommendations to help inform the design of the broadband Universal Service Obligation. One of the issues that they have been asked to advise on is how individual consumer requests for a broadband connection can be aggregated so that communities can benefit. Ofcom have published a call for inputs to support this work, which will run until 23rd June and this is available at:- http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/broadband-USO-CFI/ Ofcom has been asked to report on its findings by the end of the year.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that A-level provision will be available in Knowsley Metropolitan Borough by September 2017.
Robert Halfon
It is essential that the young people of Knowsley have good options for their post-16 education. The Department is currently exploring options for future A level provision in Knowsley with providers, local trusts and the local authority. The goal is to attain a collaborative approach to securing excellent post-16 provision in Knowsley.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the physical and mental health of refugees arriving by boat at RAF Akrotiri; and what steps he plans to take to ensure the wellbeing of those refugees.
Penny Mordaunt
The transit facility at Dhekelia Station in Cyprus has been developed with advice from the Department for International Development (DfID) and has been visited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Cyprus, who has said that the conditions of the facility exceed the standard of comparable set-ups.
We have a DfID adviser embedded at the transit facility who continues to advise on best practice which has enabled us to maintain these high standards.
All of the migrants have been assessed by medical personnel and provided with any necessary treatment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what he plans the force generation ratios to be for the expeditionary force of 50,000 personnel announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Penny Mordaunt
In the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cm9161) we have increased our ambition so that for Joint Force 2025 we will be able to deploy an expeditionary force of around 50,000 including greater contributions from the air and maritime domain. This is is the largest scale operation that Defence plans to be able to deliver whilst continuing to conduct a range of concurrent "fixed" tasks such as defending the homeland, running military bases and training our military personnel. The scale and nature of the deployment means that there is no specific force generation ratio associated with it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what estimate he has made of the cost of the new general purpose frigates.
Mr Philip Dunne
The cost and schedule of the general purpose frigate programme outlined in the White Paper National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence And Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161) has yet to be determined. The programme will be scoped during a concept study as part of the programme announced by the Prime Minister on 23 November 2015 (Official Report: column 1049).