Tag: Mark Pritchard

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will provide support to local councils to ensure they protect deaf clubs for people seeking support and help in getting back to work.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government recognises the important role that councils play in supporting those who need additional help when seeking to get back into the workplace. However, as democratically elected organisations, local authorities are independent from central Government and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities.

This year’s Local Government Financial Settlement does provide a reasonable offer to local government, with a settlement which is essentially flat in cash terms, moving from £44.5 billion in 2015-16 to £44.3 billion in 2019-20. By 2020, when councils will be 100% funded by council tax, business rates and other local revenues, they will finally be fully accountable to their electorate for their financing, decisions and actions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will discuss with the European Aviation Safety Agency agreeing a minimum numbers of hours for airline pilots between each flight for EU and non-EU carriers entering EU airspace.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Under the Convention on International Civil Aviation the responsibility for establishing minimum rest periods for airline pilots rests with the state in which an airline is based. The EU cannot therefore impose requirements for rest periods on non EU airlines. Minimum rest periods for the crew of EU airlines are already established by Commission Regulation 83/2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the wearing of masks at demonstrations in public spaces.

Mike Penning

Face coverings can be worn in public places for a variety of legitimate reasons and there are no plans to introduce a blanket ban at demonstrations or other public events. The police already have powers in relation to the wearing of face masks in public order situations under existing legislation.

Section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 allows a police officer in uniform, following an authorisation relating to a specified area for a specified time (up to 24 hours initially), to remove or seize anything that he or she considers is being, or could be, worn wholly or mainly for the purposes of concealing identity. This would include all types of face coverings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with cruise ship operators on reducing the amount of food waste generated by cruise ships.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is in favour of reducing waste at source and supports efforts in the cruise ship sector to reduce, reuse and recycle waste including food waste.

Such efforts are best led by the industry themselves in the first instance and officials are engaged with the cruise sector trade association over their work to improve the handling of wastes including food wastes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that councils do not discriminate against people for whom British Sign Language is their first language in the provision of council services.

Mr Marcus Jones

The responsibility for providing appropriate support to enable meaningful communication with deaf people by local authorities lies with the local authorities themselves.

All local authorities have a legal responsibility under sections 20 and 29 of the Equality Act 2010 not to discriminate against disabled people in the provision of services and to make ‘reasonable adjustments’, which means for example providing information in an accessible format to allow deaf people to have equal access to their services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish his Department’s policy on the procurement of Autonomous Weapons Systems.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not possess any fully autonomous weapon systems and has no plans to develop, procure or operate them. MOD policy is clear that all weapon systems will be under human control.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional support her Department plans to give to Ethiopia because of drought in that country in 2015-16.

Grant Shapps

We are extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation in Ethiopia. A joint Government of Ethiopia and UN assessment is underway and we are in touch with our UN and Non-Governmental Organisation partners on the ground to determine the extent of need.

In October, the Government of Ethiopia announced that about 8.2 million people are in need of emergency food aid, up from the 4.5 million estimated in August. The number of severely malnourished children under five years old admitted to therapeutic feeding programmes this year has increased notably.

Britain has acted quickly and decisively by providing emergency support for 2.6 million people. This includes food aid for 2.1 million people for a month. The Government of Ethiopia has also committed its largest ever response to a drought. The international community will need to work hard with the Government of Ethiopia to prevent the crisis from worsening in the coming months.

DFID is at the forefront of resilience work to reduce the impact of crises in developing countries. In Ethiopia, DFID’s Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP) has helped turn desert land into land that can be farmed again.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15775, on how many occasions since 2010 an authorisation under section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 has been granted in each police force area in England and Wales; and for what purpose each such authorisation was granted.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not collect data on either the number of authorisations under section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 or the reasons for granting such authorisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that local fire authorities install deaf awareness alternative smoke alarms in homes which make use of warning lights rather than sound as a warning system when requested.

Mike Penning

We expect local fire and rescue authorities to determine how to allocate their resources to best protect their communities from the risks from fire. Although each authority delivers a range of community fire safety interventions designed to prevent and reduce the risk from accidental dwelling fires, all also carry out a programme of home fire safety visits. In some cases, these visits, which offered tailored fire safety advice in the home, are focussed specifically on those who may be particularly vulnerable, including older people and those with disabilities. Fire and rescue authorities will, in certain circumstances, offer to provide and install free smoke alarms to households without them. This will include alarms designed specifically for those who may be deaf or have other hearing difficulties. How fire and rescue authorities decide where best to target their home fire safety visits and what fire safety equipment, if any, would reduce most effectively the risk to the household is a local matter based on a local assessment of risk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will conduct research on the potential link between levels of productivity and the provision of high-speed data services and broadband connectivity.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport commissioned research by SQW Consulting who produced the UK Broadband Impact Study in November 2013. The study demonstrates a clear link between improved productivity and high quality broadband connectivity. For example, the study estimated that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024.