Tag: Mark Pritchard

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will introduce tele-teaching in prisons and young offending facilities to improve general education and reduce reoffending rates.

Andrew Selous

A review of the quality of education in adult prisons and young offender institutions for 18-20 year olds is currently being led by Dame Sally Coates and will report in due course. Options for improving education outcomes will be considered, including looking at the most effective use of Distance Learning and ICT. Dame Sally is due to report later this year.

The review of the youth justice system in England and Wales being led by Charlie Taylor will also consider education in the youth secure estate and will conclude later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to reduce the number of dogs used for medical experimentation.

Karen Bradley

Our annual statistics show that in 2014 less than 0.1% of animals used in research in Great Britain are dogs. Dogs are primarily used in procedures for regulatory testing. They are also used in other procedures such as nutritional studies and to better understand naturally occurring diseases and to develop treatments for dogs themselves.

The Home Office is responsible for regulating the use of dogs in research under the Ani-mals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Dogs are a specially protected species under the Act and the Home Office will grant a project licence for a programme of work using dogs only where the purpose of the programme of work specified in the licence can be achieved only by their use; or where it is not practicable to obtain other suitable animals.

Since 2010 the number of procedures performed on dogs has dropped nearly 30% from 5,782 in 2010 to 4,107 in 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with his counterpart at the (a) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) Iranian government to assist the government of Iran in helping to halt the decline in the number of Asiatic cheetahs.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are aware of the plight of Asiatic cheetahs in Iran and we welcome conservation efforts by Iran and the UN. My officials have held preliminary discussions with the Iranian Embassy in London on the issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he will publish a timetable for the refurbishment of Wolverhampton train station.

Claire Perry

The refurbishment of Wolverhampton train station is part of the Wolverhampton Interchange Scheme, which is being driven forward by a partnership of Wolverhampton City Council, Centro, Neptune, Network Rail, Virgin Trains and the Canal and River Trust. The Department is not leading on this project.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet (a) Surfers Against Sewage and (b) other charities and non-governmental organisations to discuss measures to keep the UK’s beaches clean for sport and recreational activities.

Rory Stewart

The vast majority of our beaches are high quality. We are determined to keep them that way and we are willing to work with all those who want to achieve this. Defra officials regularly meet Surfers Against Sewage and other environmental Non-Government Organisations to talk about the issues impacting our beaches. I would be pleased if they would contact my office to discuss a meeting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will discuss with the Highways Agency the time taken to (a) programme and (b) complete highway works on the M54 in Shropshire.

Andrew Jones

(a) With regard to current and future works on the M54 in Shropshire, there are currently no delays to the programme of works for the current financial year, 2015/16.

(b) For the forthcoming financial year, 2016/17, Highways England is in the process of finalising the programme of works. This will be completed by the middle of February. The proposed works are:

Scheme	Nature of work
M54 WB J3 Exit Slip Resurfacing	Pavement
M54 J7-6 Fence & Barrier	Fences and Barriers
M54 J2-M6 J10A WB	Pavement
M54 J10a-J1 Drainage	Drainage
M54-M6 J10a-J1 WB Drainage	Drainage
M54-M6 J10a-J1 EB Drainage	Drainage
M54 J4 Traffic Signals Refurbishment	Traffic Signals

There have recently been problems with the concrete carriageway on the eastbound side of the M54 between junctions 3 and 2. Highways England has carried out a significant number of temporary repairs and is likely to undertake some more substantial repairs by the end of April 2016, whilst we investigate a longer term solution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve the speed with which payments are made to small farmers under the Basic Payment Scheme.

George Eustice

As of 10 March the Rural Payments Agency has paid in the region of 83% of all eligible claims received. Of these some 81% of small farm businesses had received their payments. The Rural Payments agency is working to pay the remainder of claims as promptly as possible with between 800 and 1,000 staff working on processing claims.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce stronger key performance indicators to evaluate the performance of Highways England.

Mr John Hayes

The Government will review Highways England’s existing performance indicators and targets when setting the next Road Investment Strategy. As part of this process the Government will consider whether existing indicators and targets should be strengthened, and whether new indicators should be introduced.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will discuss with Virgin Trains its replacing the ageing Voyager fleet rolling stock.

Claire Perry

The Voyager fleet was introduced in 2001/2 to provide high speed services on routes which could only be served by Diesel Trains and is primarily operated by Virgin on routes to Chester and Holyhead. We will consider train fleet options as part of the upcoming ICWC franchise competition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Defence and International Development on ensuring that full and proper account is taken of the importance of international humanitarian law in areas of potential conflict and war.

Jeremy Wright

I meet regularlywith Ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest, including on international humanitarian law. I am not able to talk about any legal content of those discussions because, by convention, whether the Law Officers have given advice or not is not disclosed outside Government. All legal advice provided by the Law Officers is confidential and subject to legal professional privilege.