Tag: Matthew Offord

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the CITES Management Authority has declared that the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility.

    George Eustice

    The elected government of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, has devolved constitutional responsibility for animal welfare and conservation including for legislation and policies governing the Cayman Turtle Farm.

    An independent investigation in 2002, carried out in support of an application to register the Cayman Turtle Farm as a captive-breeding operation under CITES, a Convention for which Defra is responsible, concluded that the standards of care at the Cayman Turtle Farm were humane.

    The UK Government has been in contact with the Cayman Islands Government more recently, expressing the UK’s commitment to raising animal welfare standards and requesting an assurance that the Cayman Islands Government takes the findings of a report by the then World Society for the Protection of Animals seriously and be committed to making appropriate improvements. I am pleased to say that the Deputy Premier of the Cayman Islands, Mr Kirkconnell, gave that assurance in a response to the Secretary of State on 24 October 2013.

    The UK CITES Management Authority has not made a recent assessment of whether the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the degree to which the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane captive breeding facility.

    Mark Simmonds

    The elected government of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, has devolved constitutional responsibility for animal welfare and conservation including for legislation and policies governing the Cayman Turtle Farm. The UK is responsible for the international relations of the Cayman Islands and for their compliance with obligations arising under international law. The UK has extended the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to the Cayman Islands. The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is providing technical support and advice to support the Cayman Islands in fully meeting its international environmental and conservation obligations. The UK CITES Management Authority has not made a recent assessment of whether the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility, but did commission an independent investigation in 2002 in support of an application for registration as a captive-breeding operation under CITES, which found it was a humane facility.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road traffic accidents there were per 100,000 of the population in (a) the UK, (b) London and (c) Barnet in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The numbers of reported personal injury road traffic accidents per 100,000 population in a) Great Britain, b) London and c) Barnet for the years 2009 to 2013 are shown in the table below:

    The number of reported personal injury road traffic accidents in a) Great Britain b) London and c) Barnet per 100,000 population: 2009 to 2013.

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    a) Great Britain

    270

    253

    246

    235

    223

    b) London

    234

    300

    298

    290

    274

    c) Barnet

    317

    343

    311

    280

    269

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to simplify existing environmental, marine and agricultural regulations.

    George Eustice

    By contributing to Red Tape Challenge, Defra has reviewed over 1200 of its regulations. As a result of these reviews Defra has made commitments to revoke or improve nearly 800 regulations and as well as a number of significant non-regulatory changes that will directly benefit business and the wider public. These include the reform of all regulatory guidance produced by Defra and its agencies by spring 2015, so that users can quickly access clear information on what they need; changes to data reporting obligations, to remove any duplicate and unnecessary requests for information; and plans to explore opportunities to simplify and reduce the number of compliance inspections on farms.

    These reforms are being made without reducing existing protection of the environment or animal and plant health and are detailed in a report entitled “Defra better for Business: A Strategic Reform Plan for Defra Regulations” which was published on 9 April 2014[1]. Defra is working to deliver the vast majority of these proposals by April 2015 so that benefits can be felt quickly. Current estimates suggest that business could by then be saving £300million per year as a result of these reforms.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302112/pb14166-defra-better-for-business.pdf

    “

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the UK’s performance towards the targets in the Kyoto protocol on emission reduction targets between 2008 and 2012.

    Amber Rudd

    The UK has a target for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its emissions by an average 12.5 per cent below base year levels over the five-year period 2008-12.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the success of steps taken to meet the 2013 and 2020 EU Landfill Directive.

    Dan Rogerson

    We are confident that we will have met the 2013 landfill diversion target and will meet the 2020 target set out in the EU Landfill Directive.

    In October 2013 we published an analysis of progress against the 2020 target, which can be found on the GOV.UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/forecasting-2020-waste-arisings-and-treatment-capacity-norfolk-county-council-residual-waste-treatment-project . The analysis concludes that there is a high likelihood of meeting or exceeding the 2020 target.

    Landfill tax is a key instrument to meeting the landfill diversion targets along with our policies and initiatives such as support of infrastructure to divert waste from landfill through the Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme.

    “

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the role independent pharmacies play in relieving pressures on other health and welfare services; and what steps he has taken to disseminate best practice.

    Norman Lamb

    Pharmacy already plays a vital role in supporting the health of people in their local communities, providing high quality care and support, improving people’s health and reducing health inequalities. However, as we move to more integrated care, there is real potential for pharmacists and their teams to play an even greater role in the future, particularly in keeping people healthy, supporting those with long term conditions and helping make sure patients and the National Health Service get the best use from medicines.

    NHS England’s public consultation, Improving care through community pharmacy – a call to action, which closed on 18 March, has provided an important opportunity to explore the contribution community pharmacists and their teams can make. This will inform a strategic framework for commissioning wider primary care services in the autumn. A copy of the consultation document is at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/qual-clin-lead/calltoaction/pharm-cta/

    In the meantime, NHS England’s The earlier, the better campaign, launched in January 2014, specifically sought to raise the profile of community pharmacy with the public, to increase the number of people accessing community pharmacy services when they have a minor ailment and reduce pressures on other parts of the NHS.

    On 14 April, the Department and NHS England published Transforming Primary Care – Safe, proactive, personalised care for those who need it most. This sets out plans for more proactive, personalised and joined up care, part of which is harnessing the potential of pharmacists. This recognises the vital role that pharmacists have in optimising medicines use, helping to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and supporting people to manage their own care. A copy has been placed in the Library.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to increase public understanding of the services offered by independent pharmacies.

    Norman Lamb

    Pharmacy already plays a vital role in supporting the health of people in their local communities, providing high quality care and support, improving people’s health and reducing health inequalities. However, as we move to more integrated care, there is real potential for pharmacists and their teams to play an even greater role in the future, particularly in keeping people healthy, supporting those with long term conditions and helping make sure patients and the National Health Service get the best use from medicines.

    NHS England’s public consultation, Improving care through community pharmacy – a call to action, which closed on 18 March, has provided an important opportunity to explore the contribution community pharmacists and their teams can make. This will inform a strategic framework for commissioning wider primary care services in the autumn. A copy of the consultation document is at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/qual-clin-lead/calltoaction/pharm-cta/

    In the meantime, NHS England’s The earlier, the better campaign, launched in January 2014, specifically sought to raise the profile of community pharmacy with the public, to increase the number of people accessing community pharmacy services when they have a minor ailment and reduce pressures on other parts of the NHS.

    On 14 April, the Department and NHS England published Transforming Primary Care – Safe, proactive, personalised care for those who need it most. This sets out plans for more proactive, personalised and joined up care, part of which is harnessing the potential of pharmacists. This recognises the vital role that pharmacists have in optimising medicines use, helping to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and supporting people to manage their own care. A copy has been placed in the Library.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many law firms were permitted to resubmit their tenders to the then Legal Services Commission bid for a contract to provide publicly funded immigration services in the 2010 tender round after the deadline set out in the tender rules.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    These questions relate to ongoing litigation against the Lord Chancellor and in the circumstances it would be inappropriate to respond at the current time.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to speed up claims by asylum seekers.

    Karen Bradley

    Claims for asylum are increasing. In 2013 the number of asylum applications
    within the EU was the highest it has been since 2002. The UK has experienced an increase
    of 30% between 2010 and 2013 – with an 8% increase between 2012 and 2013 alone.

    We are committed to resolving these quickly, while continuing to improve
    the quality of our decision making, and we are making changes to our processes
    and management to make sure we do so.