Tag: Nicholas Soames

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has examined the funding of horseracing from remote gambling in France and Ireland to inform its policy on the funding of horseracing in Britain.

Tracey Crouch

To inform work to replace the current levy system, we have commissioned an independent economic analysis of the costs and funding of horseracing. This economic analysis work will also examine relevant comparable models

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which projects in the South East have received European Commission funding in each of the last five years; and how much each such project received in such funding in each such year.

Anna Soubry

A full list of all the projects funded by European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund in the South East since 2007 are provided on the GOV.UK site.

The total value of grants awarded to organisations in the South East from the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) 2007-2013 was €1,175.3 million (figure correct at 11/11/2015). The total value of grants awarded to organisations in the South East under the Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) programme is €246.5 million (figure correct at 29/10/2015). The figures for both programmes include grants that were awarded under the complementary Euratom research and training activities programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to implement the findings of the Report of the Independent Farming Regulation Taskforce, published in May 2011.

George Eustice

The Government (Defra, the Department for Transport, Food Standards Agency and the Home Office) accepted 137 of more than 200 recommendations made by the Farming Regulation Task Force in 2011.

The Farming Regulation Task Force Implementation Group published a final assessment of our delivery in April 2014 in which they concluded that we had completed or made progress against the vast majority of the accepted recommendations. The remaining 27 recommendations are currently being reviewed as part of the ‘Cutting Red Tape: Review of the Information managements in the Agricultural Sector’. A report on the findings of this review will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the reasons are for late payments being made under the Basic Payment Scheme by the Rural Payments Agency; and how many farmers have received late payments to date.

George Eustice

The payment window for the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme runs from 1 December 2015 to 30 June 2016. While in recent years, the RPA has been able to make a higher proportion of payments earlier in the payment window, the new CAP is very complex and has created new administrative burdens for the RPA.

As of 2 March 2016 some 71,700 claimants, representing over 82% of all eligible claims, have received their payments, bringing the total paid to date for the 2015 scheme to £1.13 billion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the operations limitations are on the UK’s ability to operate in the Pacific.

Penny Mordaunt

Any operational constraints are established on a case-by-case basis at the start of an operation. That being said, we are clear that the international right to freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight must be preserved in the Pacific and that all parties should refrain from activities that increase tension, and pursue urgently the settlement of the maritime disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of additional nurses who will be required in the health and care sectors over the next five years.

Ben Gummer

Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for workforce planning in the National Health Service and their recently published HEE commissioning and investment plan 16/17 forecasts an additional supply of 40,000 nurses by 2020. Moving new nursing students on to the student loans system in August 2017 will allow universities to offer up to a further 10,000 nursing, midwifery and allied health degree places by 2020/21.

The HEE commissioning and investment plan 16/17 forecasts demands for additional nurses and midwives in the health and care sector in the next five years will rise by around 16,800.

The Department does not collect data on the numbers of applicants who were not successful in gaining a nurse training place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on the militerisation of the Arctic.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK respects the sovereign authority and policies of our Allies in the Arctic region, and their consensus is to maintain the Arctic as a largely demilitarised region while recognising the need to ensure security of sovereign territory. This approach is shared by NATO, which does not maintain a presence in the Arctic. Nevertheless, the UK maintains the capability to operate in extreme cold environments, including the Arctic, and together with Allies we continue to monitor military activity in the region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 3.2 of his Department’s document, Implementing the replacement for the Horserace Betting Levy, published in March 2016, what progress has been made on the independent report on the value of the common interest between betting and racing; and when he expects to publish the findings of that report.

David Evennett

The rate payable by gambling operators will be informed by this independent economic analysis of the funding of horseracing and further discussion with the betting and racing industries. We will be consulting on the findings of the report with both industries within the next few weeks and intend to publish the report in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he agreed to a variation of the franchise contract with Govia Thameslink Railway in respect of Southern Railway; and what consultation took place with hon. Members before he agreed that variation.

Claire Perry

The Remedial Plan and associated contract variation was agreed on the 12 February. We do not normally notify hon. Members with regard to contract change(s) to Franchise Agreements, as this is considered to be business as usual for the Department.

The Remedial Plan prepared in response to the notice issued by the Department for Transport under Section 55 of the Railways Act on 7th July 2015 was published online on the 26 May at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525767/govia-thameslink-remedial-plan.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what works took place on the engines of the Type 45 Destroyers while they were collectively docked during the summer of 2016.

Harriett Baldwin

The planned maintenance periods in 2016 for all Royal Navy Type 45 Destroyers have included work on the propulsion systems.