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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iran following the announcement by the Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon that Iran will pay $7,000 to the families of suicide bombers and other terrorists who die in the process of attacking any Israeli.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We raised the issue of payments to families of suicide bombers with the Iranian government, and are seeking clarification over the reported remarks about providing funds to the families of suicide bombers. We condemn any support for groups which pursue an ideology of violence that directly undermines the prospects for peace in the region.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in which regions of the UK the £80 million Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation Fund will be spent.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government is providing £80 million of dedicated funding up to 2020 to tackle violence against women and girls. This funding will provide core support for refuges and other accommodation-based services, a network of rape support centres and national helplines, and from April 2017 will also include a new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Service Transformation Fund.

    The VAWG Service Transformation fund will support local programmes which encourage new approaches that incorporate early intervention, establish and embed the best ways to help victims and their families, and prevent perpetrators from re-offending. Criteria for applications to the fund will support these aims. Full details of the how the fund will be administered and the criteria for applications will be published in due course.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the likelihood that the UK would lose access to use of the European Arrest Warrant in the event of a vote to leave the EU.

    James Brokenshire

    As set out in the Government’s White Paper on the process for withdrawing from the European Union, should the UK leave the EU, any arrangements for future cooperation under measures such as the European Arrest Warrant, would be curtailed. Aside from those States that are not in the EU but are in the Schengen border-free area, there are no precedents for non-Members being able to cooperate with these mechanisms. Even Switzerland, for example, does not have an equivalent to the European Arrest Warrant. Norway and Iceland are negotiating an agreement similar to the EAW, but that includes the option for countries to continue to refuse to surrender their own nationals. Negotiation of that deal started in 2001 and it has not yet entered into force.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the subjects most likely to be affected by a reduction in the number of people taking them in the event of a significant proportion of young people required to take a foreign language GCSE.

    Nick Gibb

    In implementing the EBacc, the Government remains fully committed to ensuring all pupils receive a well-rounded education. All state-funded schools are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. We expect all schools to continue to offer a wide range of options beyond the EBacc, so that pupils have opportunities to study subjects that reflect their individual interests and strengths.

    The EBacc has been designed to be limited in size to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the curriculum for other subjects. On average, pupils in state-funded schools enter nine GCSEs and equivalent qualifications, rising to more than ten for more able pupils.[1] For many pupils, taking the EBacc will mean taking seven GCSEs; and for those taking triple science, it will mean taking eight. This means that there will continue to be room for pupils to study other subjects.

    We set out our EBacc proposals in our consultation on implementing the English Baccalaureate. We will respond to the consultation in due course.

    [1] https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&geographic=all&region=0&phase=secondary&for=Key%20stage%204%20performance&basedon=Exam%20entries&show=All%20pupils&&schoolTypeFilter=allSchools

    “

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the 25 year plan for food and farming.

    George Eustice

    Our 25 Year Food and Farming Plan will set out a new vision for British food and farming outside of the EU. We are committed to working with the industry to get this right, and will soon begin the process by publishing a consultation that will inform the Plan’s development. This will start the discussion around a set of key strategic themes such as productivity and consumer trust.

  • Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to embed the Family Test into its policy making.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 16 November 2015 (PQ 15345).

  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of communities of 5,000 people or more in England where there is no bank branch within a radius of three miles.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government does not hold the information requested.

    Banks and building societies need to balance customer interests, market competition, and other commercial factors when considering their strategy. Decisions on the opening and closing of individual branches are taken by the management of each bank on a commercial basis without intervention from Government.

    The Government welcomed the industry-wide Access to Banking protocol announced in March 2015. From the first of May this year, each participating bank has committed to carry out a number of steps if it is closing a branch, including the preparation of meaningful local impact assessments. There is a commitment to a review of the operation of the protocol after one year, and the Government looks forward to its conclusions.

    The availability of alternative locations for accessing basic banking services is also important. The ongoing negotiation between the banks and the Post Office to agree a standard set of services – to be made available to personal and small business banking customers at Post Office counters across the country – remains vital. The Government is clear that completion of these negotiations should be a priority.

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.75 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, whether his Department has recruited an experienced, commercial specialist to lead the new nuclear enterprise sponsor team.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Options for the new team continue to be developed and assessed. We expect to announce further details later this year once decisions have been made.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the implications are for the Government’s policy on balanced budgets of the decision of the Scottish Government not to enhance the powers of the Scottish Fiscal Commission; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    The Treasury is continuing to discuss all elements of the fiscal framework with the Scottish Government, including the Scottish Affairs Committee’s recommendation that economic forecasting for the Scottish government should be done by a body independent of government.

    The UK government remains optimistic that a deal can be reached that is fair for taxpayers across the UK.

  • Lord Pendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Pendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the process by which the World Anti-Doping Agency informs athletes of the drugs added each year to the list of banned substances.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    WADA issues communications to a range of stakeholders to ensure that everyone knows the timeframes by which the Prohibited List is published and when it takes effect. This information is freely available on WADA’s website.

    In the UK, Athletes and Athlete Support Personnel receive information about changes to the Prohibited List through communications from UK Anti-Doping. This is done via the respective National Governing Bodies of sport in advance of the changes coming into place, as well as through information given on the UK Anti-Doping website, social media channels and the Clean Sport App.

    However, it is ultimately the responsibility of athletes and their support personnel to be aware of the annual changes to the Prohibited List.