The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the funding available to the Waste and Resources Action Programme in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.
Rory Stewart
The current 2016/17 grant agreement for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is £13m.
Future year’s allocations have yet to be finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether HS2 Ltd has used (a) InSAR surveys and (b) other survey methods to survey ground movements on the proposed route of phase 2B of HS2 between Crewe and Manchester/Leeds.
Andrew Jones
HS2 Ltd has not commissioned any satellite (InSAR) surveys nor (to date) any purchase of existing/historical data or bespoke analysis of that.
HS2 Ltd has carried out two Lidar surveys of the proposed route of phase 2B of HS2 between Crewe and Manchester, with a view to comparing the two datasets to appraise ground movements in the time between the two surveys. This is work in progress. Other available Lidar data (made available by the Environment Agency) has been used to manually appraise ground movements of specific locations in the saltfield.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the introduction of a new national funding formula will prioritise schools in disadvantaged areas for the allocation of funding.
Nick Gibb
The national funding formula will ensure that all children, whatever their background, are supported to achieve their full potential. Children from deprived backgrounds will attract funding in addition to the basic per pupil amount so that they get the extra help they need to succeed. We will also continue to provide targeted funding through the pupil premium, worth £2.5 billion this year.
We proposed in the first stage of the national funding formula consultation to use a combined pupil-and area-level deprivation measure in the formula to best identify those children and schools that need additional support. We will put forward our detailed proposals in the next stage of consultation later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on small and medium-sized businesses of the recent ruling of the European Court of Justice on time spent travelling to work.
Nick Boles
This Government wants to ensure that the Working Time Directive promotes long-term, sustainable growth and labour market flexibility, and does not impose significant burdens on business. The recent ruling of the European Court of Justice means that journeys made by workers without a fixed or habitual place of work between their homes and the first and last customer of the day constitute working time under the Working Time Directive.
All employers, regardless of size, of workers without a fixed or habitual place of work need to ensure that this time is taken into account for the calculation of working hours. The ruling has no general consequences for pay.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2015-11-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible advantages and disadvantages of licensing bicyclists.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We consider that the costs of a formal testing and licensing system for cyclists would significantly outweigh the benefits cycling has to the country’s economy, health and environment. Evidence suggests that increased cycling could create significant savings for the NHS, less pollution and congestion, and a happier and healthier population. It is likely that a licensing system will discourage many existing and potential cyclists, leading to a dramatic fall in the numbers of people cycling.
Around 80% of adult cyclists also hold driving licenses, meaning that the majority of cyclists on the road have already been tested on operating safely in different road and traffic conditions. Furthermore, the safety case for a testing/licensing system is not as strong as that for drivers since, by contrast with motorised vehicles, bicycles involved in collisions on the highway are highly unlikely to cause serious injury to other road users.
Cyclists as well as all road users must obey the Highway Code, and the Government has provided funding for training schemes such as Bikeability which provides practical training and teaches the Highway Code to the next generation of cyclists. The Bikeability programme currently trains approximately 50% of primary schoolchildren in England and more than 1.5million children have received training since the programme’s inception.
The recent Spending Review committed £300m to cycling investment between 2015-16 and 2020-21, this includes delivering in full the £114 million Cycle Ambition City scheme, with construction of segregated cycle lanes including 115 kilometres in Birmingham and 56 kilometres in Manchester.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether her Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether her Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if she will make a statement.
George Eustice
The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain, to ensure we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Colleen Fletcher on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is taking part in cross-departmental work to promote stability and good governance in fragile and conflict affected states.
Mr Desmond Swayne
Yes. DFID plays a key role in delivering the UK’s national security objective to build stability overseas, including in fragile states and regions. Our approach is set out in the Government’s National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, which is publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-security-strategy-and-strategic-defence-and-security-review-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will increase Government funding for emergency food aid to Ethiopia.
Mr Nick Hurd
We are very concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation for 18 million people across Ethiopia. Britain is working closely with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure adequate funding for drought response activities.
We acted quickly and decisively at the onset of the drought by providing emergency food aid for 2.1 million people in 2015. This year, we have committed £40 million to provide food aid to a further 3.8 million people in April.
In collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, DFID is also ensuring that 120,000 severely malnourished children receive treatment in order to recover quickly.
Our overall funding for the drought to date is £113 million. We are continuing to work with the Government of Ethiopia and other donors to make sure needs are being met. We are monitoring the situation closely.
UK Aid resilience work with the Government of Ethiopia has helped prepare 10 million people to cope with this drought.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many permanent secretaries are from a lower socio-economic background.
Matthew Hancock
Data on the socio-economic background of Permanent Secretaries is not available. We are introducing a metric of social mobility as part of our 2016 Talent Action Plan and this is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/talent-action-plan-2016-removing-the-barriers-to-success.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government plans to publish the White Paper on the BBC Charter.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government will set out its plans for the future of the BBC in a White Paper in May.