The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will disclose which candidate for Secretary-General of the Commonwealth the UK voted for during the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting in November 2015.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Baroness Scotland was elected at a meeting to which only Heads of Government were invited. The Government never discloses how it votes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which regulations her Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations her Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate she has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.
Andrea Leadsom
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to Question 15037:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average response time to dwelling fires was for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.
Mike Penning
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.
Information on average response times to dwelling fires for each fire and rescue service and for each year is available in Table 3b of the Department’s Fire incidents response times: England publication at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2014-to-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 11 January 2016, how much of the proposed £1.4 billion mental health support funding for young people over the next five years has already been allocated.
Alistair Burt
The Government has committed to making available the full £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to improve children and young people’s mental health.
In this financial year (2015/16), the Government has already allocated £173 million. This includes:
– £75 million for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to improve local services;
– £30 million to CCGs to develop evidence based community eating disorder services for children and young people;
– £28 million to fund the expansion of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme;
– £15 million for improvements to perinatal mental health care; and
– £25 million for investment in inpatient services for children and young people, to build workforce capability, and to support innovation and development of online support.
A targeted and phased approach to the additional investment over future years will enable local areas to develop additional capacity and a collaborative approach across health, education and children’s services so that the money can be spent effectively. This is what is needed to make a real difference. The Government remains committed to spend the whole £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to improve children and young people’s mental health.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Touhig on 2016-02-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the speed at which reservists will be able to fill front-line combat roles.
Earl Howe
Volunteer Reservists (VR) on the trained strength (26,560 as at 1 December 2015) are required to respond to a mobilisation call-out at 28 days’ notice and may then carry out additional training for an operation. The length of time required for this training will depend on the complexity of the operation, which may require familiarisation training on equipment which they will be required to operate, and procedural training to prepare for the environment they will encounter. Further preparations may be required, such as vaccinations, which depend on the environment of the operation and which will affect the length of time between mobilisation and deployment.
For a medium scale intervention operation we would expect the period between mobilisation and deployment for VR to be around 180 days. However, the use of intelligent mobilisation means that willing and available VR are routinely mobilised in around 90 days for specific tasks and this can be significantly shortened in some circumstances.
No estimate has been made of the number of Reservists who would be able to serve at short notice in the event of a major conflict.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17357, when in 2016 he plans to introduce the new reporting requirement to report on payment practices and performance.
Anna Soubry
The reporting requirement will come into force later this year. Further information on timings will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to improve national minimum wage enforcement in the shipping industry.
Nick Boles
The application of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for seafarers continues to be considered by the cross-Government working group which is reviewing the implementation of the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011.
The Government is working with key stakeholders through this working group to agree and finalise revised guidance on the NMW for seafarers which will be published in spring 2016.
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone who is entitled to receive the NMW does so, and we have committed to increasing the enforcement budget again this year in order to secure that aim. HM Revenue and Customs will investigate all NMW complaints from workers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what grounds emergency applications for the use of neonicotinoid pesticides are granted.
George Eustice
Emergency authorisation is a procedure set out in law that allows for authorisation of a product, for a period not exceeding 120 days, for “limited and controlled use, where such a measure appears necessary because of a danger which cannot be contained by any other reasonable means”.
All applications for emergency authorisation in the UK are decided according to these criteria. In the case of applications relating to restricted neonicotinoids, experts in the Health and Safety Executive and the Expert Committee on Pesticides assess the scientific data to consider the need for the pesticide, the adequacy of the proposed controls and the possible impacts on health and the environment. On the basis of this advice, Ministers will decide whether authorisations can be issued.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate the cost of providing free school meals to children of people in receipt of universal credit upon the full roll-out of that benefit; and what the cost was of the provision of such free school meals to children of people in receipt of benefits prior to the roll-out of universal credit.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We will continue to ensure that children from the poorest families benefit from a free school meal. My Department is continuing to work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to consider eligibility criteria for free school meals following the introduction of Universal Credit. In the meantime, any child in a family in receipt of Universal Credit will continue to be entitled to free school meals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend or repeal the Hunting Act 2004 during this Parliament.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
The Government stands by its manifesto commitment to give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a Government Bill in Government time.