The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staple foods in the UK are subject to mandatory fortification.
George Eustice
Wheat flour is the only food with mandatory fortification requirements in the UK. All wheat flour (except wholemeal) is required to be fortified with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin at specific levels prescribed in the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of research that shows that lack of physical activity is negatively affecting more people than obesity, whether they have a strategy on how to support grassroots attempts at getting citizens to take part in more and sustained physical activity.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Government is determined to tackle physical inactivity. Around one in two women and a third of men in England may be damaging their health through a lack of physical activity. Ministers across government continue to work together to identify opportunities to get people active in a range of ways including active travel, health initiatives, planning and sport.
In December 2015 Government published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation’ – the first comprehensive government strategy for sport for 13 years – it sets out a new vision for a successful and active sporting nation. It has a strong focus on reaching inactive people and helping them to get moving in ways that suit them.
Sport England’s new strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’, published on 19 May, states that tackling inactivity is a major priority for the organisation, it is tripling its current investment to over £250 million over 4 years, making it the largest single national investor in tackling inactivity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2016 to Question 42168, what legislative options are being explored by his Department to prevent more people from becoming homeless.
Mr Marcus Jones
We are considering a broad range of possible options, including legislation, to put prevention at the heart of how we tackle homelessness. We are keen to learn from the changes implemented in Wales and want to understand whether similar changes would work in the very different English housing market.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the Government expects to host the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council; what he expects to be on the agenda for that meeting; and what outcomes he expects to achieve from that meeting.
Sir Alan Duncan
The annual Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) brings together political leaders from the Overseas Territories and UK Ministers. It will meet this year in London from 1-2 November and will be hosted by the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE.
An agenda is being developed in partnership with territory leaders and reflects areas key to our shared interests. It is likely to include, but not be limited to, sessions on economic development, good governance and human rights (including child safeguarding), as well as the challenges and opportunities arising from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. A communiqué will be issued following the conclusion of the JMC. The UK Government will update the House by written ministerial statement afterwards.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The department does not hold record of this
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-27.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what correspondence the Government has had with Lloyds TSB on implementation of the Access to Banking Protocol and the (a) closure of branches and (b) reduction of banking services in the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency.
Harriett Baldwin
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. This includes establishing the impact of a branch closure before it takes place; finding suitable alternative provision; and putting in place suitable alternative measures before a branch is closed.
There is a commitment to review the operation of the protocol after one year. In August, the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise and I wrote to the Chief Executive of the British Bankers’ Association and requested an update on progress towards the appointment of an independent reviewer. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Chief Executives of the banks that are signatories to the Access to Banking protocol.
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 bank branches are taken by the management of each bank on a commercial basis without intervention from Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with UK airlines on passing reductions in fuel costs on to passengers.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government has regular discussions with the industry on a range of issues, and will continue to press for a fair deal for the travelling public.
The airline industry is intensely competitive and there is no evidence of any market failure that would prevent cost savings being passed onto customers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether marketing standards conformity certificates issued by Israel covering consignments of fresh fruit and vegetables grown in the occupied Palestinian territories indicate that the products they cover originate in Israel.
George Eustice
The Horticultural Marketing Inspectors have no reason to believe that these certificates do not contain correct information. In 2012, the European Commission announced that their research into Israeli/Palestinian export certificates “did not reveal any evidence of non-conformity regarding the indication of the country of origin”. The Commission also reaffirmed the requirement that the origin needed to be clearly indicated whether it was Israel or an Occupied Territory.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of the change in the OECD definition of foreign aid to include some military spending on the effectiveness of aid spend on reducing poverty.
Justine Greening
We welcome the outcome of the recent High Level Meeting of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which agreed how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) rules should be updated to better tackle the pressing global development issues of the 21st century. The updates to the ODA rules both better recognise the detrimental impact that conflict, fragility and insecurity have on efforts to tackle poverty and reflect the importance of private sector investment for development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the fixed cost to local authorities for submitting bids to the New Station Fund on the number of bids being made.
Andrew Jones
In order to qualify to bid for funding from the first or current round of the New Stations Fund, proposals need to be sufficiently developed in accordance with Network Rail’s Governance for Railway Investment Projects (‘GRIP’) process, achieving approval in principle at GRIP 3 stage – option selection. We do not believe that the additional cost of submitting a bid would be so burdensome as to deter a bid being made.