Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department had made of the capacity of rail services between Coventry and London; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    Rail services between Coventry and London are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due to be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast earlier this month. The outcomes of those consultations, including the key challenges and opportunities that the Department has identified for those franchises, will be published in due course.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the threat of ash dieback disease to biodiversity across the UK; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    A series of research projects, jointly funded by Defra, has looked into the ecological impacts of ash dieback and investigated possible woodland management options which might ameliorate the problems caused by ash dieback. The results from this work have been published[1]. The research found that there are tree species that share ecological traits or support some of the species associated with ash trees. However, there is no single tree species that would be able to fill the niche provided by ash in terms of both its ecosystem characteristics and biodiversity contribution.

    The Forestry Commission provides advice to woodland managers about how best to manage and adapt to ash dieback, for example, by planting a variety of tree species as diversity brings resilience to pests and diseases.

    [1] http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5273931279761408

    “

  • Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between those NHS Trusts in the greatest level of deficit and those with the highest proportion of private finance initiative income.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    In 2012, the Department identified a small cohort of major acute trusts where the private finance initiative schemes were one of the factors affecting financial sustainability. These trusts have been given access to a £1.5 billion support fund over a period of 25 years which has been available since 2013/14.

    It is the role now of NHS Improvement to ensure that National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts assess the impact of different expenditure items at NHS trusts to ensure that NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts have arrangements in place to secure financial health. NHS Improvement’s focus is then on supporting that individual provider to fix its financial problems, for example through interim financial support or longer term solutions in that health economy.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department plans to ensure that police forces and partner agencies are supported to undertake wildlife criminal investigations.

    Mike Penning

    The Government understands the importance of tackling wildlife crime. The Home Office is providing specific funding of £136,000 to support the work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit this year, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs providing similar funding.

    The funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit is in addition to the funding that central Government provides to the police in England and Wales to tackle all types of crime (including wildlife crime), which in 2015-16 will be over £8 billion. In addition, the police receive around a quarter of their total funding from the police precept component of council tax. The deployment of police resources is a matter for individual Chief Constables and local Police and Crime Commissioners.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government to which countries unsuccessful asylum seekers were deported in each year between 2010 and 2014, and in each of those years, how many unsuccessful asylum seekers were deported to each of those countries.

    Lord Bates

    The data on removals and voluntary departures by type and destination are available in the latest Home Office release, Immigration Statistics: July to September 2015, in table rv.06. This publication is available from GOV.UK on the statistics web pages at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

    Deportations are a specific subset of removals which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. The deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. It is not possible to separately identify deportations from enforced removals. It is not possible within these figures to say at what stage in the asylum process individuals have reached at the time of their removal, including whether their claim has failed at that point.

    The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK and on persons refused entry to the United Kingdom within Immigration Statistics.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received from charities and families on the effectiveness of the operation of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

    Caroline Dinenage

    One piece of Ministerial correspondence has been received in the last six months concerning the family of a deceased person affected by the 1976 Act.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Saudi Arabian government on tackling the spread of Daesh in the Middle East.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly hold discussions with Saudi Arabia about the threat from Daesh. Saudi Arabia has been at the forefront of international efforts to defeat Daesh and was one of the first countries to participate in air strikes against Daesh in Syria. The King and the religious establishment continue clearly and publicly to condemn Daesh and its poisonous ideology, and to emphasise that Daesh do not in any way represent the teachings of Islamic faith.

    The Saudi Arabian Government is working to reduce the threat that religious extremists pose in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. It has a comprehensive set of laws in place to prevent terrorist financing, which it enforces vigorously. We welcome the recent announcement of the creation of the Islamic Military Coalition which, among other things, aims to help Islamic countries to counter the threat from terrorism. Regional and Arab countries are best placed to tackle extremism and confront Daesh on the ground.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on alleged mistreatment and torture of British citizens in detention in the United Arab Emirates since 2011.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Consular Directorate is aware of 37 cases of British nationals who have made allegations of torture or mistreatment in detention in the United Arab Emirates since and including 2011. The FCO takes all allegations or concerns of torture and mistreatment seriously and takes action appropriate to the circumstances of each case, including raising these with the Emirati authorities where we have permission from the individual.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Argentina on the future of the Falkland Islands.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has made clear to President Macri that while we are keen to improve UK-Argentine relations, this does not, and will not, change our position on sovereignty or the Falkland Islanders’ right to self-determination. We shall always defend the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own political future.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether it is his policy that the proposed public register of beneficial owners of companies will provide details of the names of (a) trust or company service providers and (b) other third parties which incorporate those companies.

    Anna Soubry

    Since 6th April this year, UK companies (with exception of listed companies), limited liability partnerships and societates europaeae have been required to hold a register of people with significant control (PSC register). The register records the ultimate owners and controllers of UK companies. It is designed to record individuals. However, where a company is owned by another company that is also required to hold a PSC register, or is subject to equivalent disclosure requirements, those companies should be recorded on the register.

    Where a company is owned and or controlled by a third party incorporation agent including Trust and Company Service Providers (TCSP) and they are also required to hold a PSC register or are subject to equivalent transparency requirements then they would be required to be registered on that company’s PSC register. If the third party incorporation agent is not required to hold its own PSC register then the UK company would be required to look further up the ownership chain to identify who owns and controls the TCSP. The ultimate owner would be recorded on the PSC register.

    Where a third party incorporation agent has incorporated a company on behalf of someone else and they do not own or control the company, then the register would not record the third party incorporation agent details. It would instead record who actually owns and controls that UK company.

    How the PSC register works is explained in detailed guidance that has been prepared by BIS with the help of a working group of businesses, lawyers and civil society organisations. The guidance can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-the-people-with-significant-control-requirements-for-companies-and-limited-liability-partnerships.

    “