Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with other government departments on the forthcoming Carbon Plan.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    We are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and other government departments in order to meet the shared challenge of moving to a low carbon economy. The Emissions Reduction Plan will set out how we will meet our carbon budgets through the 2020s (the period covering the fourth and fifth carbon budgets).

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take to improve broadband services in urban areas (a) generally and (b) for small and medium-sized businesses in 2015-16.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Access to broadband is of vital importance to small and medium-sized businesses, which is why the Government-funded Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme has provided over 50,000 small and medium sized enterprises with access to high speed broadband.83 per cent of homes and businesses already have access to superfast broadband services, and thanks to the Government’s investment in the superfast broadband rollout, this is set to rise to 95 per cent by the end of 2017. In addition, the Government is supportingseven pilot projects exploring options for delivering superfast broadband services to the hardest to reach parts of the UK.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to encourage (a) UK-owned and (b) UK-based private sector companies to invest in UK energy and manufacturing supply chains.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has worked jointly with Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and UKTI to encourage investment in UK energy supply chains, in both UK-owned and UK-based companies, and to achieve higher levels of UK content in energy infrastructure. We have worked constructively with project developers to enhance the opportunities for UK-based companies to win contracts and with top tier suppliers to encourage them to invest in the UK.

    BIS continues to work with DECC and the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) to encourage investment in the UK Continental shelf (UKCS) and these arrangements include the formation of a Supply Chain Board to promote development of the oil and gas supply chain. Subsequent to the Oil & Gas Skills Analysis Report we maintain a regular dialogue with Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO), the oil and gas skills body, who advise on skills gaps.

    For large renewable energy projects, developers are required to have their Supply Chain Plans approved by Government, setting out how they will boost competition, innovation and skills, before they are eligible to apply for price support under the Contract for Difference regime. BIS has supported the GROW: Offshore Wind programme to help SMEs in England to compete in the offshore wind supply chain and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult to help companies bring new technologies to market.

    Open competition is important to bring down the costs of energy and, in open competition, UK bidders do not always win the contracts. We have made no specific assessment of the impact of UK contractors failing to win contracts on the UK economy, including the Scotland economy, and on the UK skills base.

    More widely, the Government is taking a number of steps to strengthen UK manufacturing supply chains and help these businesses compete in global markets.

    First and foremost, we are building a strong economy and a competitive business environment. We are backing manufacturers by cutting corporation tax, slashing red tape by a further £10billion and investing £6.9billion in the UK’s infrastructure. This is creating the right economic conditions to encourage the business investment crucial to UK manufacturing productivity growth and jobs.

    Through the sectors councils we are working closely with manufacturing companies to understand their needs and remove barriers in their path. The Government continues to invest in our world leading aerospace, automotive, defence and transport sectors and has reformed procurement rules so the supply chain can reap maximum benefit; whilst the High Value Manufacturing Catapult shows how companies can adapt to new technologies reduce their costs and boost productivity. One in six manufacturers have reshored production over the past three years and around one third of the 2,000 new Foreign Direct Investment projects landed in 2014/15 were in the areas of advanced manufacturing and life sciences. Business has the confidence to invest and make things in the UK again because the Government is getting the fundamentals of the economy right and creating a highly competitive, pro-business environment.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 21502, on Syria: military intervention, what the evidential basis is for the statement that there have been no reports of civilian casualties as a result of RAF airstrikes in Iraq or Syria.

    Penny Mordaunt

    All UK airstrikes in Iraq and Syria are assessed post-strike using the best available imagery, intelligence and other sources of information to assess the impact of the strike on the target and affected area. This assessment, coupled with pre-strike checks provides the evidence base to support the statement that in the hundreds of airstrikes conducted by the RAF to date in Iraq and, more recently Syria, we have found no evidence of civilian casualties arising from UK airstrikes.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on moving responsibility for the courts, youth justice and probation to police and crime commissioners.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    As set out in the 2015 manifesto, the government is committed to further developing the role of locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). We have already brought forward legislation to enable PCCs to take responsibility for fire services in their area where a local case is made.

    As the Home Secretary said recently, PCCs have brought real benefits to policing since their introduction in 2011. The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office are exploring whether their role as locally elected individuals could bring further benefits to the wider criminal justice system, local communities and, most importantly, the victims of crime.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s timetable is for the legislative process for election of a Regional Mayor in the north east of England.

    James Wharton

    Our intention is that secondary legislation to enable the election of a mayor for the North East Combined Authority in May 2017 will be made by November 2016.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the trend in the size of the hedgehog population in England since 2000; and what is the reason for that trend.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The People’s Trust for Endangered Species’ State of Britain’s Hedgehogs Report 2015 estimated a population of 1.55 million hedgehogs in England, Wales and Scotland in the 1990s. Since 2000, rural populations are thought to have declined by at least a half and urban populations by up to a third. The current population is estimated at around 1 million.

    The reasons for their decline are complex and include a number of factors including intensive agricultural practices (including loss of hedgerows), use of pesticides reducing availability of food, roads, a lack of available shelter in urban areas and restriction of movement and badgers which predate on hedgehogs and compete for their food.

    The Government supports efforts to encourage local communities to work together in supporting the hedgehog such as making our gardens more hedgehog friendly and more welcoming to wildlife in general.

    Working with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species the Government has recently published advice for homeowners in the form of five simple steps to make gardens more hedgehog friendly, from letting grassy areas grow wild to providing food and shelter.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to assess the extent to which Sustainability and Transformation plans address (a) mental health provision in a locality and (b) the case for the integration of mental and physical health.

    George Freeman

    Sustainability and Transformation Plans are multi-year, high-level and place-based plans. Local health and care systems have been asked to ensure that they have a shared understanding of where they are in relation to the three challenges set out in the Five Year Forward View (health and wellbeing, care and quality, finance and efficiency) and where they need to be by 2020/21. They are expected to build on this to present an overall strategy for their geographic footprint and identify the 3-5 key priorities required to realise their vision. These priorities will not be the same for each area. Those areas with more advanced plans will be expected, in addition, to set out how they will deliver a number of national priorities including improvements in mental health services. In addition, NHS England and other arm’s length bodies have established a programme to implement the national strategy for mental health developed by the Mental Health Taskforce. The strategy is designed to reduce variations in access to and quality of support for people with mental health conditions and to ensure that services meet people’s physical and mental health needs in an integrated way.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders on the implication of the outcome of the EU referendum for future levels of employment in the UK financial services industry.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to the UK hosting the world’s most competitive international financial centre and securing a long-term economic relationship with the rest of Europe that provides for the best possible terms of trade in goods and services, including financial services.

    The Chancellor and other Treasury ministers have met, and will continue to meet, a number of financial services stakeholders since the referendum. The impact of the referendum on the financial services industry was discussed at these meetings. Future employment in the UK financial services industry will be commercial decisions for individual firms.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of whether his Department is on course to complete the roll-out of smart meters by 2020.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government is committed to every home and small business being offered smart meters by the end of 2020. The Programme is making good progress. More than 4.2 million meters have been installed in homes and businesses across Great Britain.

    Data on the number of smart electricity and gas meters installed in Great Britain is set out in the Government’s ‘Smart Meters, Great Britain, Quarterly report to end June 2016’, published on 29 September 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistical-release-and-data-smart-meters-great-britain-quarter-2-2016

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