Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the effects of food shortages in Malawi.

    James Wharton

    The humanitarian situation in Malawi is concerning. Some 6.5 million people are currently assessed to be in need of food security assistance. The UK has acted quickly, responding with a commitment of £35 million, a significant proportion of which is aimed at the food and nutrition response. This includes logistics support through the World Food Programme to enable the delivery of food to 4.75 million people, and cash transfers through an International Non-Governmental Organisations consortium to enable over 250,000 of the most vulnerable to purchase food. The UK has provided emergency nutrition support, including screening for over 1 million children, and treatment of 100,000 emergency cases. As well as this immediate support the UK is working closely with other key actors to identify and progress ways to break the cycle of food insecurity in Malawi.


  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of changes in employment in the renewable energy sector as a result of changes in policy towards feed-in tariffs.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Our consultation on the feed-in tariff review reflects the need to balance sector support whilst keeping bills down for consumers. We strongly welcomed evidence from the sector during this review consultation, which ended on 23 October, and will respond in due course.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the planned build rate of the Type 26 frigate.

    Earl Howe

    The statement made on 23 November 2015 in the House of Commons by the Prime Minister on the outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Official Report, column 1049) set out the Government’s commitment to build eight Type 26 anti-submarine warfare ships, preceded by two additional Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), as well as the intent to develop a new light frigate programme.

    We have now begun detailed work to take forward the programme outlined by the Prime Minister. The impact of building the two additional OPVs on the Type 26 programme schedule, including the timing of the award of the contract to build the ships and their build schedule, will be central to this work. In due course, a revised programme will be produced and be considered through the normal investment approvals process.

  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will apply for EU Solidarity Funding for the damage caused by recent flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    We will consider all forms of support for those affected by the recent floods.

    However, the EU Solidarity Fund would not compensate for private losses. It would take several months to receive the majority of the funds and only provides for a fraction of the total costs of assessed damage. The Government is not ruling this out, but we need to act quickly and our immediate priority is to deal with the urgent needs of those affected.

    This is why the Government has opened the Bellwin scheme for Local Authorities affected by floods, with 100% of eligible costs to be met by the Government.

    On top of this, the Government is providing nearly £200 million of additional aid to support those affected by the floods in England.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what savings his Department has made from ending the paper vehicle tax disc.

    Andrew Jones

    In the first six months following the abolition of the tax disc between 1 October 2014 and 31 March 2015, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency saved £4.2m. The savings for financial year 2015/16 are not yet available.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the variation in the number of teaching hours provided to and fees paid by university students.

    Joseph Johnson

    No such assessment currently exists. However, in our Green Paper: “Fulfilling our potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice,” we proposed that the new Teaching Excellence Framework could consider information about levels of teaching intensity and contact hours. We will be setting out our response to the Green Paper in due course.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when those parts of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 which have not come into force are expected to come into force.

    Karen Bradley

    We expect to commence the Psychoactive Substances Act in its entirety in the spring. We need to ensure the readiness of all the activity necessary to enable the smooth implementation of the legislation across the UK and to support law enforcement in their ability to drive forward the legislation on commencement.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times he has attended public meetings of the Defence Committee since his appointment.

    Michael Fallon

    I have attended each of the three public oral evidence sessions to which I have been invited since my appointment. I have agreed to appear before the Committee on 24 May on Russia and 8 June on Syria and Iraq.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) court judgments have been made against Tivium and (b) such judgments have been satisfied in (i) England, (ii) the North West and (iii) Lancashire.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    There have been one hundred and fifty eight judgments made in England against County Court respondents with the word Tivium in their name. Forty three of those had judgements issued and entered at the County Court Money Claims Centre in the North West. There were no judgments recorded as being issued and entered in courts in Lancashire. A judgment is not necessarily made near to the claimant’s residential address. Data on how many judgements have been satisfied is not held.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the financial cost of incidences of human error within the NHS; and what steps his Department has taken to reduce the likelihood of such errors.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    According to a report prepared for the Department and published by Frontier Economics in October 2014, unsafe care can cost the National Health Service between £1 billion and £2.5 billion a year.

    In order to improve the safety of patients, we have established various initiatives including:

    – The Sign up to Safety Campaign officially launched in June 2014. More than 390 organisations have signed up thus far, and we are aware of more than 670 projects to reduce avoidable harm. Organisations that sign up must outline what they will do to strengthen patient safety, including a response to five key pledges and a safety improvement plan that demonstrates how they intend to save lives/reduce harm over the next three years. The campaign aims to help member organisations listen to patients, carers and staff, learn from what they say when things go wrong and take action to improve patient’s safety, helping to ensure patients get harm free care every time, everywhere;

    – The Patient Safety Collaboratives, a programme to improve the safety of patients and ensure that continual patient safety learning sits at the heart of healthcare in England; and

    – The NHS Safety Thermometer, a measurement tool for a programme of work to support patient safety improvement.