The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what volume of additional spent fuel will be produced as a consequence of the life extension of nuclear reactors.
Andrea Leadsom
The additional amount of spent fuel arising from the recently announced lifetime extension of 4 AGR stations is anticipated to be in the range of 700-800 tU, based on the current rate of arisings of spent fuel from the AGR fleet.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to increase the number of advocacy services available to mentally ill people before they are sectioned.
Alistair Burt
When a person is detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, (“the Act”) they are legally entitled to an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) who understands the Act and can support the detained patient. The provision of IMHA services is the responsibility of local authorities.
For other mental health patients who need help and support in expressing their views, more general advocacy services, as well as family and friends, can provide support.
The Department is also currently exploring providing additional guidance to mental health professionals promoting advocacy services to psychiatric patients that they believe would benefit from such support.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has received any representations from NHS staff who feel they are being harassed outside NHS buildings by protesters.
Ben Gummer
There have been no representations from National Health Service staff who feel they are being harassed outside NHS buildings by protesters.
Although protesters are democratically entitled to make their views known on abortion and other issues and can do so outside NHS hospitals and other NHS buildings, we would condemn any harassment of NHS staff, patients and others. We would expect NHS trusts, as responsible for providing a safe environment for all using their facilities, to work with the Police and other agencies as appropriate to ensure they have adequate arrangements in place to prevent harassment of staff and patients. If staff are subject to criminal activity such as physical assaults, these should be reported so that employers can take appropriate action.
Currently, NHS trusts have access to Security Incident Reporting Systems which helps NHS Protect measure the nature and scale of security incidents across the NHS, not just those involving physical assaults on staff but also those involving non-physical abuse and theft of/damage to NHS assets.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of whether UK citizens would retain the automatic right to hold the European Health Insurance Card during the period prior to the completion of Article 50 negotiations relating to the Lisbon Treaty in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU.
Alistair Burt
The procedure governing a country’s departure from the European Union is set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This provides for a period of two years for the negotiation of exit terms. EU law would continue to apply to the departing Member State until the Article 50 agreement had entered into force, or for two years if no agreement had been reached and no extension to the two year period had been granted. A request for an extension could only be granted with the unanimous agreement of the remaining Member States. The Government’s position is that the United Kingdom will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) planned and (b) unplanned cancellations of train services operated by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) under the emergency timetable introduced from 11 July 2016 would place GTR in breach of the level of cancellations set out in the Remedial Plan agreed between GTR and his Department in February 2016.
Claire Perry
Under the Franchise Agreement, where GTR can provide the evidence that cancellations are due to official or unofficial industrial action, they can claim Force Majeure, which they have done. The Govia Thameslink Railway Franchise Agreement in Schedule 7.1 sets out the performance benchmarks and financial regime that is in place in relation to cancellations. A copy of the Franchise Agreement can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/govia-thameslink .
The department is monitoring the position on a regular basis.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made with the government of France on developing the scale and scope of the unmanned combat aerial vehicle programme agreed in January 2014.
Harriett Baldwin
The two year £120 million UK/France Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) Feasibility Phase commenced in October 2014 and is due to be completed in January 2017. In Amiens in March 2016, we agreed with the French Government to extend the Feasibility Phase through 2017. As well as developing jointly our understanding of the required technologies for future combat air systems, this will further define the scope of the next phase of the UCAS programme which is due to begin in late 2017 and will develop two full-scale UCAS demonstrators by 2025.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheryll Murray on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of stocks of sea bass since the implementation of restrictions on landing that fish by (a) commercial and (b) recreational fishermen in 2015.
George Eustice
The European Commission has issued proposals[1] on fishing opportunities to be agreed for 2016, which includes EU bass management measures for the commercial fishing and recreational sea angling sectors consisting of a moratorium on fishing for bass in the first six months, and reduced catch limits for the latter half of the year. The UK response to these proposals is being considered in advance of negotiations at the December Fisheries Council.
The latest available assessment of the bass stock, from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, was published in June this year before the full set of EU bass management measures for 2015 was finalised in September. Its next assessment is due in June 2016.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-12-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the budget for the delivery of electoral services in Northern Ireland in 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16, and what will be the budget for 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19.
Lord Dunlop
The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is currently considering a range of options for reforming his Office. This includes capitalising on new technology by introducing on-line registration.
The Chief Electoral Officer will have regard to the continued effective delivery of elections in Northern Ireland and ensuring that his Office remains on a sustainable financial footing. The Northern Ireland Office fully supports him in this approach. I understand that work on some options is at an early stage.
The Representation of the People Act 1983 makes provision for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland to delegate returning officer functions to the clerk of a district council.
Detailed questions on headcount and budget are operational matters for the Chief Electoral Officer who is independent of Government. The Chief Electoral Officer publishes all such information in his annual report which is presented to Parliament and copies are made available in the Library of the House.
The headline budgets allocated to the Chief Electoral Office are:
|
Financial Year |
Operational Funding |
Capital Funding |
|
2013/14 |
£5.452m * |
£100k |
|
2014/15 |
£2.336m |
£56.2k |
|
2015/16 |
£2.296m |
£25k |
* includes £3m for the 2013 canvass
The Northern Ireland Office has not agreed any budgets with the Chief Electoral Officer for future years pending receipt of the Department’s detailed Spending Review 2015 settlement letter from HM Treasury.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the funding for health measures and services referred to by the Prime Minister in his speech of 11 January 2016, on life chances, will be derived from invest to save measures.
Ben Gummer
The £30 million of funding to tackle drug and alcohol dependency is part of the larger £80 million fund announced by the Chancellor in the Spending Review, to catalyse new local solutions to complex and expensive social issues through Social Impact Bonds.
Funding for the remaining mental health measures and services is derived from the additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement 2014 and March Budget 2015 to support children and young people’s mental health and eating disorders services, and in November 2015 as part of the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Corri Wilson on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions have taken place with the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development on the situation in the dairy industry since the early support payments were made in November 2015.
George Eustice
Difficulties with low prices in the dairy sector were discussed with Commissioner Hogan at Agriculture Council on 15 February. Member States have been invited to present their initial suggestions for how to deal with the ongoing pressure on EU farmers ahead of further talks at Council on 14 March.