Tag: Parliamentary Question

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her comments at the Oxford Farming conference on 6 January 2016 on decentralising decision-making, what steps she plans to take to ensure funding to tackle flooding and the maintenance of flood defences is allocated fairly and transparently to local groups.

    Rory Stewart

    The Environment Agency allocates funding according to where it will have the most benefit to people and property using System Asset Management Plans for each of its flood defence asset systems. The Environment Agency discusses local maintenance programmes with local communities and groups like internal drainage boards. The Environment Agency publishes its maintenance programme online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/river-and-coastal-maintenance-programme.

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  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential of the arts to contribute to mental well-being for people with mental illness; and what programmes his Department has in place to help deliver that contribution.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Research commissioned by DCMS has found positive associations between participation in arts and health, including mental health. The research can be found here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416279/A_review_of_the_Social_Impacts_of_Culture_and_Sport.pdf

    Arts Council England funds a number of organisations on behalf of the Government that support people with mental health issues.

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  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has for public communications on the need to prepare for the effects of climate change.

    Rory Stewart

    The effects of climate change continue to be taken into account within policy making across Defra and all levels of Government and within the broad range of related communications activities. Targeted communications closely tied to specific climate threats help those affected to understand potential impacts and the practical actions that they can take to increase their resilience and adapt. For instance, the Environment Agency have been ‘geo-targeting’ people in specific high flood risk locations via Facebook and other services to promote the benefits of and sign up to the free flood warning service.

    Government will be publishing the second UK Climate Change Risk Assessment in 2017 to be followed by the second National Adaptation Programme report and will, as part of that process, consider the need for further public communications on the effects of climate change in the UK.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with ministers in the devolved administrations about improving the levels of voter registration.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Following the May elections we look forward to working with the new Governments in Scotland and Wales on modernising and improving electoral registration. Electoral policy is not devolved in Northern Ireland but we are working with the Chief Electoral Officer to introduce digital registration. The Government is committed to helping ensure that everyone who is eligible to vote in polls is able to do so. Online registration makes it easier, simpler and faster for people to register to vote. Since the introduction of IER in Great Britain in 2014 there have been over 17 million applications to register to vote, with a majority of these applications online.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff there were in his Department with off-payroll engagements of more than £220 per day in the last six months; and what the job titles were of those staff.

    Ben Gummer

    From January to June 2016 there were 225 staff employed under the Cabinet Office’s mandated contingent labour framework supplied by Capita who were paid £220 per day or more. They worked on a range of roles across the areas listed below. Full data on pay costs is published monthly on .gov.uk https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/payroll-costs-and-non-consolidated-pay-data

    • Digital
    • Engineering
    • Estates & Logistics
    • Finance; Audit & Accountancy
    • Infrastructure Projects (Gateway Reviews)
    • Human Resources
    • Information and Communications Technology
    • IT Project Management
    • Marketing & Communications
    • Corporate administration

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  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the current executive MSc in security sector management programme, run in Ethiopia with oversight from his Department, differs from the Department for International Development’s similar MSc programme which was closed in June 2015.

    Mike Penning

    The MSc programme was restarted in 2015-16 under the Conflict Security and Stability Fund, reflecting the security focus of the syllabus. It differs from the DFID-funded programme as it draws students from across the region, thereby contributing to the National Security Council (NSC) objective of enhancing regional peace and security in East Africa, whereas the previous MSc was primarily for Ethiopians. There are ongoing efforts to improve the diversity profile of the student intake, in terms of age, gender and military/civilian balance; and to identify more students from African Union countries, in support of the NSC objective to build the African Union’s capacity to reduce, manage and resolve conflict and crises in Africa.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 4 November (HL2981), what were the grades of each of the two full-time members of staff seconded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Office of the Quartet Representative from 2007 to 2013.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office seconded two full-time members of staff to the Office of the Quartet Representative from 2007 until 2013. These consisted of one senior civil servant from June 2007 until March 2010 and then one Grade 6 equivalent from March 2010 until June 2013. This was in addition to one higher executive officer equivalent from June 2007 until December 2010, followed by an executive officer equivalent from January 2011 until August 2012, and then an administrative officer equivalent from September 2012 until June 2013.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department is encouraging the use of medical nutrition as a integral part of healthcare where there is an identified clinical need; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Doctors are able to advise patients on any aspect of diet relevant to the treatment and management of a medical condition as part of their normal practise.

    The Government also takes active steps to support healthy eating and vitamin supplementation as a protective measure. The Healthy Start scheme is a United Kingdom wide government scheme to improve the health of low income pregnant women and families on benefits and tax credits. Women who are at least 10 weeks pregnant and families with children under four years old get vouchers to spend on milk, plain fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables (with nothing added). They also receive a voucher to swap, free of charge, for Healthy Start vitamins. Healthy start vitamins contain the supplements recommended by the Department to prevent deficiency; Vitamins D and C and folic acid for pregnant women and vitamins A, C and D for children.

    Hospital food standards for the National Health Service are written into the NHS Standard Contract 2015/16 which is the key document governing the purchase and provision of NHS services. Providers are obliged under the terms of their legally-binding contracts with commissioners to adhere to these requirements. The five food standards are:

    For patient catering:

    – The 10 Key Characteristics of Good Nutritional Care, NHS England

    – Nutrition and Hydration Digest, British Dietetic Association

    – Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool or equivalent, British Association for Parental and Enteral Nutrition.

    For staff and visitor catering:

    – Healthier and More Sustainable Catering – Nutrition Principles (for staff and visitor catering), Public Health England.

    For all catering:

    – Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services, Defra.

    For patients whose dietary requirements are not represented by the ‘eatwell plate’, a personal nutritional care plan should be implemented and tailored dietetic advice sought. The specific nutritional needs of individual patients should always supersede the application of blanket principles.

  • Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Featherstone on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money they have spent in this Parliamentary Session on support for fracking activities.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    I refer the noble Baroness to the answer my Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change gave to the hon. Member for Huddersfield on 21 January 2016 to House of Commons Parliamentary Question 22696.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to enforce better compliance with the School Admissions Code among religiously selective schools in the light of the findings of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year.

    Lord Nash

    The Government is giving careful consideration to the report of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator as part of our current review of the School Admissions Code, in addition to other research and publications.

    We will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.