Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Israel concerning recent anti-Christian vandalism at the Dormition Abbey.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    While we have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities over this specific incident, we understand that the Israeli police have arrested two Israeli teenagers for the attack. This attack was widely condemned by Palestinian and Israeli leaders. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv is in regular contact with representatives of Churches on a range of issues, including to discuss concern about attacks on places of worship.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s contribution is to the Government’s emissions reduction plan; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra is working with DECC towards the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan. This will be the successor to the 2011 Carbon Plan, which is available at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-carbon-plan-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions–2.

    The Plan will set out our policies and proposals for meeting the UK’s carbon budgets.

    “

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount which the soft drinks industry levy will raise for public expenditure in Scotland.

    Damian Hinds

    The soft drinks industry levy is part of the government’s strategy to tackle childhood obesity. It is aimed at encouraging producers to reformulate their product mix and move consumers towards lower sugar alternatives.

    The levy is expected to raise £520 million in the first year across the UK; the OBR expect that this number will fall over time as producers reformulate their product mix and consumption of high sugar drinks decreases. In England, the revenue will be used to double the primary school PE and sport premium; provide funding to give 25% of secondary schools increased opportunity to extend their school day to offer a wider range of activities for pupils; and fund the expansion of breakfast clubs in up to 1,600 schools.

    As stated at Budget 2016, the Barnett Formula will continue to be applied to spending on these new initiatives in the normal way.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department provided to the delegation to Iran led by the Rt. hon. Member for Gordon and the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire in December 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The visit of the Rt Hon. Member for Gordon (Mr Salmond) and the Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Ms Ahmed-Sheikh) to Tehran in December 2015 was organised and paid for entirely by the Scottish National Party and the Iranian authorities. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided some logistical support and Mr Salmond was briefed by the British Chargé d’affaires in Tehran on his arrival.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been disbursed from the public purse in legal fees for solicitors, parliamentary agents, barristers and their staff who have been working on behalf of HS2 Ltd.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department has appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to provide support in relation to the HS2 Phase 1 hybrid Bill. The current spend on this contract is £9,594,124.36.

    The Department has also appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to support the preparation of the HS2 Phase 2a hybrid Bill, which is expected to be deposited in 2017. The current spend on this contract is £146,265.10.

    The Department continues to instruct a team of barristers to support the HS2 project. Each barrister is remunerated at agreed government hourly rates. The spend on these barristers for the period from 2013 to the present is £2,219,872.30.

    All figures are correct up to 5 September 2016 and are exclusive of VAT.

    Since approximately 2010, the Department has also instructed a number of barristers on other HS2 related work, primarily litigation. These barristers will have been remunerated at agreed government hourly rates, but unfortunately it would involve disproportionate cost for the Department to provide precise figures.

  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Foreign Secretary’s recent description of the EU’s position on access to the single market and free movement as complete baloney”

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As we leave the EU, the Government wants to give British companies the maximum freedom to trade and operate in the Single Market. Ministers are clear about this objective, and are able to draw on a wide range of expertise within the FCO and across Government, to help achieve it.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether introducing an elected mayor will be a requirement of all future devolution deals with combined authorities.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Development of devolution deals is a bottom up process, in which areas bring us their proposals for the powers and budgets they want devolved to them. The accompanying governance arrangements they propose to support those powers and budgets must be commensurate with the scale of devolution they are seeking.

    Elected mayors provide that strong, single point of accountability which is essential for any devolution deal of the scale and ambition of the deals we have announced for Greater Manchester, Sheffield City Region, Tees Valley and the North East.

  • Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of his Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not have a dedicated research and development fund. Research to inform policy is conducted by FCO Research Analysts and by individual Directorates and overseas Posts, and funded from devolved budgets. It is therefore not possible to identify how much of the FCO’s allocated funding will be spent on these activities over the Spending Review 2015 period.

  • Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department defines the pay envelope in its work on considering the junior doctor contract.

    Ben Gummer

    The pay envelope for junior doctor contract reform is as agreed by the hon. Member in his previous capacity as a Minister for Health in 2013 when he approved the “Heads of Terms” for the junior doctor contract. The basis of the agreement is that the cost of the new junior doctor contract will not exceed the cost of the current contract, (expressed on a per full time equivalent basis). Subsequently, the current Government has made it clear that savings are not being sought and that junior doctors’ average earnings would not reduce as a result of the changes proposed.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is planning to give to countries affected by the Zika virus.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    British officials across the Americas have been working closely with their counterparts on steps to understand and prevent the spread of the disease. We have focused particularly on Brazil, which has seen the highest number of cases in the region. On 26 January, the UK announced a new Zika research project between Glasgow University and Fiocruz, a leading biomedical research centre in Brazil. The following day, a scientist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine arrived in Recife to support Zika research led by the Pan American Health Organsation. Discussions are also ongoing between FCO officials and the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency with regards to combating this virus. On 1 February, the World Health Organisation (WHO) categorised the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. This declaration by the WHO allows for the immediate allocation of emergency funds to support their necessary medical research. The United Kingdom is already the WHO’s second largest donor, providing a £15 million assessed contribution in 2015 in addition to a further, voluntary, contribution from the Department For International Development (DFID) of £14.5 million.