Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is providing to the Libyan government to assist the removal of Daesh from Sirte; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We must take action to prevent Daesh from using Libya as a base from which to plan and carry out attacks.

    That is why we are working closely with international partners to develop a comprehensive approach to defeating it. Initial planning has focused on building the capabilities of Libyan security forces to provide their own security. We will seek early discussions with a Libyan Government of National Accord.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will discuss with the European Aviation Safety Agency agreeing a minimum numbers of hours for airline pilots between each flight for EU and non-EU carriers entering EU airspace.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Under the Convention on International Civil Aviation the responsibility for establishing minimum rest periods for airline pilots rests with the state in which an airline is based. The EU cannot therefore impose requirements for rest periods on non EU airlines. Minimum rest periods for the crew of EU airlines are already established by Commission Regulation 83/2014.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims of 24 March 2016, Official Report, column 221, on the Policing and Crime Bill, how many volunteer police community and support officers have been trained in Lincolnshire; what training those volunteers have received; and whether the training those volunteers have received is in line with the guidance to be issued by the College of Policing.

    Mike Penning

    Currently, volunteers already have all the powers of a police constable as a Special Constable and have done so for over a century.

    Chapter 1 of Part 3 of the Bill will enable chief officers to designate police staff with a wider range of police powers. They will also be able to confer police powers – other than the core powers reserved for warranted officers set out in Schedule 9 to the Bill – on volunteers. The intention is that the powers that can be conferred on employed staff and designated volunteers are the same. This includes the power to carry and use defensive sprays, such as CS or PAVA, in situations where the chief officer considers there to be an operational case for this. It is already the case that chief officers can equip police community support officers with defensive sprays; accordingly, the Bill simply codifies the existing position for staff. Chief officers must ensure appropriate training before conferring a power.

    Since opening the recruitment for Volunteer Police Community Support Officers (VPCSOs) in the autumn of 2013, Lincolnshire Police have recruited 80 volunteers, who have been trained to the same standard as paid PCSOs. The College of Policing guidance in respect of VPCSOs has not yet been written.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department provides to the NHS to treat people with gambling addictions.

    Alistair Burt

    The Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust provides the only specialised national problem gambling clinic. However, specialised addiction services, which mainly deal with substance misuse, do tend to accept people with gambling problems referred to them. People can also access addiction services in primary care and secondary care, which may provide support for problem gambling.

    People may also access psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. Although problem gambling is not listed amongst the provisional diagnosis categories that IAPT treats, IAPT practitioners would be able to treat common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, which may be present in people with gambling addiction problems.

    Data is not collected centrally on the number of specialist National Health Service professionals which provide support and treatment for gambling addiction.

    Data is not collected on the funding of services to treat people with gambling problems. Funding to provide NHS mental health services is allocated to clinical commissioning groups which are best placed to commission local health services based on the needs of their local populations. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning local alcohol and drug treatment services which may also refer people to gambling support services where they identify people with gambling issues.

  • Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the last meeting of the Public Health Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network was held, what actions have been taken since that meeting, and when the next meeting is scheduled to take place.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The last meeting of the Public Health Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network was held on 5 November 2014. A copy of the minutes from the meeting is attached.

    Following that meeting, on 6 November 2014, the Department published the results of the independent Campden BRI report on the Responsibility Deal labelling pledge. This showed that by the end of 2013, 79.3% of labels of bottles and cans of alcoholic drinks displayed unit content, the previous Chief Medical Officer’s lower-risk drinking guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant. On 19 December 2014 the Department also published the results of the monitoring of the Responsibility Deal pledge to remove 1 billion units of alcohol from the market by the end of 2015. This showed that the target had been exceeded by 0.3 billion units and was met two years ahead of schedule.

    There are currently no plans for a further meeting of the Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network. However, the Government remains committed to partnership working.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on moves to reduce Air Passenger Duty by 50 per cent in the near future.

    Jane Ellison

    Like all taxes Air Passenger Duty is kept under review with any changes being announced at fiscal events.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government has received from the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived in each of the last two years.

    Priti Patel

    The UK allocation from the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) is €3.96m for the 2014-20 period and will be used to expand breakfast club provision in deprived areas in England. The Department for Education received interim funding of €541,216 in advance of the scheme commencing. Officials are currently exploring options for the best way for the scheme to be administered.

    Since FEAD was created from within structural funds allocations and has some similarities to ESF, DWP Ministers took the initial decisions on our negotiation position on the size of the UK allocation and on the use of the funds. Responsibility for implementing the Fund now sits with DfE, and we have agreed this response with them. We will discuss with officials there whether all correspondence, PQs and so on, should now be their responsibility, or whether we retain a policy lead.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on plans to allow local councils to retain business rates.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    DCLG confirmed at the Spending Review our intention, by the end of this Parliament, to allow local government to keep 100% of the business rates they raise locally. We have had initial discussions with local government representative bodies and individual authorities about the reform programme. We will broaden and deepen those discussions in the New Year.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the vulnerability to flooding of (a) rail and (b) road networks; and what steps his Department is taking to protect such infrastructure from the risk of floods.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    My Department is constantly working to maintain and improve the resilience of transport to a full range of hazards.

    Network Rail are well aware of the risks from flooding and other severe weather events, and measures to improve the resilience of the network, including addressing specific concerns and recommendations arising from previous flooding events, are integral to their current 5 year programme of investment, maintenance and renewals.

    Local highway authorities have a duty to maintain their network and prepare for severe weather with regards to local roads. The Government has allocated a record £6.1 billion to fund local highways maintenance between now and 2021, continuing the increase in funding that started during the last Parliament.

    Highways England are responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network, and will invest £78 million over the next 5 years on a range of measures to improve flood resilience and water quality on the network.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25019, what efficiency savings he expects the British Transport Police to make in cash terms in each year up to 2020-21.

    Claire Perry

    During the recent spending review, the Department made clear to the British Transport Police Authority that it considered that appropriate efficiencies should be identified and made. However, it also emphasised that any efficiencies identified should not materially impact on the operational policing capability of the British Transport Police, including in relation to counter-terrorist activity. The British Transport Police Authority identified savings of over 8% that can be made between 2016/17 and 2019/20 from the British Transport Police’s (BTP) core policing budgets, focussed on those areas where reductions would not have a material operational impact on the rail network. The Department has set out its expectation that these savings should be achieved during the course of the spending review period. Any efficiency savings could, however, potentially be reinvested into counter-terrorist activities, depending on the need.