The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received on alleged river and soil pollution in Zambia by the UK firm Vedanta Resources.
Justine Greening
Vedenta Resources has no formal relationship with our DFID Zambia office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting time to receive an electric wheelchair through NHS Wheelchair Services after being determined eligible to receive one.
Alistair Burt
No data is currently available in relation to waiting times for wheelchairs for 2014-15. A new national data collection has been introduced (from July 2015) to all clinical commissioning groups to allow for transparency and benchmarking their services. Data has so far been published for quarter 2 and quarter 3 2015/16. However, this is a new collection and does not yet provide an opportunity to draw national or regional comparisons.
The new dataset is part of the work that NHS England is taking forward in partnership with service users, carers and others to lay the foundations for improvement across the country. A tariff for wheelchairs will enable commissioners to move away from simple contracts, and so increase efficiency and better align resources with service users’ needs; support and resources for clinical commissioning groups will help them improve their commissioning of wheelchair services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of converting schools into academies in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) Merseyside.
Edward Timpson
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-06-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the £660 million to be available to Northern Ireland and the southern border counties under PEACE IV, and other EU Structural Fund subventions, will continue to be made available to those areas.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
As the Prime Minister has made clear, while the UK remains a member of the EU, current EU funding arrangements continue unchanged. It will be for the government under the new Prime Minister to begin the negotiation to leave, and set out arrangements for those currently in receipt of EU funds.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Polak on 2016-09-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide the names of the receiver organisations currently reported as Supplier Name Withheld” for the £5.49 million in disbursements given to the Norwegian Refugee Council for legal assistance in the West Bank and Gaza from September 2013 to May 2016.”
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
All disbursements listed on the Development Tracker for the programme entitled ‘Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC): Legal Assistance to prevent demolitions and displacement in the OPTs’ have been made directly to the NRC, which is the supplier for this programme. Due to a technical issue inherent in the Development Tracker management information system, some supplier names appear as withheld when in fact they should be published. Our central management information team is working on a solution to this problem.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that oil produced in UK waters is sent to oil refineries in the UK.
Andrea Leadsom
The UK encourages a well-functioning global market for oil and oil products. The UK’s 6 refineries are well supplied by both domestically produced and imported crude oil, which they purchase in line with their commercial strategy. This diversity and flexibility of supply ensures that UK refineries and consumers are able to benefit from the most affordable prices.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has to support the rebuilding of Syria after the end of the conflict in that country.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. We have committed over £1.1 billion to date, making us the second largest bilateral donor to the international response.
The UK is now updating our planning to reflect the timeline envisaged in the Vienna political process and are asking others to do the same. The scale of the task will be enormous, complex and take a long time to complete. The UK’s response will therefore be part of a wider international effort.
The initial priorities will be to support stabilisation and transition including safety and security, reconciliation, transitional justice and confidence building measures. Meeting protection and basic needs will remain a priority, along with helping displaced persons to return. We will also look to build local governance structures in liberated areas. Over time the focus will shift to longer-term reconstruction, which includes the re-building of Syria’s shattered infrastructure, economy, services, and society. The expertise of the UN, International Financial Institutions and the private sector will be essential.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-12.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the Living Wage Foundation in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
Damian Hinds
The Government receives representations from a wide range of stakeholders on the minimum wage. A list of ministers’ meetings is published on the GOV.UK website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of co-ordinating the objectives of Innovate UK and UKTI in order to increase exports.
Anna Soubry
Increasing exports, to all overseas markets, is a key factor in the Government’s long-term economic plan. UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and Innovate UK work together to co-ordinate activity to promote UK innovation and to help drive the UK’s productivity, exports and long-term growth through increasing trade and inward investment in science and innovation. An Innovate UK secondee further augments the activities of both organisations.
This work supports UK businesses looking to take advantage of overseas opportunities and to create a strong business environment that allows them to flourish both at home and overseas. This includes working together on events and entrepreneur missions to promote the UK’s innovative companies on a global scale, identifying export opportunities and securing new markets. Innovate UK funded projects and companies are referred to UKTI trade advisers to help support international planning and exports. To date 250 companies have been referred.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much will be spent on highways maintenance in West Sussex in 2015-16.
Andrew Jones
This Government is providing both tools and funding to local highway authorities in England, outside London, to tackle the condition of our local road network. In the Spending Review 2015, the Government announced that we are allocating a total of £6.1 billion funding for local highways maintenance between now and 2021. This funding includes an additional £250 million between 2016 and 2021 for a potholes action fund to improve local roads, to promote innovation within the sector and to ensure that taxpayers get greater value for money.
For West Sussex we are providing £13.7 million this financial year (2015/16). Further details of the funding we are providing to all local highway authorities in England outside London can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/6-billion-funding-to-tackle-potholes-and-improve-local-roads
Local authorities are able to use revenue funding for maintaining their local highways and this is allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant.
The Department for Transport is also funding a street lighting scheme in West Sussex through the Private Finance Initiative.
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