The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what change there has been in the number of black and white television licences held in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2015.
Mr Edward Vaizey
According to TV Licensing, between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2015, the number of black and white licences in Northern Ireland decreased by 404 licences, from 1,140 to 736.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, by what method his Department assesses the financial returns of the National Citizenship Service; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Rob Wilson
National Citizen Service (NCS) Trust receives an annual grant from Cabinet Office. In line with National Audit Office recommendations, the NCS Trust delivers an Annual Reconciliation Statement setting out how funds have been spent. The Cabinet Office publishes details of NCS funding in its Annual Report and the programme is independently evaluated to assess impact and value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles late licensing penalties have been issued in each year since 2010.
Andrew Jones
The table below shows the number of late licensing penalties that have been issued in each calendar year since 2010:
|
Year |
Number of late licensing penalties issued |
|
2010 |
665,258 |
|
2011 |
514,106 |
|
2012 |
568,224 |
|
2013 |
575,032 |
|
2014 |
478,133 |
|
2015 |
480,790 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Cashman on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will support the key objectives of the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference that will take place in Uruguay from 13 to 15 July, which include the protection and promotion of LGBTI rights around the world.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As I set out to the House on the 21 March, and in my answers of 5 April, and the noble Baroness Verma’s answer of 31 March, the British Government will send a delegation to the Global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Intersex (LGBTI) Human Rights Conference taking place in Montevideo in July.
The Government is clear in its belief that human rights are universal and should apply equally to all people everywhere. We are opposed to all forms of discrimination and work to uphold the rights and freedoms of LGBTI people in all circumstances. We support the key objectives of the conference: to provide an important opportunity to share information, best practice and lessons learned with partners and to discuss how to better coordinate international efforts to support the promotion and protection of the rights of LGBTI people worldwide. We are committed to working with those countries that will be represented at the conference, and others, to better coordinate work to combat discrimination and violence against LGBTI people. This forms an important part of our wider international human rights work.
Precise composition of the UK delegation to the conference remains to be confirmed. With the exception of the co-hosts, the Governments of the Netherlands and Uruguay, we judge it likely that countries will be represented at official level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department will implement the recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change in its report of November 2015, The fifth carbon budget – The next step towards a low-carbon economy.
Andrea Leadsom
This Government remains firmly committed to meeting our climate change target of an at least 80% emissions reduction by 2050. The fifth carbon budget, which covers the period 2028-2032, is an important step on the way to 2050.
Discussions on this budget are continuing and we will make an announcement as soon as those discussions conclude.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of welfare reform on health inequalities in (a) Glasgow, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK.
Nicola Blackwood
The policy responsibility for welfare reform sits with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The Department of Health (DH) has not made a separate assessment of the effect of welfare reform on health inequalities in England or Scotland. It is for the Scottish Government to assess the impact of welfare reform in Scotland.
Although no assessment has been made in England, DWP has engaged across government on its proposals for welfare reform. DH has been involved in discussions on the introduction of Universal Credit and its impact on health inequalities for programmes such as Healthy Start and Help with Health Costs.
Healthy Start is a United Kingdom-wide statutory benefit, funded by DH, which aims to provide additional support to improve the diets of low income pregnant women and families with children under the age of four years. Currently, regulations are being put in place which will enable the scheme to function under Universal Credit. An equality analysis, which will include a consideration of the impact on health inequalities, will be published shortly.
Help with Health Costs is a set of arrangements which provide help with the cost of a range of National Health Services for example free NHS prescriptions or NHS dental treatment. On 1 November 2015, DH put in place criteria to determine entitlement to Help with Health Costs to those in receipt of Universal Credit. An equality analysis was produced to inform these changes, outlining the potential impact, including on health inequalities, on groups affected by the change from the previous benefits and tax credits exemption arrangements to the new criteria for Universal Credit exemption. A copy of the equality analysis is attached.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the use in Florida of the organophosphate insecticide Naled, which is banned in the EU, what advice they are giving to British citizens intending to visit Florida; and what steps they are taking to place that advice on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The method of mosquito control in other countries is not a matter routinely covered by FCO travel advice. Currently, specific UK health travel advice for Florida and the wider US is supplied by the National Travel Health Network and Centre, to which the FCO website country pages have links.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met (a) the Afghan ambassador to the UK or (b) other representatives of the Afghan government.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) most recently met with Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah at the UN General Assembly in New York on 28 September 2015.
The Embassy of Afghanistan in London has been without an Ambassador since 23 March 2015, but Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials are in regular contact with Afghan Embassy representatives, including the Chargé d’Affaires Mr Siamak Herawi.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to respond to the Electoral Commission’s report, Electoral Fraud in the UK, published in January 2014.
John Penrose
The Government is currently conducting its own review of electoral fraud, led by Sir Eric Pickles MP, which is considering arguments for and against different measures to improve electoral integrity, including those suggested by the Electoral Commission. Recommendations emerging from the review will be put to the Prime Minister in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice exempts sports betting around televised sporting events from the 9pm television watershed.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Televised gambling advertising in the UK is governed by the Advertising Codes which are maintained by the Broadcast Committee for Advertising Practice. This is supplemented by a self-regulatory industry code, the Industry Code for Socially Responsible Gambling. An enhanced version of the industry code will come into effect in February 2016. New measures include a commitment that gambling operators will no longer advertise sign-up offers on television before 9pm.