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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the financial consequences of the EU sanctions on Russia on Serbia.

    Mr David Lidington

    The EU imposed sanctions on Russia in response to the annexation of Crimea and the crisis in Eastern Ukraine. Serbia has not currently imposed sanctions on Russia. No assessment on the financial consequences of EU sanctons on Russia has been made.

    Neither I, nor the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), have had any disucssions with our Serbian counterparts on the financial consequences to Serbia of EU sanctions on Russia, but the UK Government has regularly encouraged Serbia, as an accession country, to align itself fully with EU foreign policy. The UK Government has not received any represenations from the Serbian government about the impact of EU sanctions on Russia on the Serbian economy.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of the amount of revenue that would have been raised in 2015-16 by levying compulsory national insurance contributions on people above state pension age.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs currently estimates that the national insurance exemption for people of pensionable age in 2015/16 costs around £950m in National Insurance Contributions receipts.

    This figure is based on employee and self-employed National Insurance Contributions (Classes 1, 2 and 4).

    The estimate is based on the latest available Survey of Personal Incomes (2012-13), which has been projected in line with Budget 2015 economic assumptions from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

    The estimate includes a behavioural adjustment to reflect changes in labour supply for this age group which are subject to particular uncertainty.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the implications are for the Government’s policy on using Overseas Development Funding aid through the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa to send Eritreans in the EU back to Eritrea of the recommendation by the Commission established by the UN Human Rights Council to refer that country to the International Criminal Court.

    Justine Greening

    There are no programmes under the EUTF that are specific to Eritrea or that are funding the return of Eritreans currently in the EU.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of physical training provided at the Infantry Battle School in Brecon; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    In line with the requirements set out in Ministry of Defence policy, the adequacy of the physical training provided at the Infantry Battle School is wholly satisfactory. It complies with current Defence and Army physical training policy, and is conducted within an extensive framework of existing supervisory care policy and associated duty of care legislation. All physical training and fitness training must also be conducted within a safe system of training and only by appropriately qualified and competent personnel, to ensure all potential risks have been identified beforehand and steps taken to reduce these to ‘As Low As Reasonably Practicable’.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US and other NATO counterparts on the nuclear tests being conducted by North Korea; and what steps he is taking to help prevent North Korea’s development of a nuclear arsenal.

    Alok Sharma

    Following the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducting its fifth nuclear test on 9 September, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), made clear that the UK strongly condemned the test, which is a flagrant violation of binding UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions. The UK has worked closely with international partners for many years to respond to the nuclear weapons and missile programmes of the DPRK.

    The UNSC agreed wide-ranging sanctions following the fourth nuclear test in January, which contained some of the strongest measures the UNSC has ever adopted. As I said on 23 September at the UN Security Council meeting, "there is now a need to work immediately on further significant measures." The UK is working with international partners on further significant measures the UNSC can take in response to the fifth test.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take, if any, to help Britain’s aerospace and defence industry in the light of Rolls-Royce’s fifth profit warning in 21 months.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government is working with Britain’s aerospace and defence industry through the Aerospace Growth Partnership and the Defence Growth Partnership to remove barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs.As part of this work we are supporting the industry’s investment in technology, competitiveness and productivity, and skills, to help ensure the UK remains one of the world’s leading aerospace and defence nations

    At the Spending Review, the Government protected and extended spending on the Aerospace Technology Institute.

  • 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 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the Poole Unitary Authority area has been redesignated in the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

    The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

    Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

    East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

    Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what value of freight was imported by sea into the UK in each of the last five years.

    Anna Soubry

    Data on the value of freight that was imported by sea into the UK in each of the last five years is available from Eurostat’s Comext database (“EXTRA-EU Trade since 1999 by mode of transport”). This data covers only UK imports by sea from the Non-EU countries. Data by mode of transport for intra-EU trade is not available in value terms.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to encourage increased international donor support for Yemen.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is the fourth largest donor to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and has more than doubled its humanitarian support over the last year to £85 million for 2015/16. We have so far helped more than 1.3 million Yemenis with medical supplies, food, water, and emergency shelter.

    We continue to call on other donors to step up. In July 2015 the Foreign and Development Secretaries wrote to international donors to raise the profile of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and encourage more funding to the response. In September, the Development Secretary co-hosted a meeting on Yemen’s humanitarian crisis at the UN General Assembly, at which donors (including the UK) pledged an additional £85 million.

    We will continue to encourage donors to give generously to the newly launched UN humanitarian appeal for 2016.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment he has made of the safety of railways in the UK and other European countries.

    Claire Perry

    The United Kingdom currently has the safest record of any major railway network in Europe. All European Union Member States collect statistics about their safety performance including, for example, accidents and consequences, accident precursors and technical information. This material is collated by the European Railway Agency in its Annual Safety Performance Reports which are published at www.era.europa.eu/Core-Activities/Safety/Safety-Performance/Pages/Safety-Performance-Report.aspx.

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