The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department’s policy is on carbon capture and storage for coal and gas; and if he will make a statement.
Jesse Norman
We will continue to work with industry going forward and will set out our future approach to carbon capture and storage in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how long officials in her Department spent considering proposals for an annexe to the Weald of Kent Grammar School.
Edward Timpson
The Weald of Kent School has set out its plans in expansion proposals. Pupils at the Sevenoaks annexe will attend the Tonbridge site at least once a week to attend a whole school assembly and additional lessons. The school will also operate a house system across the expanded school, regularly bringing students together on a range of curriculum projects. The length of the school day is a matter for the academy trust.
The newly expanded school will better meet the needs of parents in the community that the school currently serves. Over 41% of pupils at the Tonbridge site already travel from the Sevenoaks area. The travel arrangements between the sites will use existing bus companies to transport pupils who live in Sevenoaks to the Tonbridge site. The proposal indicates that the journey time is approximately 17 minutes and no additional funding is being provided to the academy to cover the costs.
The decision issued on 15 October 2015 was in respect of a proposal received on 14 September 2015. The Department can comment on the costs of external legal advice once we have the final costs bill.
The school would not have the required capital funding to expand on this scale at the existing site.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-11-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive, in order to enable the welcoming of the maximum number of refugees.
Lord Bates
The UK Government is discussing and engaging closely with the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that each is able to welcome refugees who will be resettled under the Syrian resettlement programme. We are also represented on the task forces in each of the devolved administrations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Caroline Spelman on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will change the funding for school children who receive their education outside of their own area, in order to enable the funding to follow the pupil.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We are committed to fairer school funding, where the money our schools receive matches their pupils’ needs. At the Spending Review, alongside protecting the schools budget in real terms, we announced our intention to deliver this by introducing a national funding formula for schools in 2017. That will mean children attract funding based on their individual characteristics, and not where they live, or whether the schools they attend are situated in other local authority areas. The amount of money following each pupil will be clear, and funding levels across the country will be transparent and fair. These are significant reforms and we will consult extensively in the New Year to ensure we get them right and to provide clarity and security for schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the price of airline tickets of the falling price of oil.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The recent drop in crude oil price would not have the same effect in aviation as it does in, for example, petrol stations. It is common practice in aviation industry to purchase aviation fuel in advance by entering into long-term hedging contracts, which are designed to provide stability to the industry from short-term price fluctuations.
Should the current trend in the cost of oil prove long-term, it is likely to have an effect on ticket prices in the future in a highly competitive industry.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many meetings he has held with UK Trade and Investment trade envoys since May 2015.
Anna Soubry
My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills hosted a roundtable alongside my noble Friend Lord Maude of Horsham at the House of Lords for all Trade Envoys on 9th February 2016. To the best of our knowledge, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has not held individual meetings with any of the Trade Envoys.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what powers the EU has to freeze the assets of suspected terrorist groups or individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism; and what assessment he has made of the benefits to the UK of those powers.
Mr David Lidington
The EU has two mechanisms for freezing the assets of individuals and groups suspected of involvement in terrorism. The UN’s ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida sanctions regime is implemented in the United Kingdom by way of EU Council Regulation (EC) No. 881/2002 and subsequent EU regulations adding new individuals and entities to the regime. The EU also has its own autonomous counter-terrorism regime under Common Position 931, for listing individuals and groups based on national competent authority decisions by a Member State or third country.
HM Treasury reports quarterly to Parliament on the implementation of these measures. The Treasury’s latest report [http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-02-24/HCWS548/], published on 24 February 2016, sets out that in Q4 of 2015 a total of 43 UK accounts were frozen under either EU or UN counter-terrorism measures. A further 36 accounts were frozen under the UK’s domestic Terrorist Asset Freezing etc. Act 2010 regime.
The EU’s autonomous regime lends a multiplying effect to the reach of a number of the UK’s domestic asset freezes and proscriptions of terrorist organisations, and facilitates the sharing of information on designated persons between Member States. The UK also benefits from the consistent application across EU territory of the UN’s ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida asset freezes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department plans to promote clearer pathways into the arts and cultural sectors to develop a more diverse leadership and workforce in those sectors.
Mr Edward Vaizey
In the recently published Culture White Paper we made it clear that more needs to be done to encourage diversity in leadership positions. We will promote clearer pathways into the sectors, and we will work with Arts Council England to understand the barriers that prevent people from lower income households and under-represented groups from becoming professionals in the arts.
In December 2015, the Arts Council announced four new strategic funds for diversity, totalling £8.6 million. This included a new £2.6 million Change Makers fund to build long-term relationships between National Portfolio Organisations and aspiring arts leaders from the BME and deaf and disabled communities. Arts Council England has also made a significant change in its approach to diversity by launching The Creative Case for Diversity, which asks the organisations it funds to make themselves and their work more reflective of the communities they serve.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will place in the Library copies of all letters, leaflets and other material from her Department circulated to (a) stakeholders and (b) members of the public on the EU referendum; what the costs of the production and distribution of that material has been since 1 January 2016; and what she estimates the cost of any further production and distribution of such material will be between 6 May 2016 and 23 June 2016.
Mr Nick Hurd
Copies of the Government’s published documents on the Referendum are available in the Libraries of both Houses. It is not normal practice to publish letters to members of the public and stakeholders. Costs relating to the Referendum will be accounted for in the usual way in Annual Report and Accounts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on NHS services of private providers of those services entering into administration or suffering serious financial difficulty; and what contingency provisions he has put in place to mitigate such effects.
Mr Philip Dunne
It is the primary responsibility of commissioners to ensure continuity of commissioned services through contracting and contingency planning. Where a provider is considered hard to replace in the event of failure, its services can be designated as Commissioner Requested Services. This requires the provider to obtain a provider licence, if not otherwise required to hold a licence, and places the provider in NHS Improvement’s financial oversight regime for private providers of essential NHS services.