Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the timing of the referendum taking place in Darfur between 11 and 13 April, in the light of the levels of violence in Jebel Marra, Central Darfur.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain concerned by the timing of the Darfur referendum due to ongoing violence and the absence of a peace agreement. The continued fighting and level of civilian displacement in Jebel Marra is particularly troubling, and brings in to question the viability of holding the referendum at this time. We have raised such concerns with the Government of Sudan. We have also pressed for full humanitarian access to be granted, including at the UN Security Council and bilaterally as part our recent strategic dialogue with the Government of Sudan, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Africa Director. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum are monitoring the situation closely.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she made of the effect of a vote to leave the EU on school language exchange programmes.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education has not made any assessment of the effect that a majority leave vote in the European Union Referendum would have on school language exchange programmes.

    It is the Government’s view that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed European Union. A vote to leave the European Union would put this at risk.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to protect birds of prey.

    Rory Stewart

    All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which provides a powerful framework for the conservation of wild birds, their eggs, nests and habitats. The Government is committed to ensuring the protection afforded to wild birds of prey is effectively enforced. There are strong penalties for offenders, including imprisonment.

    Raptor persecution is one of six national wildlife crime priorities and is subject to a prevention, intelligence and enforcement plan.

    The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is part funded by Defra, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what contingency plans the Government has in place for winter 2016-17 to support pensioners and other vulnerable people in the event of a prolonged spell of below average temperatures.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government has various policies in place that will support pensioners and other vulnerable people with their energy bills throughout winter 2016/17,irrespective of temperature.

    The Warm Home Discount scheme provides eligible households with a £140 energy bill rebate. This winter, over 2 million low income and vulnerable households, of which over 1.2 million are pensioner households, will be helped under the scheme.

    Over 12 million pensioners receive the Winter Fuel Payment of up to £300 each winter while people on certain benefits, including Pension Credit, receive a £25 Cold Weather Payment for each seven day period of freezing temperatures.

    The Government is also reforming the Energy Company Obligation to have a greater focus on vulnerable and low income households. It will have a value of £640m a year, will run from 2017 until 2022, and and homes helped under the new obligation could see their energy bills fall by up to £300 per year.

    In addition, we are providing £1.3m to fund the Big Energy Saving Network and running the Big Energy Saving Week again. This is a grant scheme that supports vulnerable consumers to take action to reduce their energy costs by switching supplier and taking up energy efficiency, through outreach by trusted and trained community and third sector organisations.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to improve the retention of students who have the potential to succeed in higher education but face financial difficulties.

    Joseph Johnson

    Continuation rates for students in publicly-funded institutions are at a record high, with 94.3% of young full-time first degree entrants to higher education in English HEIs in 2012/13 continuing after their first year and, 90.0% of full-time first degree starters of all ages in English HEIs in 2012/13 were expected to receive an award or transfer. Improvements in these areas have come at a time of considerable expansion in student numbers and increasing diversity in the backgrounds of students.

    Institutions wishing to charge higher fees must agree access agreements with the independent Director of Fair Access. In these, institutions set out what more they will do to attract students from disadvantaged backgrounds and help them to complete their studies and progress to post-graduate study or employment. In 2016/17, institutions expect to spend £425m on financial support through their access agreements.

    The Higher Education Green Paper set out further steps to encourage universities to improve retention rates, including for students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, through a Teaching Excellence Framework.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy for the NHS to screen all people over the age of 55 for hearing loss.

    Alistair Burt

    The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the NHS in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy.

    In 2009-10 the UK NSC recommended that routine screening for adult hearing loss should not be offered because of the lack of evidence to warrant a screening programme. In particular:

    – it is not clear what the test should be;

    – there is no agreed time or schedule for carrying out the testing;

    – the acceptability of the test and in particular the treatment (hearing aids) is unclear; and

    – there had been no randomised trials of screening.

    As part of its routine evidence review process the UK NSC has just reviewed its recommendation on screening adults for hearing loss again. Ministers expect to receive a recommendation from the UK NSC shortly.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were wrongly released in each of the last five years; what crime each such prisoner had been convicted of; from which prison each such prisoner has been released; how many such prisoners were released from (a) public and (b) private prisons; what category of prisoner each person wrongly released was; how long it took to return each such prisoner to prison; what further crimes each such prisoner committed while wrongly released; how many such prisoners remained at large in each of the last five years; what crime each at large prisoner was originally convicted of; from which prison each at large prisoner was wrongly released from; whether this was a (i) private and (ii) public prison; and what category of prisoner each at large wrongly released prisoner was.

    Andrew Selous

    The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the effect of sugary drinks on obesity.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no such recent discussions.

  • Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken by the Independent Police Complaints Commission to resolve complaints.

    Mike Penning

    Home Office officials work closely with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to monitor how they are delivering their objectives. The IPCC provide regular performance information to the Home Office, including information on the timeliness of completed cases, which are scrutinised closely by my officials as part of the business and corporate planning process. The Home office is working with the IPCC to develop appropriate performance measures for 2016-17, including more streamlined public access to IPCC timeliness information.

    On 7 March, the Home Secretary announced plans to reform the IPCC’s Governance, to make it more effective and more responsive to the public. These plans were published on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-the-independent-police-complaints-commission-structure-and-governance We continue to provide additional funding to support the IPCC to expand to deliver an increased volume of timely, high quality investigations. I will ask the IPCC to write to the Honourable Member in response to the request for average times to complete the complaints process, and will ask for this response to be made available in the House Library.

  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions since Typhoon aircraft were deployed to RAF Lossiemouth such aircraft were required to use Leuchars as a diversionary airfield; how many such aircraft were involved on each occasion; and what the reasons were for those diversions.

    Earl Howe

    I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr Francois) on 5 January 2015 to Question number 219126. There have been no further occasions of Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth being required to divert to Leuchars.