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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support children living in conflict zones to access education.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID’s priority areas in education are to improve learning, to reach all children – especially those in fragile states – and to keep girls in school and learning. The UK is one of the biggest bilateral donors to basic education in low income countries. Between 2010 and 2015 DFID supported 11 million children in school across 21 countries, 7.5 million of them in countries considered to be fragile. DFID has again pledged to support 11 million girls and boys with a decent education between 2015 and 2020. In addition, by 2017, our flagship £355 million Girls’ Education Challenge will enable up to 1 million of the world’s most marginalised girls to benefit from an education of sufficient quality to help transform their lives, including in countries such as Somalia and South Sudan.

    DFID is also supporting initiatives to improve how the international community provides education in emergencies, including conflicts. This includes leadership to establish the ‘No Lost Generation Initiative’ (NLGI) in 2013 to prevent the loss of an entire generation of children to the effects of violence and displacement in the Syria conflict. As part of this support, the UK has allocated £115 million to provide protection, psychosocial support and education for children affected by the crisis in Syria. As a result, over 251,000 children have received formal and informal education inside Syria and in the region, allowing them to catch up on lost learning time and perform well in public school examinations. In addition, a key outcome of the recent ‘Supporting Syria and the Region Conference’, held in London on 4 February, is the commitment that, by the end of the 2016/17 school year,1.7 million children – all refugee children and vulnerable children in host communities – will be in quality education with equal access for girls and boys.

    Ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit in May, DFID is also working with partners to improve how education is delivered globally in humanitarian and protracted crises.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether EU laws on telecommunications and media protect freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    EU laws on telecommunications (electronic communications services) exclude services that provide, or exercise editorial control over content transmitted using electronic communications networks and services. While printed media (e.g. newspapers) are not within the scope of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the Directive does apply to audio visual media, (television broadcasts and other tv-like content). The Government has considered the impact of the Directive on freedom of expression when responding to the European Commission’s consultation on the future of that Directive. The Government’s response is attached.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much was spent on research by her Department in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Research and development (R&D), analysis and monitoring and surveillance provide important input into evidence for decision-making, ensuring Defra’s polices are based on a sound, comprehensive understanding of current evidence. It helps us find new policy solutions and identify and tackle future issues.

    The term ‘evidence’ encompasses material from a variety of disciplines – science research, statistics, economics, social research or operational research, and geographical information.

    Core Defra’s spend in ‘evidence’, including its share of Research & Development (R&D), during the last five years is summarised in the table below.

    Year

    Core Defra total evidence spend

    Core Defra R&D spend (within the evidence total)

    2010/11

    £209m

    £106m

    2011/12

    £199m

    £110m

    2012/13

    £189m

    £101m

    2013/14

    £149m

    £91m

    2014/15

    £123m

    £71m

    These figures include work commissioned by core Defra from its laboratory agencies, namely the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; the Food and Environment Research Agency and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

    Due to both financial factors and wider changes in the context for how research and innovation are being organised (e.g. as set out in the Higher Education White Paper), Defra’s approach is evolving more towards that of consumer rather than commissioner of research. Defra’s role will be to set out its key evidence needs and work with providers to co-design research and other evidence, increasingly looking to the wider stakeholder community to deliver the necessary evidence. For that to work effectively Defra will strengthen relationships with research councils, other research funders, other government departments and other overseas governments.

  • Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to re-establish the Economic Affairs (Airports) sub-Committee.

    Ben Gummer

    A full updated list of the Cabinet Committees will be published in the coming weeks. In line with the previous arrangements, there will be a Cabinet sub-Committee to consider airport capacity in the South East of England.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to answer Question 43738, tabled on 20 July 2016 by the right hon. Member for East Ham.

    Edward Timpson

    Parliamentary questions 43736, 43737, 43738 were answered on 01 November 2016.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect on Syrian refugees of fluctuations in the value of food vouchers provided by the World Food Programme.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region and has pledged over £1.1 billion to date, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. By the end of June 2015, our support in Syria and the region had delivered almost 20 million food rations, over 2.5 million medical consultations and relief items for 4.6 million people.

    Recent UN food security assessments have shown that fluctuations in assistance by the World Food Programme (WFP), as well as other agencies, has had an impact on refugee’s ability to provide for their basic needs. The UK is closely monitoring the situation across the region, alongside other key donors, to understand how this reduction in support will further impact the lives of Syrian refugees.

    UN appeals for Syria and the region remain severely underfunded. We continue to lobby other partners to step up to the plate and match our commitment.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make regulations under section 89(3) of the Localism Act 2011.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Communities across England have used Community Rights to list land and buildings that are important to them as assets of community value; over 2,600 to date. The Government currently has no plans to make regulations under section 89(3).

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the value and proportion of tax relief provided on ISA investments across the income distribution.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Revenue and Customs publishes detailed statistics relating to Individual Savings Accounts on Gov.uk. Links given below:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487119/Dec15_expenditure_reliefs_Final.xlsx.pdf)

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/423438/Table_9.10_2012-13_for_publication.pdf).

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  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2016 to Question 25729, when he plans to (a) complete the BAME benchmarking pilot and (b) publish the benchmarking tool.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England will begin the collection and analysis of responses from services in March. Following final sign off, NHS England expect to publish the benchmarking tool no later than June 2016.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the implications are of her Department breaching its Resource Annually Managed expenditure for the funding of other policies in her Department.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    There are no implications for the funding of other policies in my Department as a result of this breach of the Resource Annually Managed Expenditure limit. The Department’s operational expenditure is not included in this category of expenditure. Details of the breach were provided in the Northern Ireland Office Annual Report and Account 2014-15 which is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447028/NIO_Accounts_2014-2015.pdf

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