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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government uses the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey to monitor UK households’ vulnerability to hunger.

    George Eustice

    Defra does not use the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey to monitor UK households’ vulnerability to hunger.

    There is no single definition of food insecurity and Defra does not estimate numbers of households experiencing food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to develop a single classification of food insecurity.

    However Defra does publish statistics annually to show the proportion of household income spent on food by (a) all households and (b) the lowest income 20% of households. The most recent statistics are in the food statistics pocketbook 2015 on the GOV.UK website.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce medical experimentation on live animals in England.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office is responsible for regulating the use of live animals in scientific research under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). The principles of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (the 3Rs) are at the core of project authorisation under this legislation. Furthermore, these principles also extend to breeding, accommodation and care of protected animals.

    Animals can only be used where no scientifically satisfactory, non-animal alternative exists which has been suitably validated. The number of animals used must be reduced to the minimum needed to achieve the results sought. For those animals which are used, procedures must be refined as much as possible to cause the minimum pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm.

    In addition the Home Office also works with the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) who work towards replacing, reducing and refining the use of animals in research. This has included projects such as CRACK IT which to date has invested over £15million with the aims to accelerate the availability of technologies which will deliver i) measurable 3Rs impacts, ii) new marketable products and iii) more efficient business processes.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse has been of travel overseas by the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion during the course of his duties.

    Matthew Hancock

    Overseas travel costs for the Anti-Corruption Champion will be included in the next Cabinet Office annual report and accounts, which will be published on GOV.UK in due course.

    There were no costs incurred by the Cabinet Office for the Anti-Corruption Champion in the latest annual report and accounts published. Any costs covered by the Cabinet Office for the Anti-Corruption Champion will be included in the next report which will be published on GOV.UK in due course.

    “

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether  the UK is still bound by the provisions of Directive 2004/83/EC on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted, despite having not opted in to the recast Directive 2011/95/EU on standards for the qualification of third country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The UK remains bound by the provisions of the Procedures Directive 2005/85/EC and the Qualification Directive 2004/83/EC and not the recast Directives.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to include a dedicated place for a student representative on the Board of the Office for Students, and if so what arrangements they plan to make to ensure that that member has a democratic mandate from the students they represent.

    Earl of Courtown

    Schedule 1 of the Higher Education and Research Bill requires the Office for Students (OfS) to consider the desirability of including members with experience of representing or promoting the interests of individual students, or students generally in higher education.

    The appointment of OfS members will be made by the Secretary of State in accordance with the standard guidelines on public appointments, ensuring fair and open competition.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department plans to spend on supporting low-income communities to access renewable energy in developing countries in each of the next five years.

    James Wharton

    The UK Government has committed to invest £5.8billion between April 2016 and March 2021 through its International Climate Finance (ICF) to support sustainable economic growth and build resilience to the impacts of climate change. The UK aims to spend 50% of this climate finance on adaptation and 50% on mitigation activities, including a range of measures to support access to renewable energy in developing countries.

  • Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the fit and proper test for individuals running care homes for the elderly; and what plans he has to make changes to that test.

    Alistair Burt

    All providers of regulated health and adult social care activities in England are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and to meet a set of registration requirements relating to safety and quality. The CQC has a range of enforcement powers that it can use when these standards are not met. These registration requirements include the fitness of service providers where the provider is an individual or partnership, as well as the fitness of registered managersand the fitness of staff. Since April 2015, the directors of all registered service providers have also been required to meet a fit and proper person requirement. The registered provider is responsible for ensuring that these requirements are met. The Department keeps the requirements for registration with the CQC under review. There are no current plans to make changes to the fit and proper person requirements that apply to registered providers.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reorganise local government in England.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Government’s policy is to work with local areas to deliver effective devolution with the governance necessary to support this, including moves to more unitary structures where this is wanted locally. Our aim, as it has been throughout our devolution discussions with areas, is to build consensus and the provisions in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, to which the House of Commons gave an unopposed Third Reading on Monday 7 December, provide the flexibility that no one council can reasonably refuse to discuss with others the potential for reforming their area’s governance.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that refugees admitted to the UK from Syria are provided with the necessary support to enable them to integrate into British society.

    Richard Harrington

    The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is based on need and prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in the region. Local authorities are expected to provide refugees that they resettle with a 12 month support package which is tailored according to their individual needs. As well as accommodation and addressing any medical and social care needs, this also includes cultural integration and English language tuition. This is funded using the overseas aid budget as it is giving support to refugees that would otherwise be provided overseas.

    At the Spending Review, the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, tapering from £5,000 per person in their second year in the UK, to £1,000 per person in year five. There will also be a special cases fund to assist the most vulnerable refugees. This is a substantial level of funding which will enable local authorities to support these vulnerable people as they rebuild their lives in safe and secure surroundings, among supportive communities in the UK.

    We are working with offers of support from community groups and inidividuals to see how we can best take them up to further help people settle and integrate, and, where possible, find employment in the UK.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has (a) received and (b) made on the cancellation of the UK delegation to Israel and the Occupied Territories to follow up the report published by a delegation of British lawyers, entitled Children in Military Custody, in June 2012; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have not received representations on this issue. I expressed my strong disappointment at Israel’s unwillingness to host this follow-up visit with Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely during my visit to Israel on 18 February. Officials from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, including the Ambassador, also lobbied the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs to cooperate with the visit, and will continue to follow up. We remain committed to working with Israel to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention in Israel.