Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they advised Baroness Cox and Lord Hylton not to accept the invitation of multi-faith Syrian clerics to visit Damascus, Maaloula, Aleppo and Latakia in September this year; and whether they have studied the draft report produced by the pastoral group which made that visit.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We made clear that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all travel to Syria. The situation is extremely volatile and dangerous. We also make clear that we cannot provide any consular services to British nationals in Syria.

    In addition, Asad’s regime can use visits by international groups to fuel its obnoxious propaganda. The Asad regime is responsible for atrocities against the Syrian people. More than 400,000 have died in the last five years; 85-90 per cent of civilian deaths are the responsibility of the regime.

    We continue to closely monitor the situation in Syria, including the circumstances for minorities. The independent UN Commission of Inquiry and other credible reporting from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have made clear that the Asad regime bears overwhelming responsibility for this crisis. His regime responded with brutal repression to peaceful protests by ordinary Syrians calling for more freedom. The Asad regime and extremist groups, including those allied to the regime, are the main perpetrators of suspected war crimes, and for violations of human rights.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to release estimates of NHS expenditure on mental health services for financial year 2013-14; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has published clinical commissioning group (CCG) level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15.

    We continue to take mental health as seriously as physical health and to hold the National Health Service to account for achieving the objectives set out in the NHS Mandate. In the planning requirements for 2015/16, CCGs were required to invest additionally in mental health in line with their increase in allocation. The total planned additional spend is £376 million, an increase of 4.5%.

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

    Lord Allen of Kensington – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Allen of Kensington on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many catapult networks have been established by Innovate UK; what is the focus of each network; and how much funding they are providing to each network.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Innovate UK has established a network of 10 Catapult Centres covering a broad range of markets and technologies and Government investment will be around £557 million by 2015/16 but the future allocation between the individual catapults has not yet been finalised”. The Catapults are:

    High Value Manufacturing Catapult – seven individual centres working together to bring their expertise in different and complementary areas of high value manufacturing to provide an integrated capability and embraces all forms of manufacture using metals and composites, in addition to process manufacturing technologies and bio-processing.

    Cell Therapy Catapult – working to grow a viable and sustainable cell therapy industry in the UK.

    Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult – focused on development of commercially viable technologies applicable to offshore wind, wave and tidal power.

    Satellite Applications Catapult – helping UK businesses to develop new satellite-based products and services.

    Digital Catapult – working to position UK business to lead the introduction of radically new applications and experiences across the increasing breadth of internet services.

    Future Cities Catapult – helping to make cities to become smarter and more forward thinking.

    Transport Systems Catapult – supporting UK industry in exploiting the massive global market for new products and services that will drive the integration of transport and its systems and help UK businesses to develop effective and sustainable solutions to transport needs for both freight and people.

    Energy Systems Catapult – working to deliver economic value to Britain by making the transformation of the UK’s energy systems sector attractive to companies that are developing and growing new technology-based products and services by creating a critical mass of world class independent engineering and social science expertise in energy systems

    Precision Medicine Catapult – working to simplify and accelerate precision medicine product development and implementation, building the necessary partnerships between different therapeutic, diagnostic and informatics players in the sector, supporting existing and new companies and attracting inward investment by global life science companies

    Medicines Technologies Catapult – still being established, but will work on the development of new technologies that better predict the response of humans, animals and environment to chemicals (for example prescription drugs, pesticides and cosmetics).

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to take account of lower fuel costs in its reform of the Bus Service Operators Grant.

    Andrew Jones

    The Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) is paid to operators based in England on a fixed rate of £0.3457 per litre and is no longer directly linked to fuel duty. As a result, changes in fuel costs should not have any direct impact on the uptake of BSOG. We will be publishing more details of our plans to reform BSOG later this year.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many young people aged 17 or under of each age were sectioned under the Mental Health Act in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

    Alistair Burt

    The National Police Chiefs Council has reported figures on the number of children held in police custody as a place of safety under section 136 of the Mental Health Act for only three years. These were as follows:

    2012-13 256 255;

    2013-14 161 256; and

    2014-15 145 161.

    Data on children and young people sectioned under other sections of the Mental Health Act are not available centrally.

    “

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 27179, whether the requirement in the Lisbon Treaty that the EU shall accede to the European Convention on Human Rights is legally enforceable.

    Dominic Raab

    The Prime Minister told the house on 3 February that the Governments position is that the EU should not join the European Convention on Human Rights. We are committed in our manifesto to change Britain’s relationship with respect to the European Court of Human Rights through our own British Bill of Rights. We shall be coming up with proposals for that shortly.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much EU (a) 7th Framework Programme and (b) Horizon 2020 funding has been provided to (i) universities, (ii) other research institutions and (iii) small businesses in the UK in each of the last five years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The figures requested are set out below. These reflect the full value of grant agreements signed in each calendar year, not the money received in that year.

    Higher and Secondary Education Organisations (HES) agreed funding (€):

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    FP7

    832,679,583

    923,451,655

    1,017,766,046

    390,441,742

    22,102,754

    Horizon 2020

    178,789,606

    910,814,167

    Non-profit Research organisations (REC) agreed funding (€):

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    FP7

    109,612,016

    78,523,761

    107,290,576

    38,249,216

    1,469,761

    Horizon 2020

    48,957,471

    140,977,361

    All Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) agreed funding (€):

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    FP7

    127,491,096

    180,348,365

    229,312,029

    39,929,247

    241,625

    Horizon 2020

    49,215,444

    219,693,279

    Please note that the SME figures may include some HES or REC organisations.

    The variation in the figures across the years in part reflects the fact that calls are competitively bid for and vary considerably in the amount of funding available; and in part the fact that the FP7 budget was back-loaded, with increasing amounts of money available to award as grants in the final two years of the programme (2012-2013). In contrast, relatively few grants were awarded in the first year of Horizon 2020 (2014), which thereafter is due to run with annual budgets larger than those available to FP7.

    Overall, the UK was the second biggest recipient of EU research funding under FP7, and remains so under Horizon 2020.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Royal Navy has deployed any unmanned maritime systems for the purpose of (a) anti-submarine and (b) port and harbour security.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Royal Navy currently deploys unmanned systems to enhance maritime surveillance and improve situational awareness in a number of air and sea environments.

    I am withholding further information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total amount paid in compensation to people affected by the High Speed 2 project was in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The total amount paid for land and property to people affected by the HS2 project in the last twelve months is £125,953,179 with a further £3,345,403 in compensation payments associated with the statutory blight regime. The combined total expenditure in the past 12 months was £129,298,582.

    The monthly expenditure in the last year was as follows:

    Month

    Land and Property Expenditure

    Statutory Blight Compensation

    Sep-15

    £5,296,600

    £444,072

    Oct-15

    £6,781,500

    £436,980

    Nov-15

    £10,988,700

    £321,579

    Dec-15

    £12,969,010

    £490,082

    Jan-16

    £8,581,370

    £474,675

    Feb-16

    £8,856,450

    Mar-16

    £15,201,825

    £251,119

    Apr-16

    £12,030,678

    £346,051

    May-16

    £7,624,530

    £237,814

    Jun-16

    £11,032,550

    £242,986

    Jul-16

    £15,309,681

    £5,604

    Aug-16

    £11,280,285

    £94,441

    Total

    £125,953,179

    £3,345,403

  • Richard Graham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Graham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Graham on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for how long his Department plans that the Lifetime ISA will be on offer.

    Jane Ellison

    The Lifetime ISA will be available from April 2017. This is a long-term savings product and there will be no limit on how long people are able to hold funds in a Lifetime ISA for. The Government intends this to be a long-term reform and has no plans to limit the time that Lifetime ISAs will be available.