Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she has taken to ensure developing countries can access UK satellite technology to monitor local agricultural land and environmental risks; and if she will make a statement.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID is supporting projects that use satellite data. DFID supports the World Agroforestry Centre to use data to help monitor and assess agriculture land use and environmental risks including land degradation. DFID contributes to the UK Environment Observations Framework Coordinating Climate Observations Group which coordinates Her Majesty’s Government activities supporting the development and use of climate data, including from satellites.

  • Bill Wiggin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Bill Wiggin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether any masts proposed as part of the Mobile Infrastructure Project other than that at Fownhope have been withdrawn after a reassessment of notspot data.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    DCMS officials and Arqiva, delivery partner for the Mobile Infrastructure Project, are incorporating changes in the notspot data into the project’s planning. Once this planning is finalised any changes will be communicated to planning authorities

  • David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Leader of the House, if he will introduce and consult upon proposals for the Standards Committee to be replaced by a body consisting of a majority of lay members with representation of more than three hon. Members without voting rights.

    Mr Andrew Lansley

    The House strengthened its own procedures in January 2013 by reconstituting the Committee on Standards to include lay member representation, with a specific right to submit an opinion on any report of that Committee and to have it published.

    I have had recent discussions with the Chair of the Committee on Standards, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and other interested parties on ensuring that the standards regime for Members is as robust as it can be.

    I expect the Committee on Standards to announce shortly terms of reference for an inquiry examining the current system, which draws on the recent report by the lay members of that Committee. I expect to follow up my discussions with the Committee on Standards in order further to strengthen lay members’ scrutiny of standards matters. If any Member wishes to bring forward specific proposals for improvements to the system, this is of course something that both the Committee and the House will wish to consider.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of teaching emergency life-saving skills in schools.

    Matthew Hancock

    Emergency life-saving skills (ELS) can be taught as part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.

    PSHE can help children develop essential social skills that evidence shows are important for children’s achievement across all subjects, and for their preparation for a healthy and active life.

    Schools are encouraged to work with expert organisations to teach ELS, for example St John Ambulance who visited approximately 2000 schools in 2013. Their ‘Teach the Difference‘ website has over 7000 registered users, most of whom are teachers, and users downloaded over 16,000 first aid lesson plans in 2013.

  • Pauline Latham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Pauline Latham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pauline Latham on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make representations to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence regarding its technology appraisal of ipilimumab.

    Norman Lamb

    I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave her on 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 663W.

  • Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which countries possess comparative levels of fruit fly infestation in exported mangoes and are not subject to an EU ban on importation.

    Dan Rogerson

    The ban was imposed following persistent interceptions of plant pestson imports of Indian produce into the European Union (EU) and critical reports from the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office audits in 2010 and 2013. Despite assurances from India in response to these reports the level of interceptions remained high. The EU’s decision to introduce a ban was therefore fully justified and supported by all Member States including the UK, in line with our policy of strengthening plant health controls. Therefore, no alternatives to a ban were considered by Defra.

    Protecting plant health is a key Defra objective. Plant pests and diseases such as those intercepted from India in recent years can cause serious damage to the UK glasshouse industry which is worth over £300 million per annum. However, I am aware of the importance of the mango trade and Defra officials are liaising with the Indian High Commission on what support the UK can offer to India to help it ensure compliance with EU import requirements.

    The following table shows the number of consignments of mangoes imported into the UK in the last five years which were infested with Tephriditae (and therefore rejected) by country of origin. The European Commission is considering similar measures to those taken against India for other countries with high levels of interceptions of plant pests. Such consideration takes account of findings from all Member States, and covers all plant commodities and all pests identified.

    Year

    Country of origin

    No. of consignments imported into the UK

    No. of consignments infected with Tephritidae

    2010

    Dominican Republic

    351

    1

    India

    1977

    1

    Jamaica

    228

    3

    Pakistan

    3302

    6

    2011

    Dominican Republic

    417

    2

    India

    1836

    11

    Jamaica

    262

    3

    Pakistan

    3690

    19

    Puerto Rico

    1

    1

    Sri Lanka

    144

    1

    Uganda

    138

    1

    2012

    Bangladesh

    146

    1

    Brazil

    445

    1

    Costa Rica

    70

    2

    Dominican Republic

    606

    18

    Ghana

    628

    15

    India

    3448

    23

    Jamaica

    332

    24

    Kenya

    2044

    4

    Pakistan

    5128

    81

    Philippines

    12

    2

    Sri Lanka

    189

    10

    St Lucia

    50

    1

    Thailand

    1050

    3

    Uganda

    104

    2

    2013

    Brazil

    316

    3

    Dominican Republic

    756

    16

    Ghana

    357

    4

    Guinea

    7

    1

    India

    3563

    13

    Jamaica

    516

    17

    Kenya

    1654

    17

    Pakistan

    5910

    47

    Puerto Rico

    104

    1

    Sri Lanka

    111

    3

    U A E

    1

    1

    Vietnam

    77

    1

    2014 (to 18/06/14)

    Brazil

    106

    1

    Dominican Republic

    420

    3

    Ghana

    271

    1

    India

    401

    1

    Jamaica

    464

    9

    Kenya

    698

    7

    Mexico

    61

    1

    Senegal

    4

    1

    Sri Lanka

    69

    3

    Source: Fera and Europhyt

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he took to publicise the consultation on extending civil partnerships to opposite sex partners.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    On 23 January 2014, when the consultation document was published, I made a Ministerial Written Statement to bring it to the attention of honourable members. This statement was repeated in the House of Lords, by my colleague, Baroness Northover. The publication of the consultation was also announced on the Culture, Media and Sport website. DCMS officials directly contacted around 50 organisations with an interest in the issues and asked other Departments to do the same. Officials also offered meetings to the principal stakeholders, several of which took up the offer, and emailed more than 1300 organisations and individuals who had registered an interest in receiving updates on equal marriage or related issues and highlighted the consultation in the February edition of the Women’s Engagement Newsletter, which is circulated to more than 2000 organisations and individuals.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Bahrain about the death of Syed Mahmood.

    Hugh Robertson

    We are concerned about the death of Syed Mahmood on 21 May. The Ministry of Interior has launched an investigation and we await their findings. We urge the government of Bahrain to ensure the investigation is thorough, transparent and timely.

  • Mike Kane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mike Kane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2014-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support the Government is giving to credit unions to help extend access to fair credit.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is supportive of credit unions and has taken a number of steps to assist them, most recently including:

    • The Department for Work and Pensions investment of up to £38 million in an expansion project for credit unions. The project aims to help credit unions expand and grow, enabling them to provide financial services to more people.
    • From 1 April this year the Government increased the cap on the maximum interest rate a credit union can charge for loans from 2% to 3% per month. This will allow credit unions to make more loans to their members without making a loss. Even if they choose to charge the higher rate of interest the cost of borrowing from a credit union will still be significantly cheaper than many high cost lenders.

    The Government intends that these measures will help the credit union sector go from strength to strength, so it can be a viable option for financial services provision for an even wider range of consumers.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the results of the investigation of the recent death of babies due to bacillus cereus.

    Jane Ellison

    Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacterium found widely in the environment in dust, soil and vegetation. There is limited prevention as it is a naturally occurring bacterium. However, the Food Standards Agency has published advice on their website which details information on potential food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus.

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) undertake inspections of manufacturing facilities with reference to the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice to verify that companies are producing medicines that are of the correct quality and safety. The manufacture of sterile products, such as Total Parental Nutrition, is subject to special requirements in order to minimise risks of bacterial contamination.

    In the case of medicines, the MHRA and Public Health England (PHE) are currently investigating what has caused the recent incident where Total Parenteral Nutrition became contaminated with Bacillus cereus . Based on the information we currently have, we believe this is an isolated incident and the appropriate immediate action has been taken to avoid a recurrence.

    The devolved administrations have been informed of the current incident involving Bacillus cereus. The investigations into the cause of this incident are still ongoing. The Department will continue to discuss matters with the devolved administrations for minimising Bacillus cereus infection.

    The investigations being undertaken by MHRA and PHE are in their advanced stages and preliminary findings will be published as soon as possible. While the MHRA and PHE are undertaking their own investigations, it would be normal practice for the Coroner to report on the individual case he is currently considering.