Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions the Government has had with EU member state representatives on Horizon 2020 grant applications continuing to be evaluated on merit alone during the period for which the UK remains a member of the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The application process for Horizon 2020 is administered by the European Commission. UK participants can continue to bid for competitive Horizon 2020 EU research funding while we remain a member of the EU. We will work with the Commission to ensure payment when funds are awarded. The Treasury will underwrite the payment of such awards, even when specific projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU. This applies to all UK participants with direct agreements with the Commission who meet the terms of the grant.

    The Commission has made it clear that proposals from, or including, UK applicants must be treated in the same way as applications from other Member States while the UK remains a member of the EU.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2016 to Question 47784, if she will make it her policy that changes to environmental protections deriving from EU legislation should be made through primary legislation.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Government is considering future arrangements for existing EU legislation. We look forward to working with the industry, rural communities and the wider public to shape our plans for a future outside the EU.

    As I said in my previous answer, any future changes in the law will be subject to full scrutiny and proper Parliamentary debate.

  • 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 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has assessed or commissioned on potential links between prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and maintaining positive thinking into later life.

    Jane Ellison

    Reducing the incidence of dementia, improving dementia research, raising awareness and improving the treatment and care of people with dementia is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 as a successor to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-15. Under the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020, we set an ambition for:

    – improved public awareness and understanding of the factors, which increase the risk of developing dementia and how people can reduce their risk by living more healthily. This should include a new healthy ageing campaign and access to tools such as a personalised risk assessment calculator as part of the NHS Health Check;

    – increased identification of effective ways in which people can reduce their personal risk of developing dementia, including cardio-vascular and cognitive strategies, and ways of encouraging these approaches to improve public health and wellbeing; and

    – overall spending for dementia research from all sectors to double by 2025.

    Research funding for dementia research doubled under the last Government and will be maintained to total over £300 million over the period of the current government.

  • Maria Miller – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Maria Miller – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Miller on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions and convictions have been obtained under sections 60 and 79 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 since that Act came into force.

    Andrew Selous

    This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they were represented as observers or otherwise at the conference in al-Hassakeh on 8–9 December that formed the Council of Democratic Syria; and what assessment they have made of that conference’s final statement.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK was not an observer or participant at the Democratic Syria Conference for Opposition Forces. The UK does not have any diplomatic presence in Syria and staff are unable to travel to Syria due to significant security threats. This conference brought together Syrian Kurdish and Arab parties that reside in Northern Syria. They discussed the future of the country after four years of war and agreed on the creation of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political branch of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Their final statement says that the Syrian crisis must be solved through negotiation, the fight against terrorism and political change through a transition, followed by free and fair elections and a new constitution. The UK continues to work towards transition in Syria on the basis of the Geneva Communiqué.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Birkenhead to him dated 19 January 2016 on the state pension.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested in the Rt. Hon Member’s letter was sent to the Work and Pensions Select Committee on Friday 29 January 2016.

  • 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 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of pupils sat GCSE and A Level Music in 2014–15.

    Lord Nash

    In 2014/15, 7 per cent of students[1] were entered for GCSE[2] Music as published in the latest “Revised GCSE and equivalents results in England” statistical first release (SFR)[3]. In 2009/10, the percentage of students who were entered for GCSE Music was 7 per cent.

    The percentage of students[4] who were entered for A level[5] Music was 2.5 per cent which can be calculated from data published on entries in A Level Music in the latest “A level and other Level 3 results” SFR[6].

    [1] Pupils at the end of key stage 4.

    [2] GCSE only.

    [3] Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2014 to 2015.

    [4] Based on total number of entries in A level music divided by the number of students entered for at least one A level or applied single/double award A level – so could be an overestimate if a student has entered A level music more than once.

    [5] A level only.

    [6] A level and other level 3 results: 2014 to 2015 (revised).

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce the risk to the UK (a) posed by ballast water and (b) that diseases such as cholera may be transferred around the world through ballast water given rises in sea water temperature.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK has developed a number of voluntary procedures adopted by the maritime community to tackle the issue of invasive species and pathogens. Vessels on deep sea, international voyages are encouraged to undertake mid-ocean ballast water exchange. Within the North Sea and English Channel, ballast water exchange areas have been identified and vessels visiting UK ports are encouraged to use those areas where it has been assessed safe to do so.

    The Government continues to be a strong supporter of the Ballast Water Management Convention that aims to minimise the threat posed by harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens.

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a UK withdrawal from the EU on the UK’s digital industries.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The UK is home to a thriving digital sector, worth £118.3 billion and equivalent to 7.3% of UK GVA. 43% of the UK tech sector’s total exports go to the EU.

    Digital Single Market reforms could be worth £330 billion a year to the EU economy. This is a clear example of how the single market benefits the UK digital industries.

    The Government’s position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has carried out a rural proofing assessment of the likely effects of measures contained in the Bus Services Bill.

    Andrew Jones

    The general and specific impacts of the Bill’s provisions are included in a number of Impact Assessments, which will be published shortly. The impact assessments include a ‘rural proofing assessment’.