The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-11-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HMS Ocean was designed and built to have a 20-year lifespan.
Earl Howe
Yes, HMS OCEAN entered service in 1998 with a specified service life, based on her build specification, of 20 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the application in the UK of elements of best practice in regulation of commercial cat breeding in other EU member states.
George Eustice
There are no proposals to change legislation on cat breeding in this country. However, the welfare code is currently being updated so that modern standards are clear for anyone keeping cats.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 19 January 2016, Official Report, column 1364, what the evidential basis is for his statement that his Department will go further still in raising cycling spending per head.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Under the previous Government, spend on cycling increased to £6 per head from the £2 inherited in 2010. This Government has made clear its intention to make this country a cycling nation and our commitment to the publication of a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy is evidence of our support to go further in supporting cycling on a longer term basis. The strategy will set out our objectives, activities and the funding available for cycling and walking in England in the long term and will be published in the summer following a consultation in spring.
We are also going further by making sure that provision for cyclists is now embedded into wider transport programs.
Through the Road Investment Strategy, Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users, with a plan to invest £100m between 2015/16 and 2020/21 to improve provision for cyclists on and around the strategic road network.
At a local level, a record £6 billion is being allocated to local authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, and from 2018/19 the plan is to change the allocation formula so that it takes into account footways and cycleways as well as the roads, bridges and street lighting that it is currently based on. Once implemented, around 9% of the funding will be based on footway and cycleway lengths.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25652, whether EU nationals are able to apply for apprenticeships in England.
Nick Boles
An EU national can be employed in an apprenticeship in England, and will be eligible for funding for their apprenticeship provided they meet set eligibility criteria.
These criteria are set out in the Skills Funding Agency: common funding rules for the 2016 to 2017 funding year.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Garnier on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on (a) support for independent monitoring boards and (b) consideration of the recommendations which those boards make in their annual reports to his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Dominic Raab
The Independent Monitoring Boards are supported by the IMB Secretariat, which is a small team of civil servants based in the Ministry of Justice. The Secretariat staff are involved in supporting the work of IMBs, the National Council and the IMB President, mainly through providing back-office administrative support. Funding for the IMBs is made from within the MoJ budget.
The Prisons Minister considers each report and responds directly to the Chair of the relevant Board within the agreed eight week timeframe, providing comprehensive answers to any concerns raised for the Minister or the Justice Secretary’s specific attention.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many challenges to the new Service Family Accommodation gradings have resulted in a change of banding since 1 February 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Mark Lancaster
Between 1 February 2016 and 17 April 2016 a total of 1,675 challenges to the Combined Accommodation Assessment System (CAAS) were received by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation – 24 of these resulted in changes to CAAS bandings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rates are for offenders who have had a conviction (a) under and (b) over 12 months in each of the last five years.
Dominic Raab
The most recent proven reoffending bulletin can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics. A full report with data going back to 2003 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519648/proven-reoffending-July-2013-June-2014.xlsx
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of whether eating butter puts people at greater risk of heart disease.
Nicola Blackwood
Butter is high in saturated fat. Evidence shows that average population intakes of saturated fat exceed United Kingdom government advice which is to limit saturated fat intake to no more than 11% of total food energy to protect against heart disease.
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition is currently reviewing the evidence on saturated fat and health; it aims to publish a draft report at the end of 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of staff on the payroll of the Law Officers’ Departments who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.
Robert Buckland
All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.
Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.
More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. There are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Russian government on full implementation of its obligations under the Minsk agreements.
Mr David Lidington
In all ministerial and senior official contacts with Russia, the UK Government continues to emphasise the importance of full implementation of the Minsk Agreements. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge ( Mr Hammond) raised the issue of Ukraine when he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the margins of the Iran nuclear negotiations in Vienna in July 2015, and again in the margins of the Syria talks in Vienna in October 2015. I raised it when I met the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko in June 2015.