The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the lifetime cost to the public purse of the Royal Air Force Airbus A400M.
Mr Philip Dunne
The forecast costs of the main elements making up the A400M Atlas aircraft programme, including the acquisition, training and in-service support of the aircraft, is £3.6 billion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times Russian military (a) aircraft and (b) ships have entered British territory in the last 12 months; what the average response time was for the armed forces on each of those occasions; and what the type and model was of the aircraft or ship on each of those occasions.
Penny Mordaunt
I can confirm that there have been no unauthorised incursions by Russian military aircraft into UK sovereign airspace in the last twelve months.
There have been three authorised Treaty inspection flights by Russian military An-30b aircraft in UK airspace under the auspices of the multi-national Open Skies Treaty. On each occasion the UK received advance notice of the aircraft’s arrival and it was hosted for the duration of its mission at RAF Brize Norton.
For information on Russian naval assets entering UK territorial waters I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 March 2015 by the previous Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) to Question number 218391.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor in respect of the relevance of the specific position of Scotland in the devolution settlement and the role of the Sewel Convention.
Lord Faulks
This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We will consider the devolution implications of our reforms and will continue to engage fully with stakeholders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and with the devolved administrations, as we develop our proposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times she has attended public meetings of the Home Affairs Committee since her appointment.
Mrs Theresa May
Since my appointment as Home Secretary I have appeared publicly before the Home Affairs Select Committee on 19 occasions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment have they made of the case for removing the Lesser Duty Rule.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and strike a balance between removing the injury to producers caused by unfair trade, and avoiding imposing unnecessary costs on user industries, retailers, consumers and the rest of the economy.
The evidence we have shows that duties that have been imposed under the Lesser Duty Rule on imports of Chinese steel into the EU have been effective in delivering rapid, substantial and sustained reductions in imports. For example, imports of wire rod, organic coated steel and stainless steel flat products are down by more than 90%. We have said we would look at evidence that others might provide.
There are a number of examples where the Lesser Duty Rule has avoided unnecessary costs to the rest of the economy. In the case of solar panels for example, the removal of the Lesser Duty Rule could have cost the downstream UK solar sector around £500m in one year.
We support looking at the methodology under which injury is calculated. Where the European Commission has set duties that we believe to be too low to remove the injury caused to EU industry by unfair trade, we will push for them to be increased, as we have done in the reinforcing bar and cold rolled flat products cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his targets are for reductions in the defence estate in each year to 2020.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has committed to release land to accommodate 55,000 houses by 2020 in support of the Government’s public sector land release agenda. This year I have announced the release of 22 sites which will provide land for some 22,000 homes. By the end of this year I will set out how the MOD will deliver the remainder of its land release commitment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will consider the potential merits of introducing legislative proposals to reduce the notice period for a landowner who has secured a court order to evict travellers from 48 to 12 hours.
Sir Oliver Heald
The accelerated procedure for obtaining a possession order to evict trespassers (which may include travellers) is set out in the Civil Procedure Rules, Part 55.
There is no notice period once a landowner has obtained an order to evict. The standard order for a successful claim for possession would be an order for immediate possession.
The Government does not consider that the process requires change.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to secure continued funding for the Short Breaks pathfinder initiative.
Edward Timpson
The Short Breaks pathfinder initiative was part of Aiming High for Disabled Children and ran in 21 local authorities from 2008. Since the pathfinder initiative, funding has been provided to support short breaks provision in all English local authorities. For example, between 2011-12 and 2014-15, short breaks were supported by £800m in the Early Intervention Grant. In 2011-12, and again in 2012-13, local authorities benefitted from an additional £40m per annum of capital funding for short break services.
Since 2011, local authorities have also been under a duty to provide a range of short breaks services and to publish a local Short Breaks Duty Statement showing what services are available; how they are responding to the needs of local parent carers; and how short breaks can be accessed, including any eligibility criteria. Local authorities are responsible for funding this short breaks provision.
This year, the Department for Education has awarded £250,555 to the Short Breaks Partnership (a consortium made up of Contact a Family, the Council for Disabled Children, Action for Children and KIDS) to provide information and advice to those involved in designing, commissioning, providing and taking up short breaks for disabled children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Capacity Market does not favour any class of generators.
Andrea Leadsom
The Capacity Market is technology neutral, i.e. it does not seek to procure specific volumes of capacity from different types of technology. Before the start of pre-qualification for the auction, National Grid discounts the capacity available from each technology according to its historic reliability. These steps ensure that all types of eligible capacity are able to participate on an equal basis. The principle of technology neutrality allows the market to identify which technology type is cost efficient in delivering security of supply.
We are satisfied with the wide range of different technologies that have prequalified for the next Capacity Market auction, which will take place next month.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 8 December 2015 to Question 18144 and 22 December 2015 to Question 19937 on Dupuytren’s contracture, what his Department’s timetable is for considering whether to add that condition to the list of industrial injuries disablement benefit discussions.
Justin Tomlinson
Work began in May 2014 following publication of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Committee’s report on Dupuytren’s Contracture. It is expected that a decision whether or not to add it to the list of prescribed diseases will be made early this year and will take account of the potential costs involved and other relevant factors.