The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress he has made on his plans for a consultation on the proposed British Bill of Rights.
Dominic Raab
We will consult fully on our proposals for a Bill of Rights and announce further details in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assistance the Government plans to provide to broadband suppliers to meet the terms of the Universal Services Obligation.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Universal Service Providers responsible for delivering the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) will be designated by Ofcom following changes to primary and secondary legislation. No decision has been taken yet on funding the USO’s delivery .
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the Government plans to phase increases to funding for NHS England over the next five years; and what the Barnett consequentials of decisions on such phasing will be.
Alistair Burt
The Spending Review announced on 25 November the level of funding that the NHS in England would receive by 2020-21. The NHS will be receiving £10 billion more per year in real terms by 2020-21 than in 2014-15, which fully funds the NHS’ own plan – the ‘Five Year Forward View’. £6 billion of that £10 billion will be delivered by 2016-17. This is set out in the attached table.
The exact budget profile for NHS England will be set out in the Mandate to NHS England, due to be published shortly.
Under the Barnett Formula, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive a population-based proportion of changes in planned spending on comparable United Kingdom Government services in England. Changes in each devolved administration’s spending allocation, is determined by:
– the quantity of the change in planned spending in departments of the United Kingdom Government; and
– the extent to which the relevant United Kingdom programme is comparable with the services carried out by each devolved administration and each country’s population proportion.
The allocation of public expenditure between the services, including health, under the control of the devolved administrations is for the devolved administrations to determine.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will reduce the rate of VAT on tourism.
Mr David Gauke
The Government currently has no plans to alter the rates of VAT relating to the tourist industry.
I refer the Rt Hon gentleman to my comments during the Westminster Hall debate on 17th March 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-06-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many national infrastructure projects have been established in Scotland since 1997.
Greg Hands
More than 240 infrastructure schemes have been completed since the beginning of the last Parliament. The National Infrastructure Pipeline (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-2016) contains a list of planned private and public infrastructure projects and programmes. Almost all Scottish economic infrastructure, including transport, water, flood defence and waste, is devolved to the Scottish government. However, the UK government has made significant investment in transport infrastructure, including £1.2 billion to replace the electric intercity 225 fleet that currently runs on the London to Edinburgh line, as well as £50 million, matched by the Scottish government, to replace the Cross-border Caledonian sleeper.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Government’s immigration policies on the number of international students enrolling in UK universities.
James Brokenshire
We have an excellent offer for international students who wish to study at our world-leading institutions and there remains no limit on the number who can do so. As a result, the UK remains the second most popular destination in the world for international higher education students, and our excellent universities continue to attract large volumes of overseas students.
Annual visa applications from international students to study at British universities are now 17 per cent higher than they were in 2010, with visa applications to our elite Russell Group universities up by 39 per cent since 2010.
The most recent figures produced by the Higher Education Statistics Agency also show a 6 per cent increase in the number of full-time non-EU new enrolments to UK higher education institutions between 2012/13 and 2013/14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of trees have been (a) felled and (b) replanted on Forestry Commission land in England in each year since 2000.
Rory Stewart
The area felled in any one year on the public forest estate in England is not recorded separately, but the total area that has been felled and which is in the process of being either restocked, or being converted to another land use, such as open habitats for landscape or conservation reasons, is recorded. This is given in the table below, along with the area restocked each year and the expenditure on restocking operations.
|
Year ending 31 March |
Total felled area 1 (thousand hectares) |
Restocked area 2 (thousand hectares) |
Expenditure associated with restocking 3 (£ ,000s) |
|
2001 |
7.9 |
2.1 |
5,181 |
|
2002 |
8.4 |
2.3 |
5,779 |
|
2003 |
7.9 |
2.3 |
5,979 |
|
2004 |
8.1 |
2.2 |
5,735 |
|
2005 |
8.1 |
1.9 |
5,635 |
|
2006 |
7.5 |
2.5 |
6,356 |
|
2007 |
8.2 |
1.9 |
6,562 |
|
2008 |
8.3 |
2.1 |
5,915 |
|
2009 |
8.7 |
1.8 |
5,924 |
|
2010 |
9.2 |
1.5 |
5,880 |
|
2011 |
8.1 |
2.5 |
7,340 |
|
2012 |
8.2 |
2.2 |
7,384 |
|
2013 |
8.6 |
2.2 |
6,448 |
|
2014 |
8.7 |
2.1 |
7,399 |
|
2015 |
8.6 |
2.3 |
7,884 |
1 ‘Felled area’ is the area of the public forest estate that is recorded as felled on the sub-compartment database, the Forestry Commission’s electronic record of current land use. Because there is generally a two to four year gap between felling and restocking, or the reclassification as another land use, the total area classified as ‘felled’ is significantly greater than that which is felled in any one year.
2 ‘Restocked area’ is the area of the public forest estate that has previously been felled and which is recorded as having been restocked in the previous 12 months, including by natural regeneration and replanting.
3 Expenditure associated with restocking is all money spent on activities directly attributed to restocking after felling, including preparation of the site and maintenance during the initial establishment phase.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to exempt the viewing of sporting events in which nations of the UK are participating from the obligation to pay the TV Licence.
Mr Edward Vaizey
There are no current plans to amend the TV licence framework in this way.
A TV licence is not a fee for broadcasting services, it is a legal permission to install or use television receiving equipment (such as televisions, computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, games consoles, digital boxes and DVD/VHS recorders) to watch or record television programmes as they are being broadcast. This applies regardless of which television channels a person receives or how those channels are received. The government is also bringing forward legislation to extend the requirement to hold a TV licence to people streaming or downloading television programmes through on-demand services provided by the BBC (notably iPlayer).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of the implications of its decision to remove border staff at the ports of Stranraer and Cairnryan for UK security.
James Brokenshire
The ferry crossings between Stranraer, Cairnryan and Northern Ireland are domestic routes and are therefore not subject to immigration border controls.
Home Office Immigration Enforcement in Northern Ireland and Police Scotland work in close partnership to detect illegal migrants who are already in the UK and travelling on these ferries. Detections have increased year on year since the current partnership arrangement was introduced in 2011.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much Forestry Commission England spent on replanting in each year since 2000.
Rory Stewart
The area felled in any one year on the public forest estate in England is not recorded separately, but the total area that has been felled and which is in the process of being either restocked, or being converted to another land use, such as open habitats for landscape or conservation reasons, is recorded. This is given in the table below, along with the area restocked each year and the expenditure on restocking operations.
|
Year ending 31 March |
Total felled area 1 (thousand hectares) |
Restocked area 2 (thousand hectares) |
Expenditure associated with restocking 3 (£ ,000s) |
|
2001 |
7.9 |
2.1 |
5,181 |
|
2002 |
8.4 |
2.3 |
5,779 |
|
2003 |
7.9 |
2.3 |
5,979 |
|
2004 |
8.1 |
2.2 |
5,735 |
|
2005 |
8.1 |
1.9 |
5,635 |
|
2006 |
7.5 |
2.5 |
6,356 |
|
2007 |
8.2 |
1.9 |
6,562 |
|
2008 |
8.3 |
2.1 |
5,915 |
|
2009 |
8.7 |
1.8 |
5,924 |
|
2010 |
9.2 |
1.5 |
5,880 |
|
2011 |
8.1 |
2.5 |
7,340 |
|
2012 |
8.2 |
2.2 |
7,384 |
|
2013 |
8.6 |
2.2 |
6,448 |
|
2014 |
8.7 |
2.1 |
7,399 |
|
2015 |
8.6 |
2.3 |
7,884 |
1 ‘Felled area’ is the area of the public forest estate that is recorded as felled on the sub-compartment database, the Forestry Commission’s electronic record of current land use. Because there is generally a two to four year gap between felling and restocking, or the reclassification as another land use, the total area classified as ‘felled’ is significantly greater than that which is felled in any one year.
2 ‘Restocked area’ is the area of the public forest estate that has previously been felled and which is recorded as having been restocked in the previous 12 months, including by natural regeneration and replanting.
3 Expenditure associated with restocking is all money spent on activities directly attributed to restocking after felling, including preparation of the site and maintenance during the initial establishment phase.