Tag: Richard Arkless

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to provide to internet service providers detailed information relating to the broadband Universal Services Obligation announced by the Prime Minister on 7 November 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government’s Universal Service Commitment will allow universal access to speeds of at least 2 Megabits per second through the option of satellite broadband connections by the end of 2015.

In addition, an £8 million Market Test Pilot fund is piloting a number of technologies and funding models, including satellite solutions. The results of these pilots will help inform future policy to extend superfast broadband coverage beyond 95%. Avanti, a broadband provider using satellite technology, is currently operational in Dumfries and Galloway and providing superfast coverage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will seek a ban on the sale of puppies from retail outlets; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Under the Pet Animals Act 1951 local authorities can already apply conditions to individual pet shop licences. This includes, for example, restricting the species that can be sold. The power to apply conditions to an individual licence is in section 1(3) of the 1951 Act and is intended to help secure the welfare requirements set out in that section.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with local authorities in Northern Ireland and Scotland about the illegal trafficking of puppies from the Republic of Ireland; and what assessment she has made of the effect on such trafficking of the transfer in Scotland of search powers from Trading Standards to local port authorities.

George Eustice

The Government takes the illegal movement of dogs and puppies seriously and it is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations, delivery bodies, enforcement agencies and non-government organisations to tackle this issue.

Whilst there have been no recent Ministerial meetings on the illegal movement of dogs, Defra’s Chief Veterinary Officer has recently discussed the issue with his Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland counterparts. Additionally, there have been discussions on this issue between other Defra officials and officials within the Devolved Administrations.

Defra has not carried out an assessment of the impact of transferring Trading Standards search powers to local port authorities in Scotland as this is a devolved matter. However, we will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and other interested parties to ensure that there is a full exchange of ideas and information on combating the illegal importation of puppies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Government’s proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children able to access free school meals.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The government’s changes to tax credits will have no effect on the number of children accessing free school meals (FSM) in England. All households receiving out-of-work benefits continue to be entitled to FSM, while changes to Child Tax Credit will have no impact. The number of children growing up in workless households has decreased by 480,000 since 2010, a record low. This has led to the number of households claiming FSM decreasing and we expect this to continue as the economy continues to improve.