The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Ministerial colleagues and (b) US counterparts on cooperation and assistance on counter-drone technology.
Mr Philip Dunne
I have regular discussions with both Ministerial Colleagues and US counterparts on a range of issues, including counter-drone technologies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the population in (a) Birmingham, Northfield constituency and (b) Birmingham city was homeless in each year since 2010.
Mr Marcus Jones
Total numbers of households, numbers of households accepted as homeless and in priority need, and numbers of homeless households in temporary accommodation, have been published for each local authority in England, for the years 2004/05 to 2015/16, in live table 784:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness
Constituency level information on homelessness is not collected.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her article in the Daily Mail, entitled Too much of your money is simply stolen or squandered, published on 13 September 2016, in what areas of her Department’s spending funding is being stolen or wasted.
Rory Stewart
DFID has a zero tolerance approach to fraud and has a wide range of robust measures and controls in place to protect UK aid and ensure we maximise value for money. My department works in challenging areas and operates a comprehensive risk management framework which assesses and responds to the risk of fraud at every stage of the project cycle. The Counter Fraud Section responds firmly to any allegation of fraud recovering funds wherever possible. We expect our partners to account for losses from their own funds to minimise the impact on UK taxpayers and the recipients of aid.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) structure and (b) membership of the cross-departmental air quality unit is.
Mr John Hayes
The Joint Air Quality Unit has been established to lead delivery of the national air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide, published in December last year.
The unit is headed by a senior civil servant. The team consists of civil servants from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for Transport (DfT), and is primarily based within Defra.
It reports to two Senior Responsible Officers: the Director for the Energy, Technology, and Innovation directorate in DfT, and the Director of the Environmental Quality directorate in Defra. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the Cabinet representative for air quality policy. Decisions relating to delivery of the national air plan for nitrogen dioxide are agreed jointly by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Life Opportunities at Defra, and the Minister of State at the Department for Transport.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on funding the independent review on the future of the Manston airfield.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport spent £75,000 to undertake an independent review of the Compulsory Purchase Order process regarding Manston airfield.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of testing all vehicles for emissions for (a) each car and (b) in total; and whether the Government will finance the total programme.
Andrew Jones
The cost of the evaluation programme are still being developed, but it is estimated that testing could cost up to £15,000 per vehicle.
We have approved a budget of £675,000 from public funds to ensure that this important work can proceed. However, we have also agreed with ministers in Germany and in France that we will collaborate and secure best value for the taxpayer.
The UK programme will consider, without bias, vehicles from 19 manufacturers. The programme will assess approximately 70 different models. However, we have been in contact with ministers in Germany and in France and we have agreed that we should work cooperatively to ensure that we rationalise our respective test programmes to avoid duplication of testing.
The cost of recalling the vehicles in the UK will be met by Volkswagen group and will not fall to the public purse.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prepare for the junior doctors’ strikes due to commence on 1 December 2015; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of such strikes on NHS services.
Ben Gummer
We are pleased that the British Medical Association (BMA) agreed to suspend the strike. NHS Employers agreed to the extension of the timeframe for the BMA to commence any industrial action by four weeks to 13 January 2016. NHS Employers and the Department have agreed within this timetable to temporarily suspend plans to introduce new contracts to allow negotiations to progress.
We know staff right across the National Health Service worked incredibly hard to ensure that the NHS had robust contingency plans to deal with the anticipated industrial action and that patients will be disappointed if their operations or appointments had to be cancelled or delayed. Our absolute priority was to ensure that patients were not put at risk or harmed. We always wanted talks not strikes and we are committed to meaningful negotiations to agree a new national contract that is fair, safe which put patients first every day of the week.
Negotiations will be on the basis of a memorandum of understanding between the parties which acknowledges a shared responsibility for the safety of patients and junior doctors and the desire to achieve and implement without undue delay a contractual framework that provides fair reward and a safe working environment for junior doctors throughout the week.
We now have the opportunity to work together to develop a new national contract that helps to meet our shared ambition to make NHS care the safest and highest quality in the world.
The agreement can be found on the ACAS website at:
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5557
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what work his Department is undertaking with local authorities to ensure that (a) provision of women’s refuges is increased to meet greater demand and (b) such refuges provide residents with the support they need.
Mr Marcus Jones
We are committed to ensuring that no victim of domestic abuse is turned away from the support they need. That is why in the Summer Budget we launched a £3 million fund to increase provision of safe accommodation with specialist support, including refuges, and to provide services to help victims access this support. The recent Spending Review announced a new dedicated, long term fund of £40 million over the next four years offering support to victims of domestic abuse. This increased funding complements the Government’s wider approach and support for Violence Against Women and Girls services, which will be set out in the forthcoming refresh of this strategy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on bilateral relations of recent decisions by China to construct new islands on coral reefs in disputed waters.
Mr Hugo Swire
Whilst the UK takes no position on the underlying sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, we are concerned about the impact of any unilateral actions, such as large scale land reclamation, and the risk these may pose to freedom of navigation and regional stability.
We have raised these issues with China through our regular bilateral dialogue. We have also called on all parties to exercise restraint and pursue the settlement of disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to refrain from activity likely to raise tensions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the Government has not given financial and other support to British Airways’ Green Sky project; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the potential cancellation of that project on the aviation industry’s sustainable aviation agenda.
Andrew Jones
The Government recognises the strategic importance of supporting sustainable aviation fuels in order to reduce carbon emissions in the aviation sector, and drive the development of an advanced biofuels industry in the UK. Waste-derived fuels, such as those that the GreenSky project aim to produce, hold real potential for UK growth and jobs, as well as for our energy security and balance of payments.
The GreenSky project was eligible to enter the Department’s recent Advanced Biofuel Demonstration Competition which has provided £25m of financial support to help develop sustainable biofuels. The competition attracted a wide range of strong proposals and following a thorough assessment process the GreenSky bid was unsuccessful.
I have met with British Airways to discuss the GreenSky project. We will continue regular contact as British Airways pursue this excellent initiative to develop waste-derived jet fuel.
The Transport Energy Taskforce, made up of a broad range of expert stakeholders, including British Airways, made recommendations last year, including making aviation biofuels eligible for rewards under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. We intend to include proposals on this in a public consultation this year.