Tag: Stephen Phillips

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions in each of the last two calendar years her Department has been notified by outside consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials.

Nick Gibb

The Department was notified by a third party of a breach of document retention or security policy relating to confidential or secure materials on two occasions during 2014.

No other notifications were received during the period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to dual the A17 between Newark and Sleaford.

Andrew Jones

The A17 forms part of the local road network and is the responsibility of Lincolnshire County Council and Nottinghamshire County Council. Responsibility for maintenance of the road rests with the relevant Local Highway Authority. Plans for future improvement and requests for funding are matters for the relevant Local Highway Authorities to put forward to their relevant Local Enterprise Partnerships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, further to the Answer of 9 October 2015 to Question 11183, if he will estimate the market value of the freehold buildings used by Grantham Magistrates’ Court.

Caroline Dinenage

There is no estimate of the market value of Grantham Magistrates’ Court. No decision has been taken to close the court.

Disposal strategies will be developed once a decision is made on individual courts following the outcome of consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-09-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that hospitals balance their budgets.

George Freeman

We are investing the additional £8 billion the National Health Service has said it needs to implement its own future plan, on top of the extra £2 billion we have given the service. However, additional spending is not the only answer to these financial challenges. The NHS must now put in place cost-control measures we have introduced, like clamping down on rip-off staffing agencies, while we continue to work with hospitals on ways to improve productivity and reduce waste.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent illegal trade in ivory products.

Rory Stewart

The UK has played a leading role in galvanising international action to combat the illegal wildlife trade, including the illegal trade in ivory. We hosted the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014 and actively supported the Government of Botswana in its hosting of a follow-up Conference in Kasane in March 2015. The UK has also supported the Elephant Protection Initiative, of which nine African elephant range states are now members and which is designed to help them to secure and maintain healthy elephant populations.

The UK is committed to maintaining the current global ban on any new international trade in ivory, established under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). In addition, the UK does not permit trade in raw ivory tusks of any age and we are pressing for this approach to be taken across the whole of the European Union.

We have committed £13 million to support projects around the world to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. These projects seek to reduce demand, strengthen law enforcement and develop sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by illegal wildlife trade, principally through Defra’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. A second round of the Challenge Fund was launched on 5 August.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the integration of remotely piloted aircraft systems into UK civil airspace.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport leads on policy for the operation of civil remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) in the UK. We are working with international Governments, regulators and the industry – including the European Commission and International Civil Aviation Organization – on the development of regulation for the safe integration of RPAS into UK and European airspace.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency have a statutory responsibility to deal with the detailed Regulation.

In addition, the Department for Transport currently chairs the cross-Government Working Group on RPAS and sits on the Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation & Assessment Steering Board, which both seek to enable the safe and routine use of RPAS in all classes of airspace without the need for restrictive or specialised conditions of operation. This will be achieved through the coordinated development and demonstration of key technologies and operating procedures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to work with his international counterparts on ensuring that the Afghanistan government continues to maintain security in sparsely populated areas of that country following the withdrawal of international troops.

Mr Mark Francois

The International Security Assistance Force’s (ISAF) combat mission will end this year and the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) will assume full responsibility for security across Afghanistan. The UK and our international partners have committed to providing long-term support to the Afghan Government, including continued development of the ANSF, as part of the follow-on Resolute Support Mission. This is subject to the necessary legal permissions being in place before the end of this year. The UK is also contributing an additional £70 million per year until 2017 towards ANSF sustainment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with his European counterparts to encourage the reduction of fuel consumption by heavy-duty vehicles across the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill

We are committed to reducing the fuel consumption of heavy duty vehicles. We continue to work closely with both the UK industry and our European counterparts to ensure that the recently published EU Strategy for improving heavy duty vehicle fuel consumption and reducing CO₂ emissions reflects UK interests, and is ambitious but deliverable, proportionate and cost effective.