Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the exemptions granted by the Office of Rail and Road under Section 5 of the Railway Safety Regulations 1999 on central door locking by the date they (a) were issued and (b) expire.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Office of Rail and Road publishes a list of exemptions granted under Regulation 6 of the Railway Safety Regulations 1999 on their website. This list of exemptions includes the date they were issued and their expiration dates.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what specialisms the Armed Forces are providing training to Iraqi Security Forces in Iraq.
Answered by James Heappey
UK training is focused on enhancing the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces in order to ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh. This includes training on policy and strategy, planning, cyber security, human rights and women's empowerment.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the armed forces are deployed in Iraq as of 29 January 2024.
Answered by James Heappey
Approximately 200 UK Service personnel were deployed on operations in Iraq as of Monday 29 January 2024.
On any given day figures can vary due to routine force rebalancing, rest and recuperation periods and relief in place.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Fujitsu has brought a legal claim against his Department since 2016.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Fujitsu has not brought a legal claim against the Cabinet Office since 2016.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on clearing the backlog of local audits in England since the 2015-16 financial year.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department working with system partners has developed proposals to tackle the exceptional circumstance of the current backlog and ensure a return to timely delivery of high-quality financial reporting and external audit in local bodies.
This has been detailed work, balancing various imperatives across the system. Having thoroughly tested the options, I recently wrote to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee and confirmed that the Department, supported by the Financial Reporting Council, and alongside the National Audit Office, will launch consultations on these proposals in the coming weeks. The solution on the table has the agreement of all system partners and is the best proposal to clear the backlog and over time, return to high quality assurance.
Our proposals will include an initial statutory backstop date of 30 September 2024 for local authorities and auditors to publish their audited financial accounts for all outstanding local audits in England up to and including the financial year 2022-23. While these consultations take place, preparers and auditors should continue undertaking existing work to produce and audit local authority financial statements to ensure the system is in the best place possible to implement any final package of measures.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) diplomatic and (b) military contribution the UK is making to the Global Coalition Against Daesh.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK remains committed to the Global Coalition Against Daesh and is the second largest contributor to Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.
As part of this military contribution, the UK provides support and funding for a range of initiatives across the region, including providing training, mentoring and professional military education to the Iraqi Security Forces. The UK has trained over 111,000 members of Iraqi Security forces, including over 21,000 of the Kurdish Peshmerga.
The UK also leads the Coalition’s counter-Daesh communications activity, working with Government and civil society partners.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Global Coalition Against Daesh in reducing the threat from terrorists in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria.
Answered by James Heappey
As a leading member of the Global Coalition, the UK will continue to provide military support to the Iraqi Security Forces and regional partners in order tackle the threat of terrorism from Daesh, including to the UK. This remains a priority for the international community.
Since 2014, the Coalition has helped liberate over 110,000 square kilometres of former Daesh territory and continues to provide essential support to the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Security Forces at the request of the Iraqi Government. The Coalition also delivers essential aid to liberated communities, and the UK leads on the Coalition’s mission for countering Daesh propaganda.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) flying hours and (b) air strikes have been conducted by UK armed forces against Daesh in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by James Heappey
There have been three air strikes conducted by UK Armed Forces against Daesh in Iraq and Syria in the last 12 months (two in Iraq and one in Syria). The combined flying hours of Reaper, Typhoon and Voyager during from November 2022 – November 2023 were 16,255 (Reaper: 6,940; Typhoon: 6,314; and Voyager: 2,999). As the data concerns operational activity, figures may be updated in the future.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled UK Covid-19 Inquiry Management Statement, published in August 2022, what steps he is taking to ensure the Covid-19 public inquiry represents overall value for money.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is an independent public inquiry.
In line with the UK Covid-19 Management Statement, the Inquiry’s Accounting Officer must conform to value for money and good financial management requirements and must provide financial updates to the Cabinet Office as its sponsor department.
The Chair is under a statutory obligation to avoid unnecessary costs in the Inquiry’s work and she has been clear that she intends to complete her work as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The Inquiry publishes regular financial updates, the latest from November 2023 can be found at the link here: https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/documents/uk-covid-19-inquiry-financial-report-for-quarter-2-2023-24/. The total expenditure for the financial year to 31 March 2023 was £22.4m.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the Mott MacDonald report commissioned by his Department on RAAC.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government does not plan to publish the full Mott MacDonald report on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) dated April 2022 on GOV.UK. A redacted copy of the report is attached to this answer. These redactions have been approved by the Information Commissioner, with personal data and commercially sensitive information having been redacted. Some of the information contained in the report has also been superseded by data that National Health Service trusts have subsequently published on RAAC.
The Government confirmed on 25 May 2023 that the hospitals considered in the report will be rebuilt by 2030 as part of the New Hospital Programme.