Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many national infrastructure projects have been established in Scotland since 1997.
Answered by 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.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
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.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
There are no current plans to amend the TV licence framework in this way.Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if the Government will review the mechanism by which service personnel are awarded payment in the event of life-changing injuries during their time in the armed forces to take greater account of the effect of those injuries on those people.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) provides no-fault compensation for members of the Armed Forces where illness, injury or death is caused by service from 6 April 2005 under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and, before that date, under the War Pensions Scheme (WPS).
Any disablement, injury or illness, including those which are life-changing, can be claimed with awards made where the claimed disorder is accepted as being due to Service. Lay and scheme medical advisers work together and decisions are evidence based, reflecting the individual case facts, contemporary medical understanding of causation and the relevant law.
Awards under the WPS depend on the assessed level of disablement with the method of assessment set out in the legislation and expressed as a percentage. The AFCS is tariff based. The legislation includes nine tables of injuries and disorders with associated tariff levels, relevant to military service. A lump sum is paid for pain and suffering taking account of the likely progress of the condition over the person's lifetime. There are 15 tariff levels and, for the more serious disorders and injuries, a guaranteed income payment to cover reduced civilian employability is paid, in addition, from the date of claim for life.
Service personnel may make a claim for damages under common law for Service after May 1987 and where the MOD has a proven legal liability, compensation is paid. The amount of compensation is determined by common law principles which, broadly, take into account an individual's pain and suffering, degree of injury, past and future financial losses and level of care required. Compensation can therefore vary depending on an individual's circumstances.
The MOD has no plans to undertake a review of this mechanism, however the AFCS tariff levels and payment awards are currently being reviewed to ensure they are fit for purpose.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
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.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
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 .
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Government is providing to remote rural communities on obtaining reliable access to broadband.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Public investment in improving broadband is nearly £1.7 billion, including £790 million of UK government funding, to bring superfast broadband to areas of the UK where it would not otherwise be available. Superfast broadband is now available to 90 per cent of UK premises and this will reach 95 per cent by December 2017.
The Government has also implemented a basic broadband scheme to enable all premises to gain access to speeds of at least 2Mbps. This allows residents to gain access to every government service available online.
Furthermore, in November 2015 the Prime Minister announced the Government’s intention to introduce a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) with the aim to provide a safety net for those homes and business in the hardest to reach parts of the UK without access to superfast broadband.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the Brazilian government on ensuring the safety of athletes and tourists travelling from the UK for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Answered by Lord Swire
I met the Brazilian Minister for Sport on 7 June and discussed preparations for the Rio 2016 Games, including security. The British and Brazilian Governments, as consecutive hosts of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, have cooperated across a range of areas in preparation for the Rio 2016 Games. We have shared our experience of hosting London 2012 through visits to both the UK and Brazil by security and safety experts and through regular discussion of athlete and tourist safety. In advance of the Rio 2016 Games, we encourage all visitors to Brazil to consult our ‘Stay ahead of the Games’ consular campaign, which provides further advice on how visitors can best ensure their own safety during Games time.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions the Government has had with (a) the World Health Organisation and (b) other stakeholders on the response to the spread of the Zika virus in South America.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Department for International Development is working with the Department for Heath, who are leading the UK government’s response to Zika, and Public Health England and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This includes supporting the World Health Organisation in galvanising an effective international response.
We are not only concerned exclusively by the spread of Zika in the Americas but are equally concerned by the possible spread to other parts of the world - in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia where countries have less capacity to cope with such a disease.
The UK is supporting and commissioning research to better understand the Zika virus, its epidemiology and impacts, with particular focus on the risk to developing countries, and research into interventions to address this virus. This includes:
DFID is in the process of allocating more resources to the WHO for disease control preparedness, including Zika and Yellow Fever, including £4 m for Africa, £1.3 m for the Caribbean and £4 m for the rest of the world. DH and DFID officials along with representatives from key agencies – European Commission Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection (ECHO), Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), Inst Pasteur, EU Research Brussels, Paul Allen Foundation, as well as Canada, Japan, France and Australia - participated in a WHO/Donor Teleconference on 20 April to further coordinate response to Zika.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
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.
Answered by 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.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with local authorities in Northern Ireland about the illegal trafficking of puppies into Scotland; 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.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
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.
While I have had no discussions with local authorities in Northern Ireland about the illegal trafficking of puppies into Scotland, the Defra 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.
The Government 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, Defra 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.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to increase the funding available for disability sports which are not currently paralympic sports.
Answered by David Evennett
Government recognises the importance of sport and physical activity to disabled people who take part at both grassroots and the elite level. Our new sport strategy, 'Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation', published in December 2015, emphasises the importance of getting people active, particularly those groups currently under-represented, including disabled people.
Sport England is investing over £170 million in England to get more disabled people playing both Paralympic and non-Paralympic sports; and it will shortly publish its own strategy for England, following a wide public consultation, setting out how it intends to deliver against the government's sport strategy, including how it will promote grassroots sport and physical activity for all.
Elite disability sport is funded by UK Sport whose role it is to ensure that the resources available to support Paralympic athletes are targeted to maximise medal success.