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 discussions his Department has had with television channel and radio station providers on inclusion and the representation of disability in mainstream media.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The government is encouraging the industry to be proactive in increasing diversity on and off screen - including in the representation of disabled people. I have hosted a number of roundtables that have addressed this issue, including a conference in January, which raised the wider issue of lack of representation of disabled people in the creative industries.
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 recent steps his Department has taken to encourage music venues to improve ticket and seating arrangements for disabled people.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
We believe that everyone should have access to arts and culture - having a disability should not be a barrier to enjoying Britain’s awe-inspiring cultural treasures. That is why we are working with venues and organisations representing disabled people to identify barriers to access, while at the same time seeing how we can share examples of best practice and what more cultural venues need to do to be accessible to people with disabilities. Our recently published Culture White Paper makes a specific commitment to work with the cultural sector to improve physical access to venues.
We support the work of Attitude is Everything, which works with audiences, artists, and the music industry to improve deaf and disabled people’s access to live events. My ministerial colleague Ed Vaizey also held a roundtable meeting with Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People to look at access to cultural venues and events for disabled people. Additionally, provisions in the Equality Act 2010 require providers of services to the public (for example music venues), to make a ‘reasonable adjustment’ so that disabled people are not placed at a “substantial disadvantage” to non-disabled people.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will increase the national minimum wage for under 18s to the same rate as the adult level.
Answered by Nick Boles
For younger workers, the priority is to secure work and gain valuable experience – something that is reflected in the existing age structure of the National Minimum Wage.
On 14th April my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced an increase in the 16-17 year old National Minimum Wage rate by 3.4% (13p) to £4.00 per hour. This is the fastest and largest increase since 2008.
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, who will be eligible to vote in the forthcoming EU referendum; and for what reason he plans to exclude European citizens resident in the UK from voting in that referendum.
Answered by David Lidington
The franchise for the EU referendum was debated and agreed by both Houses during the passing of the EU Referendum Act 2015. This has now received Royal Assent and is set in law.
The franchise for the EU referendum includes those enfranchised for UK parliamentary elections, with the addition of Members of the House of Lords and Commonwealth and Irish citizens in Gibraltar.
Amendments during the passage of the EU Referendum Bill, seeking to include EU citizens in the franchise for the EU referendum, were considered and overwhelmingly rejected by both Houses.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent representations he has received on the implications for aid of the 1955 tax treaty between the UK and Malawi.
Answered by David Gauke
No such representations have been received. Discussions with Malawi over a new tax treaty have already taken place. We are hopeful the new treaty can be concluded shortly.
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, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the implications for aid of the 1955 tax treaty between the UK and Malawi.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Secretary of State for International Development has had no discussions on the 1955 tax treaty between the UK and Malawi with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Issues relating to tax treaties are a matter for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment has been made of the effects of the reduction in the feed-in tariff on 14 January 2016 on small scale hydro producers.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government published an impact assessment alongside the Government Response to the FIT Review consultation on 17 December, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486084/IA_-_FITs_consultation_response_with_Annexes_-_FINAL_SIGNED.pdf
This impact assessment set out the impact of deployment caps and tariff changes to different technologies. For the hydro sector, new tariffs are designed to provide a target rate of return of 9.2% for efficient and well-sited installations and could support around 880 installations between 2016-19.
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 steps the Government is taking to support milk producers in ensuring milk prices in supermarkets are maintained.
Answered by George Eustice
We support the farming industry by reducing red tape, funding research to foster innovation, extending the tax averaging period for self-employed farmers and working to open up new export markets.
To provide some relief to hard-pressed farmers we secured a £26.6m aid package for the UK from the European Commission – the third largest of all Member States. Dairy farmers across the UK are being paid a one-off, flat rate payment linked to milk production. The majority of payments were made by the RPA on 16 November 2015.
The Government is working with the food industry – including supermarkets, retailers, manufacturers and caterers – on even more consistent labelling and branding of British dairy products, improving transparency across the supply chain and allocating more space on shop shelves. This will make it easier for consumers and food businesses to know when they are buying British dairy products.
A number of supermarkets have pledged to pay a premium over and above the current market price and we should welcome that. It won’t solve the problem but it will give some respite to farmers.
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 steps his Department is taking to strengthen international consensus on opposing Daesh and to build alliances to work to that end.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
My officials and I regularly hold bilateral and multilateral discussions with our partners to build and sustain the international consensus against Daesh. The UK is a leading member of the Global Coalition of 65 countries and international organisations, including many in the region, united to defeat Daesh through a long-term, comprehensive strategy.
The UK has led efforts in the UN to rally the international community against Daesh. UN Security Council Resolution 2249, agreed in November 2015, underlines the international community’s united and unambiguous opposition to Daesh and its determination to defeat it.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will reduce the rate of VAT on tourism.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government currently has no plans to alter the rates of VAT relating to the tourist industry.
I refer the Rt Hon gentleman to my comments during the Westminster Hall debate on 17th March 2015.