Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on continuing the ring-fencing of science revenue spending; and if he will make it his policy to increase that budget in line with inflation.
Answered by Greg Clark
I refer my hon Friend to the reply I gave to my hon friend the Member for Hendon (Dr Matthew Offord) to question 225412.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received about the use of the Aarhus Convention in challenging planning decisions in the High Court from (a) local authorities, (b) other bodies and (c) individuals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Aarhus convention is referred to by some of those who challenge planning decisions in the High Court although we do not hold systematic records. Each challenge is considered on its merits, taking into account the representations of each party as a whole. The Department also deals with correspondence referring to the Convention in its normal course of business.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many seizures of illegally imported meat have been made at (a) airports and (b) seaports in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by George Eustice
The number of seizures of illegally imported meat made at airports and seaports in Great Britain for each of the last 10 years is:
Year | Number of seizures |
2004/05 | 10,987 |
2005/06 | 14,826 |
2006/07 | 19,254 |
2007/08 | 14,158 |
2008/09 | 11,356 |
2009/10 | 12,943 |
2010/11 | 10,186 |
2011/12 | 6,246 |
2012/13 | 7,461 |
2013/14 | 8,904 |
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on the legality of Israeli actions in occupied Palestinian territory; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Officials from our Consulate-General in Jerusalem, including our Consulate-General, regularly meet with UN OCHA representatives, including the Head of OCHA in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), Ramesh Rajasingham, to discuss the impact of the occupation in the OPTs (including topics ranging from settlements, settler violence, demolitions, blockade on Gaza to movement and access restrictions, and others).
Mr Rajasingham has also briefed many of the visiting Ministers and Members of Parliament from the UK on the impact of the occupation, including The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) in February 2014, the Minister for Universities and Science, my right hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr Willetts) in March 2014, myself in October 2014, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) in November 2014 and the Leader of Her Majesty's Official Opposition (Mr Miliband) in April 2014.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Border Force sniffer dogs operate at (a) Heathrow Airport and (b) other airports and seaports in the UK to detect illegally imported meat.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Border Force currently has four detector dogs in use at ports and airports in Great Britain trained to detect meat and other animal products illegally imported from non EU countries. This number can fluctuate as dogs are replaced through ill health or retirement and new dogs and handlers are trained.
The dogs are deployed on a mobile and flexible basis according to risk and where they will have the most impact. They are deployed at key border locations such as Heathrow Airport and can be utilised at any port, airport or other point of entry into Great Britain.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland is responsible for detecting illegal imports of meat and other animal products at ports and airports in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the criteria for awarding cold weather payments have changed since May 2010.
Answered by Steve Webb
In April 2013 Universal Credit was added as a qualifying benefit and Council Tax Benefit was removed as a qualifying benefit as it ceased to exist. Otherwise, the criteria for awarding Cold Weather Payments have remained the same.
This Government have also, from 2010, permanently increased the value of a Cold Weather Payment from £8.50 to £25.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to set minimum nurse staffing levels on wards in English hospitals.
Answered by Dan Poulter
It is not for the Government but for local hospitals to decide how many staff they employ and they are best placed to do this based on the needs of their patients.
In November 2013 the National Quality Board supported by Jane Cummings, the Chief Nursing Officer in England, published guidance on ‘How to ensure the right people, with the right skills, are in the right place at the right time’.
In addition to this and to support trusts further, the Department commissioned the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to produce independent and authoritative evidence based guidance on safe staffing.
NICE published guidance on ‘Safe Staffing for Nursing in Adult In-Patient Wards in Acute Hospitals’ on 15 July 2014. The guidance does not endorse a staffing ratio. It says that no single ratio can be applied across all wards and patient populations, but makes recommendations on safe nursing and identifies indicators that should be used by trusts to demonstrate safe and effective nursing care is being provided.
The NICE guidelines will ensure that National Health Service trusts have the tools they need to make decisions to secure safe staffing. These staffing decisions will then be subject to external scrutiny and challenge by commissioners, regulators and the public, and inspection by the Chief Inspector of Hospitals.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with movement disorders have applied for personal independence payment.
Answered by Mark Harper
Information on claims made to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) broken down by condition is not available.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receiving personal independence payments have undergone an intervention to review their entitlement.
Answered by Mark Harper
The information requested is not available at this time. We will make the statistics on PIP interventions available when they meet the standards required for them to be released in official statistics.
Asked by: Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential contribution to the economy of the investment in science announced in the Autumn Statement 2014; and what steps he plans to take to maximise that contribution.
Answered by Greg Clark
The Department published a summary of the evidence around the potential contribution to the economy of its investment in science alongside the Science and Innovation Strategy that was published in December. In addition we announced new funding for specific projects which will boost the contribution of our science investments to the wider economy.