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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.
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.
I refer my hon Friend to the reply I gave to my hon friend the Member for Hendon (Dr Matthew Offord) to question 225412.
That this House views with concern the proposals of Powys County Council to close secondary schools and sixth forms in Brecon and Radnorshire; notes that closing schools will add to the cost of transport and very long journey times for pupils; believes that many pupils will opt to be educated across the border in England because of travel times; and urges Powys County Council to commission a re-assessment of secondary education right across the county and to defer any decision-making until all the consequences of those proposals have been fully considered.
That this House views with concern the proposals of Powys County Council to close secondary schools and sixth forms in Brecon and Radnorshire; notes that closing schools will add to the cost of transport and very long journey times for pupils; believes that many pupils will opt to be educated...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 |
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.
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.
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.
Rural GP practices are at particular risk, as shown by the proposed closure of the Llanwrtyd GP surgery, and patients will have nowhere to go. Will the Minister
make representations not only to the Royal College of General Practitioners but to the Wales Deanery, to encourage more GPs?
Rural GP practices are at particular risk, as shown by the proposed closure of the Llanwrtyd GP surgery, and patients will have nowhere to go. Will the Minister
make representations not only to the Royal College of General Practitioners but to the Wales Deanery, to encourage more GPs?
That is a matter for the Welsh Government, but I will happily raise that point. The point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies) underlines the fact that flexibility would create greater opportunity to try to fill those gaps.
Many of my constituents have asked me why, when President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel met Putin, there was no senior British political presence or representation. When will Britain play its full part in protecting the sovereign nations of Europe?
Many of my constituents have asked me why, when President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel met Putin, there was no senior British political presence or representation. When will Britain play its full part in protecting the sovereign nations of Europe?
I do not recognise the premise of the hon. Gentleman’s question. We are playing our part. While Mrs Merkel and President Hollande have done a good job of negotiating the Minsk implementation agreement under the Normandy process, which always involved the four countries of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia, our role has been, is and will remain to stiffen the resolve of all 28 EU members to be united and aligned with the United States in deploying what has proved to be a powerful sanctions weapon.
What steps his Department is taking to ensure a lasting ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
What steps his Department is taking to ensure a lasting ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
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.
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.
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.
I may be wrong, but I believe I glimpsed the Minister in my constituency—on a mini-digger and endangering a cabinet that was about to be upgraded. While he was there, did he get any information about the timeliness of the roll-out of broadband in Wales, given that the Government have contributed £57 million to the project?
I may be wrong, but I believe I glimpsed the Minister in my constituency—on a mini-digger and endangering a cabinet that was about to be upgraded. While he was there, did he get any information about the timeliness of the roll-out of broadband in Wales, given that the Government have contributed £57 million to the project?
I was indeed in Brecon. Our rural broadband programme is so important that it is a case of all hands to the pump. I was happy to get on a mini-digger and help to get my hon. Friend’s constituency more superfast-connected.
What progress he has made on ensuring that mobile network operators and broadband providers provide adequate coverage in rural areas of Wales.
What progress he has made on ensuring that mobile network operators and broadband providers provide adequate coverage in rural areas of Wales.
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.
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.
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.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the criteria for awarding cold weather payments have changed since May 2010.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the criteria for awarding cold weather payments have changed since May 2010.
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.
Many of my constituents, including a group called Knighton Action for Peace and Justice, have grave concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. How are the Government using their influence to encourage Israel and Palestine to reach a more satisfactory agreement about water resources in the occupied territories?
Many of my constituents, including a group called Knighton Action for Peace and Justice, have grave concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. How are the Government using their influence to encourage Israel and Palestine to reach a more satisfactory agreement about water resources in the occupied territories?
A significant amount of infrastructure was damaged during the crisis over the summer. Part of the £20 million we committed at the reconstruction conference attended by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State is to help to replace the infrastructure that has been lost. All the discussion and debate we can have today is simply palliative while a long-term political settlement is being reached, which is the only thing that can in the end improve the long-term prospects of people living in that part of the world.
That this House commends the Safe Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Bill, being brought forward in the Welsh Assembly by the Assembly Member for Brecon and Radnorshire, Kirsty Williams, which aims to ensure that there is a safe number of nurses at all times on Welsh hospital wards; and notes that similar legislation in other countries has brought huge benefits to patients and nurses, including a reduction in mortality rates, shorter hospital stays, lower re-admission rates, fewer medication errors and fewer hospital-acquired infections.
That this House commends the Safe Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Bill, being brought forward in the Welsh Assembly by the Assembly Member for Brecon and Radnorshire, Kirsty Williams, which aims to ensure that there is a safe number of nurses at all times on Welsh hospital wards; and notes that...
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.
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.
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.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with movement disorders have applied for personal independence payment.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with movement disorders have applied for personal independence payment.
Information on claims made to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) broken down by condition is not available.
In her discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, was the right hon. Lady able to raise the issue of the supermarket adjudicator and her need to have powers to impose fines, and to extend her remit throughout the entire length of the food chain, rather than just between the last producer and the supermarket?
In her discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, was the right hon. Lady able to raise the issue of the supermarket adjudicator and her need to have powers to impose fines, and to extend her remit throughout the entire length of the food chain, rather than just between the last producer and the supermarket?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point. I work closely with BIS on this issue, and I am pleased to say that last night we laid the statutory instrument that will give the Groceries Code Adjudicator the power to fine companies.
If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 28 January.
If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 28 January.
Q13
.
Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD):
General practitioner recruitment is a problem nationally but particularly for rural practices. Many GP practices on both sides of the England-Wales border serve patients from both nations. What can the Government in Westminster do, through working constructively with the Welsh Government, to promote training and recruitment of GPs so these practices remain viable and sustainable?
Q13
.
Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD):
General practitioner recruitment is a problem nationally but particularly for rural practices. Many GP practices on both sides of the England-Wales border serve patients from both nations. What can the Government in Westminster do, through working constructively with the Welsh Government, to promote training and recruitment of GPs so these practices remain viable and sustainable?
One of the things we can do is share ideas with the Welsh Assembly Government. One thing we are pioneering here is making sure newly qualified doctors are offered special payments if they become GPs, and this is part of a £10 million plan we have to recruit even more. In England we have 1,000 more GPs working than we did back in 2010, and I hope the
NHS in Wales will, while it is underfunded by the Labour Government in Wales, look at creative ideas like this.