Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political and international security situation in Algeria.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We assess that the Government of Algeria is working to achieve its goals of sustainable security, stability and prosperity in the country and wider region. The UK and other members of the international community are supporting Algeria in this work.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the road KS1 rates are in (a) Leicestershire, (b) Nottinghamshire, (c) Derbyshire and (d) Lincolnshire for each year from 2005 to date.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The table below shows the reported killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualty rate per billion vehicle miles by local authority.
Reported killed or seriously injured casualty rate per billion vehicle miles
Rate per billion vehicle miles1 | |||||||||||||||
Local Authority | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | ||||
Leicestershire County Council 2 | 67 | 65 | 57 | 55 | 58 | 53 | 52 | 44 | 41 | 53 | 51 | ||||
Leicester City Council | 78 | 97 | 97 | 107 | 97 | 98 | 107 | 100 | 105 | 111 | 117 | ||||
Rutland County Council | 74 | 58 | 77 | 80 | 70 | 75 | 47 | 68 | 41 | 64 | 76 | ||||
Nottinghamshire County Council 3 | 140 | 124 | 116 | 111 | 104 | 97 | 105 | 102 | 79 | 76 | 70 | ||||
Nottingham City Council | 200 | 184 | 179 | 160 | 150 | 143 | 158 | 140 | 125 | 112 | 145 | ||||
Derbyshire County Council 4 | 103 | 99 | 102 | 88 | 94 | 67 | 70 | 70 | 64 | 87 | 67 | ||||
Derby City Council | 96 | 106 | 98 | 103 | 108 | 86 | 86 | 76 | 72 | 98 | 69 | ||||
Lincolnshire County Council | 122 | 107 | 113 | 91 | 124 | 126 | 132 | 117 | 113 | 106 | 83 | ||||
1 Casualties include pedestrians and cyclists. Vehicle miles is the distance travelled by all vehicles (including cyclists)
2 Not including Leicester City Council and Rutland County Council
3 Not including Nottingham City Council
4 Not including Derby City Council
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing the sentencing guidelines applicable to offences involving deaths caused by driving.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Sentencing guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales.
As the government are actively considering offences and penalties in this area the Council have postponed their review of sentencing guidelines for causing death by driving.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department provides for servicemen and women's children who have an autism diagnosis.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Within the UK, responsibility for Service children with an autism diagnosis rests with the statutory authorities. Where appropriate, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Directorate for Children and Young People provides additional support. This includes detailed information, advice and support to Service parents through the MOD's Children's Education Advisory Service; and the MOD's Education Support Fund has provided additional resources in situations where a Service child with an autism diagnosis might otherwise suffer disadvantage through Service mobility or parental deployment. For those eligible for the MOD's Continuity of Education Allowance, an addition to that allowance is available to those with an autism diagnosis.
For Service families based overseas the MOD acts in lieu of a local authority to provide support. Service families are not assigned to an overseas location without an assessment of whether any significant health, welfare or education needs (including autism) can be properly supported. MOD schools overseas have access to trained individuals (including educational psychologists) and training resources to allow schools to support children with autism; and to provide training to parents where practicable. Additional support is also provided for children returning to the United Kingdom, to assure a smooth transition back to local authority responsibility.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the implementation of the Central Equine Database.
Answered by George Eustice
The Central Equine Database has been successfully tested with users. We will be piloting the database with Passport Issuing Organisations in March and expect it to be fully operational by summer 2017.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the availability within Yemen of diesel oil for the (a) generation of electricity and (b) functioning of water pumps used as wells.
Answered by Rory Stewart
In October 2016, the World Food Programme reported that 39% of Yemen’s estimated fuel needs (including for diesel oil) were imported into Yemen. Although we do not have precise figures, this is likely to have affected the availability of diesel for the generation of electricity and functioning of water pumps as Yemen is dependent on imports for the majority of its fuel needs.
The Department of International Development is providing £1.42 million to the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) to speed up the clearance process for shipments of essential fuel and food to Yemen.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the number of Yemenis who are at risk of malnutrition; and what proportion of those people are children.
Answered by Rory Stewart
According to the recently published UN Humanitarian Needs Overview for Yemen, almost 4.5 million people are at risk of malnutrition or require treatment or prevention services for malnutrition. Of that number, almost half a million children under 5 suffer from severe acute malnutrition, and 2.8 million children and pregnant or lactating women are affected by moderate acute malnutrition.
The UK is providing £19 million to UNICEF this year to treat children with severe acute malnutrition and support mobile health clinics. Last year, we helped treat over 150,000 children under 5 for severe acute malnutrition.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the Hendry Review of Tidal Lagoons; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Hendry Review has submitted its report to the department. We are grateful for the hard work that has gone into the Review. Government will need to look carefully at the Review’s findings in the context of its wider energy policy and to ensure that tidal lagoons represent value for money to the consumer.
The publication of the report on the independent review of tidal lagoons is the responsibility of the Hendry Review. We understand that it will be published shortly.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions Ministers of her Department have had with Leicestershire County Council on the level of central government grant funding required per unaccompanied asylum seeking child to fully cover all costs incurred by that council since the inception of the unaccompanied asylum seeking children scheme.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is committed to a fairer distribution of caring responsibilities across the country in a way that protects the best interests of all children and provides appropriate funding to local authorities for the care of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. We have consulted widely and extensively with local authorities across the UK in order to assess their spending and capacity to care for additional unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children. In light of information provided by local authorities, in July the Home Office significantly increased the national rates of funding to local authorities taking responsibility for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and have offered additional funding to bolster regional structures for the National Transfer Scheme. We will keep these arrangements under review, and we encourage all local authorities, including Leicestershire, to continue to work through their respective Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships on participation in the scheme.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions Ministers of her Department have had with Leicestershire County Council on its participation in the unaccompanied asylum seeking children scheme since that council announced its intention to withdraw from that scheme in October 2016.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is committed to a fairer distribution of caring responsibilities across the country in a way that protects the best interests of all children and provides appropriate funding to local authorities for the care of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. We have consulted widely and extensively with local authorities across the UK in order to assess their spending and capacity to care for additional unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children. In light of information provided by local authorities, in July the Home Office significantly increased the national rates of funding to local authorities taking responsibility for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and have offered additional funding to bolster regional structures for the National Transfer Scheme. We will keep these arrangements under review, and we encourage all local authorities, including Leicestershire, to continue to work through their respective Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships on participation in the scheme.