Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, is a diplomat at Minister-Counsellor rank in the Qatari embassy to the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Duddridge
According to our records Hamad bin Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani holds the rank of Minister-Counsellor at the Embassy of Qatar in London.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have (a) sight loss and (b) hearing loss in (i) Barnsley East, (ii) Barnsley, (iii) South Yorkshire and (iv) Yorkshire and the Humber.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested is not available at parliamentary constituency level.
For Yorkshire and Humber it is estimated that there were 140,000 (+/- 40,000) people with a sight impairment and 190,000 (+/- 40,000) people with a hearing impairment in 2013/14.
Source: Family Resources Survey, 2013/14
Notes:
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Support for Mortgage Relief provisions are available to customers of Northern Rock Asset Management.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
No specific provision has been made for customers of Northern Rock Asset Management or any other bank or building society following the restriction to finance cost relief for individual residential landlords.
Restricting finance cost relief to the basic rate of income tax means all individual landlords will be treated the same by the tax system, regardless of their overall income.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many official Royal British Legion Remembrance events have received logistical police support other than wreath laying in a ceremonial capacity in each year since 2010.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The police have never had a policy of routinely attending remembrance parades. Decisions on the operational deployment of resources are matters for Chief Constables, in association with Police and Crime Commissioners. There are no plans for the Home Office to issue guidance to the police on this matter.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy that police officers be assigned to support all Royal British Legion Remembrance parades.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The police have never had a policy of routinely attending remembrance parades. Decisions on the operational deployment of resources are matters for Chief Constables, in association with Police and Crime Commissioners. There are no plans for the Home Office to issue guidance to the police on this matter.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of his Department's expected DEL underspend in 2015-16; what his Department's current forecast for AME expenditure is in 2015-16; and what that forecast was at the time of the (a) Summer Budget 2015 and (b) March Budget 2015.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Department does not publish full year DEL and AME forecasts. During the year, expenditure to date is published on the government's transparency website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-transactions-over-25000-2015-16). At the end of the financial year, the Annual Report and Accounts will be published detailing actual expenditure for the year.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will estimate the number of households affected by food insecurity in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not estimate numbers of households experiencing food insecurity. There is no single definition of food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex and include economic, social and environmental issues.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the change in the number of jobs in the solar sector that will be lost as a result of the Government changes to the feed-in tariff in (a) Barnsley East, (b) Barnsley, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government proposed changes to the feed-in tariff scheme (FITs) as part of the FIT review, on which we consulted widely between 27th August and 23rd October.
Part of the purpose of that consultation was to gather views on the broader economic impact of the proposals. The actual impact on the sector will, of course, depend on the options taken forward after all responses to the consultation have been considered. We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the consultation and intend to publish a Government response in due course.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will provide a list of diplomats at Minister-Counsellor rank serving in the Qatar embassy to the United Kingdom (a) currently and (b) for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Duddridge
Until 2014, the London Diplomatic List was published annually, listing diplomats of foreign and Commonwealth countries in London. The information in the the London Diplomatic List is supplied by diplomatic missions and is now available on-line at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-embassies-in-the-uk. FCO records show that two diplomats hold the rank of Minister-Counsellor at the Qatari Embassy in London and have done so since late 2013. According to our records and the LDL there were no Minister-Counsellors at the Qatari Embassy in London from 2010 to November 2013.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support pollinators on farmland.
Answered by George Eustice
£900 million has been made available for the new Countryside Stewardship scheme, which includes a dedicated Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife package. This has been developed by Natural England working in close partnership with wildlife organisations, the farming community and national pollinator scientists. The package is based on the best available evidence and builds on lessons learned from predecessor agri-environment schemes.
The National Pollinator Strategy was launched in November 2014, setting out the Government’s commitment to playing a leading role in improving the status of the country’s 1,500 or so pollinating insect species, and contains specific actions to support pollinators on farmland, as well as towns, cities and the countryside. Countryside Stewardship will play a key role in supporting the Strategy.