Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the proportion of left-handed pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not collect data on the number of left-handed pupils in primary and secondary schools.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to uphold the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 allowing existing EU citizens already living and working in the UK to retain their existing rights throughout and following negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government has been clear that there will be no immediate changes in the circumstances of European nationals and their family members entering or currently residing in the UK.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to help more children access and understand nature.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Government’s ambition is to connect more children with nature. We have supported a number of initiatives for children to access and better understand the environment. Our aim is to not only give all children the chance to experience the natural world, but also to understand it, and respond to it. For example:
Our Eight Point Plan for National Parks will:
Defra has also worked closely with its delivery bodies and partners on a Natural Connections Pilot Project that supported schools, not only to connect children with nature through outdoor learning, but also to make sure schools are able to connect outdoor learning to their curriculum.
We are also helping schools plant a million trees in their communities, so children can see first-hand the power of nature.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on individual cold weather payment notifications in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014 and (e) 2015.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
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 Ofcom on (a) allocating additional resources and (b) developing additional measures to monitor accidental interference to programme making and special events services from (i) licence-exempt and (ii) manually configure white space devices.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Government considers Ofcom's existing powers of enforcement sufficient to address interference from unlicensed use at this time. Ofcom is working with the Federation of Communication Services to develop a Code of Practice for the installation of manually configured white space devices. Ofcom also plans to conduct early-phase compliance checks on licensees of manually configured devices.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the £600 million funding allocated for clearing the 700 MHz band of spectrum will be made available to the programme making and special events sector to compensate for the cost of new equipment required as a result of access to that band ending.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
In March 2015, Government announced funding of up to £600m to fund the clearance of the 700MHz band and, as part of the programme, we are committed to safeguarding the ongoing benefits of PMSE to the UK economy. Ofcom have published a consultation outlining alternative spectrum bands for PMSE users, and we are currently working with Ofcom to look at how PMSE users can be supported if they need to buy new equipment.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the evidential basis is for clearing the 700 MHz band of spectrum requiring £600 million in funding; and what discussions his Department had with representatives of the programme making and special events sector prior to agreeing that figure.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
In March 2015, Government announced funding of up to £600m to fund the clearance of the 700MHz band and, as part of the programme, we are committed to safeguarding the ongoing benefits of PMSE to the UK economy. Ofcom have published a consultation outlining alternative spectrum bands for PMSE users, and we are currently working with Ofcom to look at how PMSE users can be supported if they need to buy new equipment.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to widen access to basic bank accounts.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Improving access to banking services is central to the Government’s agenda. I am therefore delighted that the nine largest personal current account providers in the UK have been offering new basic bank accounts since January 2016.
For the first time, truly fee-free basic bank accounts are available for anyone who doesn’t have an account, or can’t use their account due to financial difficulty.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the introduction of mandatory defibrillators on aircraft.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is responsible for the regulations relating to equipment to be carried on aircraft operating in Europe and competent national authorities, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) being such a body in the UK, are responsible for oversight of the compliance. The EASA regulations do not require aircraft to carry defibrillators.
Cases of sudden cardiac arrest are very rare when compared to the number of passengers carried. There is no evidence that airline passengers are at increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest, and it would not be proportionate to make carrying defibrillators in an aircraft compulsory.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what powers are available to local authorities to restrict the use of fireworks.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Restrictions on the use of fireworks already exist under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 and are enforced by the police. Beyond this, excessive noise from fireworks can be considered a statutory nuisance under Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Act gives local authorities powers to prevent or abate noise nuisance coming from premises and land.