Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school teachers in each parliamentary constituency in England have a science degree.
Answered by David Laws
The attached table provides the headcount number and percentage of all regular teachers in service in primary schools in each constituency in England with a degree in a science subject in November 2013. This is the latest information available.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has for electrification of railway lines in the North West.
Answered by Claire Perry
A number of routes in the North West are in the process of being electrified.
Network Rail is considering potential projects for the next funding Control Period through the refresh of its national electrification Route Utilisation Strategy.
Final decisions on further schemes will take into account the recommendations of the Task Force of northern MPs and Council Leaders set up to explore the priorities for future electrification in the North.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to assist people affected by the Ebola outbbreak.
Answered by Mark Francois
The Ministry of Defence supports the Department for International Development led effort in Sierra Leone. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence, has just returned from Sierra Leone where he has seen for himself the great work being undertaken by the Ministry of Defence to assist those affected by the outbreak.
We have deployed around 1,200 personnel over the last six months which represents our largest current overseas deployment and the second largest contribution to the fight against Ebola after the US.
We have overseen the construction of six Treatment Centres to deliver specialist care to Ebola patients, one of which – Kerrytown – includes a specialist unit staffed and managed by UK military personnel; we have constructed an Ebola Training Academy and trained over 4,000 local nationals in a variety of Ebola related roles; we have deployed the extremely capable RFA ARGUS and its three Merlin helicopters to increase our logistical capability; and we have engaged widely with our international partners to ensure the response in West Africa is – as it should be – a global effort.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help refugees fleeing conflict in South Sudan.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Since December 2013, over half a million refugees have fled South Sudan to Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. £58.9 million has been committed by my Department to support these refugees through provision of nutrition, water, medical services and protection. We continue to closely monitor the situation.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support bees and pollinators.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
On November 4th, we published the National Pollinator Strategy, a 10 year plan to help pollinators thrive involving farmers, major landowners and the public. Bees and other pollinators are vital for our £100bn food chain and are worth £400m to the economy.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent investment he has made in equipment for the armed forces.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Of the £160 billon ten year investment that will be detailed in the Equipment Plan, £70 billion is investment in new equipment, funding cutting edge capabilities such as the new aircraft carriers, Astute class submarines, the Type 26 Frigates, the F35 Joint Strike Fighter, the A400M Atlas transport aircraft and the Scout armoured vehicle.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help refugees fleeing conflict in South Sudan.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Almost half a million South Sudanese refugees have fled from the conflict in South Sudan to Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. £42.5 million has been committed by my Department for support to these refugees through UN agencies and we are closely monitoring the situation.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of progress on improving the cleanliness of rivers.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We have made strong progress in cleaning up our rivers. They are now in far better health than 20 years ago. For example, pollution from sewage works has gone down significantly; phosphate pollution will fall by a further fifth and ammonia by a further sixth by 2015. Overall, this government has improved over 15,000 kilometres of rivers – equivalent to the length of the Amazon and Nile combined – but we know more needs to be done.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question
To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department has taken to promote the use of role models for women in business.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
We are actively promoting female role models on our new ‘Women in Enterprise’ web page (http://www.greatbusiness.gov.uk/women-in-enterprise/ ) and as part of our Great Business campaign. We have invested £1.9m in the Get Mentoring project, which recruited and trained over 6000 mentors to specifically support female entrepreneurs. We announced earlier this month that we would build on this programme by holding a series of ‘Meet a Mentor’ events for women in venues across the UK.
Asked by: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward proposals for the introduction of a legal requirement for verification of suppliers' identity, similar to that included in the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, for gold and jewellery.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
We have no plans to introduce new regulations at this stage. Gold, unlike scrap metal such as lead, is sold through many different outlets including antique shops, jewellers, pawnbrokers and shops offering cash for goods. Any new regulation would potentially be both complex and expensive to implement and enforce.
The crime prevention panel that we have set up in the Home Office is looking at new ways to prevent the theft of gold. This includes a review of an existing voluntary code of practice on the sale of gold that has been developed by police in collaboration with the National Pawnbrokers Association, the British Jewellers’ Association, the National Association of Goldsmiths and others.
Shops signing up to this code of practice agree to follow a number of guidelines, including asking for proof of identity when gold is offered for sale and maintaining detailed records of goods purchased. We expect this work to be completed in early 2015.