Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had on future pension arrangements in an independent Scotland.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effect of introducing national embodied energy standards for building materials on the zero carbon homes initiative.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to create national embodied energy standards for building materials as part of the Housing Standards review.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the UK is covered by (a) broadleaf and (b) conifer forest.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the forest cover in the UK is designated for (a) productive woodland and (b) amenity value.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what target his Department has set for forest cover in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland; and what the proposed mix is between broadleaf and conifer in each area.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland is covered by forest.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of whether current Forestry Commission guidance on planting forest promotes the type of tree planting suitable for future use in commercial forestry.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the UK's need for future sustaining domestic timber supplies; and how such need will be met.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of developments in Egypt and stability in the middle east.
Anne McGuire: May I endorse the thanks from Members from across the House to the previous Minister and welcome the new Minister? As the Foreign Secretary may have seen, the chairman of the Charity Commission has said that money intended to ease the refugee crisis was “undoubtedly” going to extremist groups. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that in making these general comments the chairman of the...
Anne McGuire: I do not think that anybody is disputing the role of the local authority in this. It has carried out that role and within its responsibilities it has made a substantial and significant contribution to the costs. The issue that I wish to raise with the Minister lies directly within his jurisdiction. It is about the liability of individuals to bear the responsibility of this—an unintended...
Anne McGuire: I am grateful for the opportunity to raise my concerns about the application of the landfill tax across the UK to cases in which, due to time elapsed and the lack of any responsible polluter, the burden of liability for contaminated land remediation costs, plus landfill tax and value added tax, falls on the occupier of that land. The incidence of contaminated land across the UK is apparently...
Anne McGuire: Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that one of the strengths of the voluntary sector in the United Kingdom is its right to have an independent voice and for it not to be assumed that, because those organisations are paid to deliver services, that independent voice should be muted?
Anne McGuire: I fear that the hon. Gentleman does not understand the financial reporting that charities have to undertake in this country. The reality is that if a charity has a service level agreement or project agreement, those funds cannot be used for any purpose other than that to which they are contracted. His case is falling apart the longer he stays on his feet.
Anne McGuire: It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford). I echo her comments about the denial on the Government Benches that the Bill will be restrictive. One has only to look at clause 26, and even the explanatory notes by implication identify that the Bill will be restrictive, because the Government are extending and broadening types of expenditure that can be...
Anne McGuire: The other thing that is even more disturbing is that if my hon. Friend happens to say that he supports a particular charity and something it is promoting, and the charity happens to put that on a leaflet, along with perhaps three of the four or five other candidates, it might find itself in the same position. The alternative to that is that it may well just put out a list of people who...
Anne McGuire: I have already pointed out that clause 26 broadens the definition, but if it is the law at the moment why are we wasting time and paper on the Bill? That is the question that the Deputy Leader of the House needs to pick up on when he addresses the House. I spent a few days at a conference in Sarajevo not long after Bosnia and Herzegovina became independent. Speaking to the embryonic voluntary...
Anne McGuire: What support his Department has provided to projects fostering co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians.