Category: Speeches

Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 45147, what his Department’s total spend has been to date.

Mr David Jones

The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) is properly resourced. Detailed work is underway to establish the final budget required and this will be voted on and published as part of the Supplementary Estimate process. Total expenditure by the Department will be set out in the Annual Report and Accounts in the usual way.

01/01/2023
Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-11-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that all staff in HM Revenue and Customs authorised to cancel late-filing penalties are authorised to provide the person concerned with written confirmation of that cancellation.

Mr David Gauke

All staff in HM Revenue and Customs who are authorised to cancel late-filing penalties and late-payment penalties are also authorised to provide the customer concerned with written confirmation of that cancellation. The process to advise the person of the cancellation may differ between taxes, and the notification may in some cases be on-line rather than in a letter.

01/01/2023
Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 18122, (a) how many times and (b) on what grounds Palestinian academics have not been given permission to attend academic conferences in the UK in the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

Acquiring information on the number of times academics of Syrian nationality have been refused entry to attend an academic conference would involve examining each individual case record held by UK Visas and Immigration for the category. To do so would incur a disproportionate cost.

In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is therefore unable to provide information on the reasons for refusing entry to the UK.

All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.

01/01/2023
Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that young people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are made aware of their possible suitability for lung transplants.

Jane Ellison

There are a number of lung diseases of childhood, including pulmonary fibrosis that may require lung transplantation, depending on disease progression and severity.

These conditions should be referred to, assessed and initially managed by a tertiary paediatric respiratory unit, who would confirm the diagnosis and monitor treatment.

If the treatments failed to hold the progression of the disease, then a referral to one of the two paediatric lung transplant centres, Newcastle and Great Ormond Street may be appropriate.

01/01/2023

Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Sea King HC4, (b) Wildcat, (c) Gazelle, (d) Apache, (e) Chinook HC2/3, (f) Puma HC2 and (g) Merlin Mk 3/3A helicopters are (i) in the Forward Available Fleet, (ii) in the Sustainment Fleet and (iii) classed as Short-Term Unserviceable.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Forward Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable.

The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in our Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis. Figures shown are the average for December 2015, the most recent data available.

Query	Sea King HC4	Wildcat BRH Mk1	Wildcat HMA Mk2	Gazelle	Apache	Chinook HC2/3 Note 1	Puma HC2	Merlin Mk 3/3A
Forward Available Fleet	7	19	14	19	32	0	13	17
Sustainment Fleet	0	8	3	7	18	0	10	8
Short-Term Unserviceable	2	12	7	12	13	0	4	10

Note 1:

All Chinook HC2/2a aircraft have undergone modification with new cockpit avionics and are now HC4 variants. In December 2015 there were 26 HC4 aircraft in the forward fleet and 12 in sustainment.

The (eight) Chinook HC3 were all removed from the forward fleet last year and are undergoing modification with new cockpit avionics and a new digital automatic flight control system. Once modified, these aircraft become Chinook HC5 variants.

01/01/2023

Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Dogs Trust pilot quarantine on disrupting the illegal importation of puppies under the Pet Travel Scheme.

George Eustice

I welcome the Dogs Trust initiative to pay the quarantine costs of dogs and puppies identified at Dover as being not compliant to enter Great Britain under the EU Pet Travel Scheme. Since 2 December 2015, 108 puppies have been licensed into the quarantine facilities, mainly due to concerns that puppies were under the minimum age for travelling.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion.

01/01/2023
Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 1 April (HL7086), why the Office for National Statistics Pink Book cannot be used to establish the UK’s gross and net contributions to the EU; what Government sources provide a more accurate picture, and why.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Data published in the Office for National Statistics Pink Book represent only those transactions that are administered by official bodies, in accordance with the European System of Accounts 2010 for the purposes of producing statistics on the UK’s balance of payments. These do not include all receipts from the EU. Table 3B, page 16, of European Union Finances 2015 (CM 9167) provides complete outturn figures, including receipts administered by public sector bodies and those received directly by beneficiaries. The difference between these, and other figures, are explained further in Annex B of the Treasury analysis of the long-run economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives.

01/01/2023
William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with UK electricity generators on the effect on the electricity market of market imported electricity by interconnectors not subject to the carbon price floor.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department has discussed this issue with Energy UK and its members. The Government supports greater interconnection, and Ofgem’s assessment of the impact of importing electricity shows significant benefits to the consumer. The first round of new projects could deliver more than £11.8bn of consumer benefits over 25 years, primarily driven by reductions to the GB electricity wholesale price. Ofgem’s assessment also considered a scenario with no carbon price differential between countries and concluded that this would make no material difference to the business case for these projects.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s target waiting time is for a Disclosure and Barring Service local intelligence check to be completed by the police.

Karen Bradley

In 2015/16, the Disclosure and Barring Service processed 87% of all applications within 21 days, against a target of 85%.

Some of the over four million applications received each year need to be referred to one or more police forces for further checks. There is a service level agreement between the Disclosure and Barring Service and police forces in relation to the time taken to complete these local disclosure checks.

These standards are: –

85% of police checks must be completed in 14 days;

90% of police checks must be completed in 18 days;

95% of police checks must be completed in 25 days; and – 100% of police checks must be completed in 60 days.

01/01/2023
Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to honour the British soldiers who fought in Musa Qala in Afghanistan in the autumn of 2006.

Earl Howe

Service in Afghanistan is recognised by the Operational Service Medal. All those who deployed to Afghanistan will have been eligible to receive the medal if they met the qualifying criteria. There is a long-standing rule that decisions taken with regards to medallic recognition should not be revisited once five years have passed since the conclusion of a military operation. The ‘five year’ rule has been looked at by the Committee on the Grants of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) on a number of occasions, and on each occasion it has concluded that the rule is sound and should not be changed.

01/01/2023