UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Rob Marris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Rob Marris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the contribution of fixed and mobile telecommunications infrastructure to productivity between (a) 2005 and 2010, (b) 2010 and 2015 and (c) 2015 and 2020.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Reliable and high quality fixed and mobile broadband connections support growth in productivity, efficiency and labour force participation across the whole economy. SQW Consulting’s UK Broadband impact study in 2013 estimated that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024. The bulk of this economic impact comes from improvements in the productivity of broadband-using firms

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.242 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the Government carried out an equality impact assessment on the policy to allow local authorities to raise council tax by two per cent to fund adult social care.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Spending Review set out that, if fully used, the additional council tax flexibility could raise nearly £2 billion a year by 2019-20. We will set out further details alongside the provisional local government finance settlement later this month, including an equality impact assesment in the New Year.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce food waste.

    Rory Stewart

    Through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Government has made significant progress to reduce food waste through the Courtauld Commitment, the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign and the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement.

    Household food waste reduced by 15% between 2007 and 2012 and Courtauld Commitment signatories reported a reduction in supply chain waste of 7.4% from 2009 to 2012, with interim results for Courtauld 3 showing a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

    Interim results for the Hospitality Agreement show signatories achieved a reduction in CO2e emissions of 3.6% by preventing food waste and the food and packaging recycling rate rose from 45% to 57% between 2012 and 2014.

    WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement with the food sector to build on this success. The Courtauld Commitment 2025 will take a whole food supply chain approach to food sustainability and will include new ambitious targets to reduce food waste. Courtauld 2025 is expected to be launched in March 2016.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) police officers, (b) police community support officers, (c) special officers and (d) police dogs were in the service of the British Transport Police on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    As of 9 February 2016, the British Transport Police has (a) 3,061 officers (compared to 2,901 in 2009/10), (b) 362 police community support officers (compared to 340 in 2009/10), (c) 285 special officers and (d) 38 police dogs in service.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s timeline on its cycling and walking investment strategy, published in December 2015, what progress it has made on its obligation of being ready to announce its funding plans for investment in cycling and walking by the end of winter 2015-16.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Infrastructure Act 2015 does not place an obligation on Government to publish plans for investing in cycling and walking at any specific time. However, in December my Department published “Setting the first Cycling and Walking Strategy” which set out our proposed timescales for publication, including our intention to publish a Statement of Funds Available. My officials are currently working on the first Strategy, to be published in draft in spring 2016, which will contain information on financial resources as well as our ambition, objectives and actions for delivery.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the financial accountability of government in Wales.

    Guto Bebb

    In order to become truly accountable to the people of Wales it is vital that the Welsh Government takes more responsibility for raising, through taxation, the money that it spends.

    We will, as part of the Wales Bill, remove the requirement for a referendum before the devolution of powers to vary the rates of income tax in Wales.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims of 24 March 2016, Official Report, column 221, on the Policing and Crime Bill, in which types of situations her Department anticipates that police volunteers will have the need of CS spray for self-protection.

    Mike Penning

    Currently, volunteers already have all the powers of a police constable as a Special Constable and have done so for over a century.

    Chapter 1 of Part 3 of the Bill will enable chief officers to designate police staff with a wider range of police powers. They will also be able to confer police powers – other than the core powers reserved for warranted officers set out in Schedule 9 to the Bill – on volunteers. The intention is that the powers that can be conferred on employed staff and designated volunteers are the same. This includes the power to carry and use defensive sprays, such as CS or PAVA, in situations where the chief officer considers there to be an operational case for this. It is already the case that chief officers can equip police community support officers with defensive sprays; accordingly, the Bill simply codifies the existing position for staff. Chief officers must ensure appropriate training before conferring a power.

    Since opening the recruitment for Volunteer Police Community Support Officers (VPCSOs) in the autumn of 2013, Lincolnshire Police have recruited 80 volunteers, who have been trained to the same standard as paid PCSOs. The College of Policing guidance in respect of VPCSOs has not yet been written.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will develop plans to include TV Licensing in the Tell Us Once service.

    Priti Patel

    We are currently reviewing the strategic approach, to support citizens in the wider bereavement journey to support the Government’s 2020 vision and the better use of data across government. This review will include the Tell Us Once Service and the Department for Culture Media and Sport.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the total untaxed capital gains that will accrue to the beneficiaries of the starter homes scheme by 2020, taking into account the discount and any anticipated rise in house values.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The 2015 Conservative manifesto had the clear objective to build affordable homes, including Starter Homes to support young people into home ownership. They will be sold at a minimum 20 per cent discount on open market value and for no more than the price cap of £250,000 (£450,000 in London). The amount of discount will vary according to local property prices. No separate assessment on capital gains has been made.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 16 September (HL1576), what is their assessment of the proportionality of a requirement for detailed knowledge of clinical English for a consultant employed within the NHS.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department has made no assessment of the proportionality of a requirement for detailed knowledge of clinical English for a consultant employed within the National Health Service.

    NHS employers are expected to ensure that any doctors seeking employment in the NHS have the skills needed to carry out their job safely and competently, including the appropriate level of English language.

    The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of doctors in the United Kingdom. Without a licence to practise from the GMC, a doctor cannot practise in the UK. Any doctor who cannot provide sufficient evidence to the GMC that they have the English language skills needed to practise safely in the UK will not be given a licence to practise.

    The GMC also has powers to take fitness to practise action where concerns are raised around a doctor’s language competence who is practising in the UK.