Category: Speeches

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority can confirm that a stated aim of the proposed research to perform genome editing in human embryos by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute has been to better understand why miscarriages occur in some pregnancies; if so, whether they can disclose which specific assay the researchers concerned have proposed using to determine whether embryos subjected to gene editing might be either able or unable to implant in a womb; and if not, why not.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, permits the editing of genes in human embryos for research purposes only. It is illegal under the Act to place such embryos in a woman. There are no plans to change this.

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that its licence committee considered an application to use CRISPR-Cas9 (a genome editing technique) in one of their licensed research projects on 14 January 2016. The outcome of the committee’s consideration and a description of the research will be made public as soon as the minutes have been agreed and the applicant has been informed.

  • Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department collects on sales of highly caffeinated drinks to children.

    Jane Ellison

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has advised us that the safety of caffeine has been reviewed by the European Food Safety Authority, which specified a level of caffeine for children and adolescents which does not raise safety concerns. For a 10-year-old child this is equivalent to the amount of caffeine in one 250 ml can of high caffeine drink.

    The FSA does not collect data on the sale of high caffeine drinks and has no plans to restrict the sale of these drinks to children. However, the FSA advises that children and other people who are sensitive to caffeine should consume caffeine only in moderation. High caffeine drinks must be labelled with an advisory statement that they are not recommended for children.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government the possibility of changing building regulations in flood-prone areas to enable buildings to be constructed in such a way as to mitigate some of the effects of flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    The current building regulations already enable the incorporation of flood resilience measures into building work. Under building regulations Approved Document C (site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture) the use of flood resilience measures, such as adequate sub-soil drainage, sewer non-return valves, anti-flooding devices and water resistant construction material is encouraged. We continue to promote better resilience and remain very open to hearing of any innovations in this field.

  • 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 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department plans to allocate to the College of Policing for (a) digital media investigators and (b) the mainstreaming cyber-crime training in each of the next three years.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office provides the College of Policing with annual funding through grant in aid, with some specific funding uplifts to develop certain programmes.

    Development of the Digital Media Investigator (DMI) training, run by the College of Policing, will be funded by the Home Office for 2016/17 at a cost of £635,448. After this financial year the College will be expected to meet the costs of continuing the training though their grant in aid or a re-charge to forces.

    The National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) provides investment to increase the cyber security of the UK. The NCSP funded the development of the second phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course which was launched on 30 September 2015 by the College of Policing. This is a modular course consisting of a series of self-teach and interactive modules accessible to all police officers and staff, which gives an introduction to how to recognise and investigate cyber crimes. The course was developed so that once it was rolled out, there would be no ongoing cost to the College into 2016/17 and future years. It has now been licensed to forces to deliver themselves.

    Since the introduction of the College of Policing’s Cyber Crime Training course for all police forces, which was rolled out nationally in February 2014 4,394 officers successfully completed it. The College of Policing reported on 30 March 2016, that 1,014 police officers had received DMI training up to that point.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the implications for his policies are of the position of the US State Department on Ethiopia’s use of anti-terror legislation to detain politicians and protestors, set out in its press release of 29 April 2016; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    The UK Government is aware of both the European parliament’s Motion for a Resolution on the situation in Ethiopia and the UN special rapporteurs’ report on Ethiopia’s alleged use of force against protestors in Oromia. We remain deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and have repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the ongoing situation in that region. Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for International Development, raised our concerns with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 21 January, as did I, with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Dr Tedros, at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 27 January. Our Ambassador also raised the issue with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 26 April. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Ethiopian government, including on the use of force.

    We will continue to work with our partners, including the US, in urging the Ethiopian government to use restraint in their handling of the protests in Oromia.

  • Lord Boateng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Boateng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what level of resourcing from the international community needs to be applied to meet the Global Fund’s target of saving an additional eight million people at risk of dying from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

    Baroness Verma

    The investment case for the Fifth Replenishment of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) projects that a successful replenishment of $13bn will enable the Global Fund to save 8 million lives and avert up to 300 million new infections over the period 2017-2019.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities have agreed to accept Syrian refugees.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    More than 170 local authorities have provided firm offers of places and many more have pledged to resettle refugees under this scheme. We continue to work with them all in order to meet our commitment. Progress on resettlement is reported in quarterly immigration statistics, including the local authorities participating in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and how many refugees have been resettled in each area.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the property and mortgage industries and (b) local authorities on the effect of Japanese knotweed on property values.

    Rory Stewart

    As it is not for the Government to intervene in the lending decisions of mortgage lenders or the type or degree of risks they are prepared to take, there have been no recent discussions between the Department and the property and mortgage industries.

    There have been no discussions with local authorities on the effect of Japanese knotweed on property values. However, Cornwall Council has produced information on Japanese knotweed to help mortgage lenders make loan decisions when a property may have a Japanese knotweed problem.

    Nevertheless, the Department takes the problems caused by Japanese Knotweed seriously and for a number of years has provided funding for local action groups to reduce or eradicate Japanese knotweed, and for research into a suitable biocontrol agent.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department’s policy remit on off-street parking includes parking for healthcare facilities, railway stations and local authority housing estates.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Responsibility for off-street parking transferred to DCLG in March of 2015, including Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and those aspects of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Traffic Management Act 2004 which relate to off-street parking.

    The Department of Health have responsibly for setting the policy contect by which hopsital car parks operate and the Department of Transport retain an interest in railway parking. My Department has reponsibility for Local Authority housing estates.

  • Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish the Childhood Obesity Strategy.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy shortly.