Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Northover – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Northover – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of global demographic change in which almost 24 per cent of women globally are aged 50 and over, what steps they are taking to ensure that sustainable development goal indicators on violence against women specifically include women over the age of 49, and to ensure that those women are not excluded from reporting mechanisms in the future.

    Baroness Verma

    Supporting robust indicators for Sustainable Development Goal 5.2 on violence against women and girls is critical. DFID is working with international partners including the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data to support the development of strong indicators and the development of rigorous, available national data that will enable measurement of progress to end violence against women and girls of all ages.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on how many occasions her Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials in each of the last two years.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    There have been no document or security related breaches notified to the Northern Ireland Office by external consultants or other third parties in the last two years.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to use the UN Security Council Resolutions on Syria to organise air-drops of food by the World Food Program to besieged areas, and to provide air cover for such drops with the US air force.

    Baroness Verma

    At the "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference on 4 February, more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide education to an additional 1 million children. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total more than £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

    The most effective way to get food and other essential aid to people who are starving and in desperate need is for Assad and all parties to the conflict to adhere to international law. Across Syria, Assad and other parties to the conflict are wilfully impeding humanitarian access on a day-by-day basis. It is an outrageous, unacceptable and illegal mechanism to use starvation as a weapon of war. That is why the UK will continue to call on the Assad regime and all parties to the conflict to allow immediate and unfettered access to all areas of Syria.

    Right now, aid delivered by road, by UN agencies and by others who know the situation on the ground and who can ensure it gets to those who need it most is the best way of getting help through. But we always consider the most effective way to get assistance to the people in need, and we do not rule anything out.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations were made by the Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise at the Pre Competitiveness Council on 29 February 2016, on the EC Circular Economy package.

    Anna Soubry

    My noble Friend Baroness Neville-Rolfe represented the UK at the meeting of the Competitiveness Council on 29th February 2016.

    In the discussions on the Circular Economy Package, the UK supported the ambition behind the Circular Economy Action Plan and stressed that action should be prioritised to ensure ambitious use of voluntary approaches and measures to improve the coherence between existing EU legislation and initiatives.

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moynihan on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the publication in SLEEP on 1 February of the epidemiological study into the association between the 2009 pandemic H1N1 vaccine and narcolepsy in adults (Pub Med identifier 26856903), whether the Department for Work and Pensions will now reverse its decisions to refuse applications for compensation for adults under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 on the grounds of a lack of evidence of causation, and if not, on what basis they continue to dispute causation for adults.

    Baroness Altmann

    All claims under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme are decided on the basis of each claimant’s individual circumstances, and in light of the latest scientific evidence on the possible effects of vaccines. The Department monitors research in this area. We are aware of the latest evidence and are studying it carefully. Where new evidence comes to light which suggests that an earlier decision was incorrect, the claimant may ask the Department to look at its decision again within the statutory time limits.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect that the proposals in the Education excellence everywhere White Paper, Cm 9230, will have on (a) Church of England and (b) Roman Catholic schools.

    Edward Timpson

    We value the important and longstanding role played by the Church of England and Catholic Church in our education system. Around 1,200 Church schools have already become academies. The White Paper is clear that Church schools’ role and their religious character will be protected as more become academies. We continue to work closely with the National Society and Catholic Education Service and recently published Memoranda of Understanding to provide a strong basis for our ongoing relationship with Church schools and their dioceses.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the rights of UK citizens living and working elsewhere in the EU to continue to benefit from freedom of movement in the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and I have been holding, and are continuing to hold, discussions with our EU counterparts since the referendum. As the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in his statement to the House on 27 June, there will be no immediate changes in the circumstances of UK citizens living in the EU. Future arrangements will be something for the next Prime Minister and their Cabinet to decide in the context of negotiations with EU Partners.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of agreements that will need to be renegotiated if the UK is no longer a member of the single market; and which trade agreements those agreements are.

    Greg Hands

    A full list of all EU trade agreements can be found on the European Commission’s website (http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/agreements/index_en.htm).

    We recognise the need for a smooth transition as the UK leaves the EU which minimises disruption to our trading relationships. We will engage fully with all stakeholders over the coming weeks and months as we prepare for the negotiation with the EU and beyond.

    “

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Russian government on full implementation of its obligations under the Minsk agreements.

    Mr David Lidington

    In all ministerial and senior official contacts with Russia, the UK Government continues to emphasise the importance of full implementation of the Minsk Agreements. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge ( Mr Hammond) raised the issue of Ukraine when he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the margins of the Iran nuclear negotiations in Vienna in July 2015, and again in the margins of the Syria talks in Vienna in October 2015. I raised it when I met the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko in June 2015.

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the (1) Mersey Waters, (2) Liverpool City, and (3) Sci-Tech Daresbury, Enterprise Zones in particular regarding new job creation and investment.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    DCLG publishes national and regional performance data collected from Enterprise Zones on a quarterly basis. Data is not published on individual zones. This data includes jobs attracted as well as investment and the number of business established.

    Based on the most recent quarterly monitoring returns, Enterprise Zones in the North, which include Mersey Waters and Sci-Tech Daresbury, have attracted 5,889 jobs including construction jobs, 150 new businesses and secured around £1,120 million of private sector investment. This data is self-reported but all efforts have been made to ensure its accuracy.

    Data for Liverpool City is not included, as it does not offer business rates discounts as part of the official Enterprise Zone programme.