Category: Speeches

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by (a) his Department and (b) the Burmese government to stop the use of child soldiers in that country.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We welcomed the commitment the Burmese government made to ending the recruitment of child soldiers in signing the UN’s Action Plan in 2012. Since then Burma has made some progress, including the release of over 600 child soldiers and, in September, signing the Optional Protocol to the Convention on Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. However, we are clear that more still needs to be done. Access to military units and non-state armed groups continues to be restricted, release of child soldiers has been limited, and while recruitment of children has slowed, it has not ceased entirely. We are also aware of reports that children continue to be arrested for “desertion”. I raised this issue with Minister of the President’s Office, U Aung Min, when I visited Burma in July and we will continue to do so with the Burmese authorities, including to press for swift implementation of the Optional Protocol.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many legal challenges have been made against her Department related to renewable energy policy in the last year.

    Andrea Leadsom

    There have been no such legal challenges in the last year.

  • Lord Colwyn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Colwyn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to extending the Nursing Agencies’ VAT concession to all healthcare workers in the UK.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government has no plans to extend the Nursing Agencies VAT concession to all healthcare workers in the UK.

  • Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that bus operators are incentivised to invest in new vehicles when franchising is an option open to local authorities after plans for the devolution of that policy are implemented.

    Andrew Jones

    Local transport authority with access to bus franchising powers will wish to ensure that local operators are aware of their intentions, so that investment decisions can be taken and services continue to be provided in the best interests of passengers

    Any authority that chooses to implement franchising will have the ability to specify its requirements of operators as part of any franchise contract. This could include requirements relating to the standards of vehicles to be used by operators.

  • Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has allocated to improve pavements and crossings for pedestrians in London in the last two years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Transport for London is responsible for pavements and pedestrian crossings on those major roads in London (or “red routes”) which form part of the Transport for London Road Network. The Department for Transport provides both a general (resource) and an investment (capital) grant to the Greater London Authority (GLA) for Transport for London (TfL) each year. This money is not ring-fenced and it is a matter for the Mayor to determine how it is spent. The great majority of pavements and crossings in London are the responsibility of individual London boroughs, which are funded primarily by the Department for Communities and Local Government, although TfL also provide some funding to boroughs for local road improvements. The Department for Transport has not provided any additional funding to individual boroughs for this purpose in the last two years.

  • Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK visitor visas were issued in China in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    The available information relates to Chinese nationals and is provided in the table below.

    UK Entry clearance visitor visas granted: Chinese nationals
    (including dependants)

    2012: 210,344
    2013: 291,826
    2014: 327,349
    2015: 397,764

    Notes

    The figures above represent entry clearance visitor visas issued worldwide to Chinese nationals, not visas issued in China.

    Source: Table vi_06_q_o, Immigration Statistics, October to December 2015

    The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visitor visas granted are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, October-December 2015’, Visas volume 3 table vi_06_q_o available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015/list-of-tables#visas

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to place unaccompanied refugee children from European countries with foster families or in local authority care homes.

    James Brokenshire

    As announced on 4 May we will be consulting closely with local authorities to find suitable places within the UK for these children.

    Local authorities will be required to provide the right support, care and accommodation to meet the child’s specific needs. Statutory agencies at a local level are best placed to understand and meet the needs of all children and will continue to make decisions about the right accommodation and support services for those who are looked after.

    Unaccompanied children will be eligible for foster care if it is considered that that this placement type will provide appropriate support and best meet their individual needs.

    The UK has well-established and effective safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of children who come to the UK.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities will be affected by the sale of higher value council homes under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    The requirement to make a payment in respect of higher value vacant housing and to consider selling such housing applies to local authorities with a Housing Revenue Account. The scheme will therefore affect any such authorities who hold housing which falls within the definition of "higher value". That definition will be set out in regulations which are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. In addition Government has the power to exclude types of housing from the policy through regulations.

  • Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Elmore on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times he has visited South Wales in an official capacity since his appointment; and what future plans he has to visit South Wales.

    Simon Kirby

    The Chancellor will visit constituencies all across the UK in due course. All his visits are recorded in the transparency data published on gov.uk.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information is recorded for primary and secondary breast cancer by the Cancer Registry on (a) diagnosis dates, (b) stage at diagnosis, (c) age and (d) gender of person at diagnosis.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer; however data on the number of people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is not currently available. Pilot work undertaken in April 2012 in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis to the National Cancer Registration Service (NCRS). In order to drive up data completeness for the submissions to the NCRS, monthly reports on data quality and completeness of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset are made available to all acute providers.

    Since the completion of the pilot project the NCRS in PHE has been working with all acute National Health Service providers in England to improve the reporting of breast cancer recurrence. The collection of this particular item of data remains challenging because relapsed patients may represent in many different ways and through many referral routes.

    Further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.