Category: Speeches

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to address stress-related sickness absence in the police force.

    Mike Penning

    It is for chief officers, supported by the College of Policing, to ensure good management systems are in place to support officers and staff in their work and manage welfare needs. We know policing, by its nature, can be a stressful and demanding job. This is why the Government’s Blue Light Services programme is currently providing £10m to help emergency service personnel and volunteers, including officers suffering from stress related illness and mental health. In addition, the College of Policing will provide direct support to police forces to improve the health and wellbeing of officers and staff.

  • Mrs Sheryll Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mrs Sheryll Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Sheryll Murray on 2015-12-14.

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

    George Eustice

    The Government recognises the value that high-quality, locally produced food has to consumers, communities and the economy. The Great British Food Campaign will celebrate the achievements of British food and drink.

    2016 will be the Year of British Food. It will celebrate the quality and creativity of Britain’s producers, manufacturers, retailers and restaurateurs allowing everyone to benefit from the UK’s culinary heritage.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what role the UK Commission for Employment and Skills will have in 2016 in monitoring or contributing to the programmes to increase the number of apprenticeships and traineeships set out in his Department’s document, English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published in December 2015.

    Nick Boles

    UKCES’s main support for the Department in respect of English Apprenticeships in 2016 is its ongoing work to map the new apprenticeship standards against frameworks and Standard Occupational Classification codes to help identify the remaining gaps in standards coverage.

    As announced in the 2015 Spending Review, in order to prioritise funding to allow the core adult skills participation budgets to be protected in cash terms, Whitehall Departments will be withdrawing their funding for UKCES during 2016-17. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is working with UKCES and other stakeholders to manage the implications of this decision.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of Syrian nationals resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme since March 2014 were housed under the COMPASS accommodation contract agreements.

    Richard Harrington

    Syrian nationals resettled in the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme are not housed under the COMPASS accommodation contract agreements. These agreements are only for asylum seekers.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding his Department allocated in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2015-16 to reduce the number of people who were classified as not in education, employment or training.

    Nick Boles

    Further education funding is demand led. We do not allocate funding to specific groups but our entitlements are aimed at supporting disadvantaged groups, including the unemployed.

    168,900 benefit claimants aged 19-24 started further education training in 2013/14, compared to 132,000 in 2011/12.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 20 January 2016 to Questions 22933, 22934 and 22935, how many of the 15 Commonwealth realms recognise UK honours as a substantive rather than honorary award; when the policy or convention in the UK of not recognising all Commonwealth realm knighthoods substantively was established; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    Whether a Commonwealth realm recognises UK honours as substantive is a matter for that realm. The protocol of not recognising the titles associated with Commonwealth realm knighthoods awarded to British nationals follows the convention established in 1813, whereby no permission is given for the use of any title associated with a foreign award given to a British national.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 34525, if he will publish the (a) outcomes of his Department’s regular discussions with local enterprise partnerships on their progress with local growth programmes and (b) annual performance review with the Local Enterprise Partnership.

    James Wharton

    We are clear in the Local Enterprise Partnership Assurance Framework that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate transparently, giving people confidence that decisions made are proper, based on evidence, and capable of being independently scrutinised. How each Local Enterprise Partnership will achieve this is set out in their local assurance framework. In accordance with this approach, Government does not publish outcomes of regular discussions with Local Enterprise Partnerships or of annual reviews.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral contribution on 4 July 2016, Official Report, column 626, on what date he (a) decided not to introduce an emergency budget and (b) asked the OBR to assess the effect of the EU referendum result on the economy.

    Harriett Baldwin

    As the Chancellor has said, the referendum result will have an impact on the economy and public finances – and there will need to be action to address that. Given the delay in triggering Article 50 and the Prime Minister’s decision to hand over to a successor, it is sensible that decisions on what that action should consist of should wait until the Office of Budget Responsibility has made an economic forecast in the Autumn.

    The Chancellor will commission the OBR to provide an Autumn forecast in the usual way.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the development of smaller reactors and the use of fracking for gas in order to strengthen the UK’s self-sufficiency in energy.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government is committed to ensuring the UK has a secure and resilient energy system while meeting our climate change obligations and keeping bills as low as possible. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and shale gas have the potential to play a part in achieving this.

    The Government has committed to investing at least £250 million over the next five years in nuclear research and development, which will include support for SMRs. In March 2016, the Government launched the first phase of a competition to identify the best value SMR for the UK, as well as allocating up to £30m over the next 5 years for an SMR-enabling advanced manufacturing programme to develop skills capacity.

    The Government supports the exploration of our shale gas resources in a safe and sustainable way. The shale gas resources beneath Britain have the potential to bolster our energy security and lead to jobs and economic growth. UK geology is promising but we make no assumptions about production levels. We need exploration to determine the potential.

    The Government has been clear that shale development must be safe and environmentally sound.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of people in prison (a) as a result of and (b) with a gambling addiction.

    Ben Gummer

    This information is not available centrally.