Category: Speeches

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether consideration is being given to prohibiting the use of tasers in detained settings for people with mental health conditions.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The deployment of police officers to mental health settings and the tactics used are an operational matter for the police.

    Any use of force by police officers must be appropriate, proportionate, necessary and conducted as safely as is possible. If police officers need to use force, it is right that they are expected to account for their actions.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on how many bids were received by the Official Receiver to buy or operate any element of the former SSI site in Redcar prior to the Receiver’s decision on hard closure.

    Anna Soubry

    My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State does not hold information regarding the number of bids received by the Official Receiver in respect to the former SSI site. The Official Receiver holds this information in his statutory role as an independent liquidator appointed by the Court. The Official Receiver received a number of expressions of interest in various assets of the company but none were translated into viable offers for the coke ovens or blast furnace ahead of his decisions to close them on 12 October 2015. The Official Receiver can be contacted at the address below: Ken Beasley, Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 2nd Floor, 3 Piccadilly Place, London Road, Manchester, M1 3BN.

  • Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has estimated the cost to the public purse of making payments to support military veterans who retired with fewer than 22 years’ service before 5 April 1975.

    Mark Lancaster

    No estimate has been made of the cost of resolving legacy pension issues although it would likely cost the tax-payer billions of pounds; the issue of pre-1975 pensions does not just affect the Armed Forces, but is common to all other public service schemes in existence prior to the Social Security Act 1973.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider using airdrops to carry food to relieve the hunger of Syrian communities.

    Earl of Courtown

    The UK has pledged over £1.1 billion in response to the crisis in Syria and the region, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. By the end of June 2015, UK support inside Syria and in the surrounding region had, for example, delivered almost 20 million food rations that feed one person for a month; over 2.5 million medical consultations; and relief items for 4.6 million people. We have provided ongoing support to the UN and international NGOs (INGOs) since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria.

    The UK will consider any option compliant with international law that might save lives in Syria. We rule nothing out. However, the use of air drops is high risk and should only be considered as a last resort when all other means have failed.

    Attempting air drops without the consent of the parties to the conflict may risk undermining ongoing negotiations on humanitarian access to the 4.5 million people in hard to reach areas across Syria. Even in uncontested space air drops poise significant challenges. There is a requirement to identify clear drop zones, ensure safe access for the intended recipients and to co-ordinate with authorities on the ground. Instead, the UN, the Red Cross Movement and NGO partners are best placed to deliver aid to vulnerable people in besieged and hard to reach areas.

    The desperate situation in besieged and hard to reach areas shows why we need the international community to come together at the London Conference for Syria and the Region on 4 February to support immediate needs and identify longer-term solutions to address the needs of those affected by the crisis.

  • 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 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has regulations in place to limit top-sliced management fees for European Social Fund funding by lead contractors to sub-contractors.

    Anna Soubry

    Management fees are a matter between lead contractors and sub-contractors. For European Social Fund (ESF) contracts procured by the Skills Funding Agency, the ESF and 2015/2016 match funding rules state that “You must publish your supply-chain fees and charges policy on your website before entering into any subcontracting agreements for the 2015 to 2016 funding year.” This must include the typical percentage range of fees a contractor retains to manage subcontractors, and how this range is calculated.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of National Infrastructure Pipeline spending has been allocated to projects in (a) Stoke-on-Trent local authority, (b) Cheshire East local authority, (c) the West Midlands region, (d) the South East region and (e) London.

    Greg Hands

    The information requested can be obtained from “National Infrastructure Pipeline”, published in July 2015 and is available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-july-2015

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on strengthening and extending the remit of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.

    Guto Bebb

    The Children’s Commissioner for Wales plays an essential role as part of wider efforts to protect children.

    I have already spoken to the Commissioner by phone and look forward to further engagement in the future to discuss any concerns she may have about the extent of her remit.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Since the election of President Sirisena in January 2015 the Sri Lankan government has taken a number of positive steps to improve the human rights situation in the country. We welcomed the historic co-sponsorship by Sri Lanka of a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council on 1 October 2015 committing it to reconciliation, accountability and the protection of human rights. We have been encouraged by the early progress Sri Lanka has made in delivering on these commitments. This includes starting public consultations on reconciliation mechanisms and constitutional reform, the return of some military occupied land and the release on bail of some long-term Tamil detainees held under anti-terrorism legislation.

    While there has been progress, we recognise that there is still much to be done and Sri Lanka remains listed as a Human Rights Priority Country in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s latest Human Rights and Democracy Report published in April. We remain committed to supporting and encouraging the Sri Lankan government to deliver fully against its commitments.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and his Ministerial team are working closely with their Scottish Government counterparts. The Secretary of State will be visiting Scotland shortly, and also attending the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of maximum workplace temperature regulations in protecting workers’ health and well-being.

    Penny Mordaunt

    A review of maximum workplace temperatures took place in 2010 and concluded that the legislation and supporting guidance is sufficient.

    The existing law on workplace temperature, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, places a legal obligation on employers to provide a ‘reasonable’ temperature in the workplace. A meaningful figure is not set out in regulations due to the factors, other than air temperature, which determine thermal comfort (for example, the radiant temperature, humidity and air velocity). These factors become more significant and the interplay between them more complex as the temperature rises.

    Detailed guidance on workplace temperature and thermal comfort is available on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website (http://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/). This includes how to undertake a thermal comfort assessment and measures that can be taken to improve thermal comfort.

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