Category: Speeches

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the status in the UK of European Court of Justice case law on EU legal instruments which remain in force in the UK after it leaves the EU.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 on the day we leave the EU. This ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK.

    The Government will set out the content of the Bill and its implications in due course.

  • Bill Esterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress he has made on publishing a statutory code for pub companies; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government published the first part of a two-part consultation on the statutory Pubs Code on 29 October 2015 at the GOV.UK website.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Boeing P8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft will be capable of being refuelled by RAF Voyagers aircraft.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The P-8A uses the ‘boom and receptacle’ method of in-flight refuelling. As such, the P-8A will not be able to refuel from RAF Voyager Aircraft, which use a different configuration for air-to-air refuelling.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the National Living Wage on the provision of adult social care.

    Alistair Burt

    The new National Living Wage (NLW) will ensure that care workers are better paid for the vital work they do. The Government engaged with the social care sector, including care providers and the costs of the NLW were considered as part of the Spending Review. The overall costs to local authorities of providing social care were also considered.

    We recognise that demand for social care is growing and that councils will need to increase the price they pay for care to cover costs such as the NLW.

    The Spending Review settlement provides £3.5 billion of new support for social care by 2019/20. Councils will be able to introduce a new Social Care Precept, which will allow an increase of 2% above the existing threshold to be added to council tax, raising up to £2 billion that has to be spent exclusively on adult social care. By 2019/20 an extra £1.5 billion will have been made available to be included in the Better Care Fund. Taken together, the Social Care Precept and the Better Care Fund will mean local government has access to funding to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the £35,000 minimum income threshold on the numbers of migrant workers in the adult social care workforce who will be eligible to stay in the UK from April 2016 onwards.

    Alistair Burt

    Skills for Care, the partner in the sector skills council for social care, in England, collects information on the adult social care workforce in England.

    Skills for Care estimates show that between 1,500 and 2,500 migrant workers in adult social care regulated professional roles may not have an income sufficient for settlement. However, the vast majority of these roles are registered nurses who are exempt from the requirement to earn £35,000 whilst the role is or has been on the shortage occupation list.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the balances held by all English local authorities.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The most recent local authority data held by the Department for Communities and Local Government is the estimated position for financial year 2015-16. Local authorities have estimated that their reserve balances as at 31 March 2016 will be as follows:

    Ringfenced school reserves £2,213.16 million

    Ringfenced public health reserves £138.83 million

    Non ringfenced other earmarked reserves £13,396.76 million

    Non ringfenced unallocated reserves £3,736.79 million

    Full details can be found on the department’s webpage https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2015-to-2016-individual-local-authority-data

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 30132, on repatriation: EEA Nationals, how many of those people who were served with administrative removal papers in 2014 are still in the UK; and how many of those people who were forcibly removed have since returned to the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not hold data on the number of people who are still in the UK having been served administrative removal papers in 2014. After an EEA national has been served with administrative removal papers, they have 30 days to leave the country. This period is set out in the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.

    All those served with administrative removal papers are given a 12-month re-entry ban. Currently, this re-entry ban can only be lifted if the EEA national can provide evidence that their re-admission will not lead to a further abuse of free movement rights and/or that they will be immediately exercising Treaty Rights upon their return. Of the 1,019 individuals who were forcibly removed in 2014, 163 sought re-entry and only 19 were granted re-admission to the UK.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has received a reply to his letter of 4 April 2016 to the European Commission Vice President for the Digital Single Market on online platforms.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    A reply to our letter was not expected. Instead the letter on online platforms was designed to influence the Commission’s thinking ahead of the release of the package before the summer. Ministerial colleagues have engaged closely with EU Commissioners as well as a number of Member States about online platforms policy and will continue to do so.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many pilot areas his Department plans for the HPV vaccination for men who have sex with men; where his Department plans for those pilots to take place; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    It is estimated that up to 40,000 men who have sex with men (MSM) who attend genitourinary medicine (GUM) and HIV clinics will be offered the human papillomavirus vaccination.

    There has been a positive response from those invited to participate, and confidence that the pilot will include a good geographical spread of providers, including those with the highest populations of MSM, as well as in rural areas with smaller MSM populations. Public Health England is currently completing the selection of the GUM and HIV clinics that will take part in the pilot.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to impose conditions on the airport which is awarded an additional runway when making a decision on the expansion of airport capacity.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government remains fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects it has set out, including delivering runway capacity on the timetable set out by Sir Howard Davies.

    The Government believes it is essential that expansion via any of the shortlisted schemes is accompanied by a strong package of measures to mitigate the impacts on communities and the environment, and will set out any requirements in this area on a preferred scheme promoter in due course.