Category: Speeches

  • David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the disparity between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in the price farmers are able to achieve when selling livestock.

    George Eustice

    We are part of a single market across Europe and as such we should not dictate what a fair price is for farmers and consumers. We support the farming industry by reducing red tape, funding research to foster innovation, extending the tax averaging period for self-employed farmers and working to open up new export markets.

    In recognition of the difficulties faced by Northern Irish dairy farmers, the UK government pressed for additional money to be paid to Northern Irish dairy producers as part of the support payments. 71% of Northern Irish dairy farmers have now received their payment.

  • Lord Ouseley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Ouseley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 December (HL4113), whether instances of bullying and abuse of children and young people via social media networks are reported, recorded and included in those exclusions statistics.

    Earl of Courtown

    Incidents of bullying and abuse of children and young people via social media by pupils which resulted in exclusions are reported to the Department. The Department publishes these incidents in its annual exclusions statistics. The latest statistics were published on 30 July 2015 and can be found online at GOV.UK.

    The school census guidance provided to schools and local authorities for the 2015/16 academic year explicitly includes cyber bullying in the bullying exclusion category for the first time.

    Prior to this, the guidance for the bullying category only specifically referenced verbal, physical and homophobic bullying.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that Intra Company Transfer Tier 2 visas cannot be used to replace a UK worker who has been made redundant.

    James Brokenshire

    Tier 2, the skilled worker route, is designed to fill roles which cannot be filled by a suitable resident worker. The immigration rules, and UK employment law, do not allow workers to be made redundant and directly replaced.

    It is a decision for businesses whether to outsource certain functions. We are, however, mindful of concerns that use of the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) category for third party contracting may undercut or displace resident workers.

    That is why, in June last year, we commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to examine the ICT category as part of its wider review on Tier 2. The MAC published its report on 19 January and it can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-mac-review-tier-2-migration

    Chapter 6 of the report sets out the MAC’s findings on the ICT category, including its use for third party contracting, the salaries paid to IT workers and the impacts on the resident labour market. The MAC found that salaries for these transferees were clustered around the 25th percentile of earnings for resident workers in IT occupations (the current minimum permitted under the immigration rules).

    The Government is currently considering the MAC’s findings carefully and will announce any changes in due course.

  • Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role they envisage for British-produced and British-manufactured steel in the Northern Powerhouse.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The UK steel industry has a key role in generating future economic growth across the country, including the Northern Powerhouse region. The steel sector is a critical element of the supply chain for high technology industries like aerospace, automotive and construction. These all require high value, continually improving steel products in order to remain competitive.

    The Government wants to drive up the number of public procurement contracts won by UK steel manufacturers, and have updated procurement rules accordingly. There are more major projects in the pipeline offering opportunities, for example HS2 and Network Rail’s £38bn five-year investment and replacement programme. We have mapped rough estimates of steel that could be needed for major projects including the above: we have shared this with industry and will continue updating them. Steps have also been agreed with industry on how to make better use of the pipelines as they are updated on a six monthly basis.

  • Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wendy Morton on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of Overseas Development Assistance funding the Government plans will be spent by (a) her Department and (b) other government departments in the current Parliament; and what measures are in place to monitor how that funding is spent.

    Justine Greening

    Between 2015/16 and 2019/20, DFID will spend 72% of UK ODA, other departments and funds 22%, and the remaining 6% will be non-departmental spend such as debt relief and gift aid. Departments are responsible for ensuring their ODA budget offers high value for money. DFID will provide advice and support where requested.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of businesses which have a mental health workplace policy.

    Alistair Burt

    The information is not collected centrally.

    Public Health England endorses the Workplace Wellbeing Charter National Award for England which is a scheme that recognises the commitment of organisations to promoting wellbeing in the workplace. Over 1,000 organisations in England hold the award.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the life chances strategy will be published.

    Priti Patel

    My Department’s forthcoming Life Chances Strategy will be published later this year.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls have been made by employers to the Employer Checking Service in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Employer Checking Service deals with checks submitted by employers via the web-based form.

    In the calendar year of 2011 the Employer Checking Service processed 33,769 checks.

    In the calendar year of 2012 the Employer Checking Service processed 52,868 checks.

    In the calendar year of 2013 the Employer Checking Service processed 59,452 checks.

    In the calendar year of 2014 the Employer Checking Service processed 67,609 checks.

    In the calendar year of 2015 the Employer Checking Service processed 69,606 checks.

    From 1st January 2016 to 9th October 2016 the Employer Checking Service processed 33,095.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits to developing countries of the implementation of public registers of beneficial ownership by UK Overseas Territories with financial centres.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK continues to lead the way on beneficial ownership disclosure and to encourage others to do the same. We are having discussions at both Ministerial and official level with the Overseas Territories to emphasise the importance of this agenda. Any system should meet the following criteria: UK and domestic law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; these competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to promote Small Business Saturday.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government is a strong supporter of Small Business Saturday, which was this year held on Saturday December 5. As part of a programme of activity to get behind the event and encourage communities to support their local businesses at a key time in the commercial calendar, the Government worked with Small Business Saturday organisers to hold a flagship market with a diverse range of small companies at HM Treasury. All 21 Government departments were also briefed to raise awareness of the campaign, with many using social media channels to highlight the initiative. In addition, 50 Ministers visited a local business in their area on the day, endorsing the campaign through their own social media channels. We also distributed message packs online to 588 stakeholders to encourage them to reach out to their own memberships and support the day. We are now planning to work with organisers to support Small Business Saturday 2016.