Category: Speeches

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people he estimates will (a) relocate to London and (b) leave his Department following the announcement to close his Department’s Sheffield office.

    Joseph Johnson

    The intention to close the BIS Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place is subject to consultation with the Departmental Trade Unions. These are taking place now and, therefore, it is not possible to estimate how many staff will relocate to London or leave the Department.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is for a reassessment of an award for disability living allowance to be conducted before a person is migrated to the personal independence payment.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Information on the average actual clearance times, at a number of different points throughout the claiming process, for Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reassessment claims has been published and is available from the data tables accompanying the latest PIP statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics.

    “

  • 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 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on improving women’s mental health since the publication in 2010 of Working towards women’s wellbeing: unfinished business.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department’s mental health policy teams provide strategic policy advice on mental health for people of all ages and genders. When issues are specific to a gender these are addressed within the policy development.

    The Coalition Government published a national mental health strategy No Health Without Mental Health in 2012 which addressed mental health issues for the whole population, and introduced the concept of parity of esteem for mental health. This Government continues to hold NHS England to account through the NHS Mandate for the achievement of measurable progress towards the parity of esteem for mental health.

    The Government announced almost £1 billion of additional investment for mental health in January 2016 including £290 million of new investment over the next five years to provide mental healthcare for new mothers. The Mental Health Taskforce Report published in February 2016 set out a recommendation for NHS England to ensure that by 2020/21 at least 30,000 more women each year access evidence-based specialist mental health care during the perinatal period. The recommendation stated this should include access to psychological therapies and the right range of specialist community or inpatient care so that comprehensive, high-quality services are in place across England.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to improve trade data for the next calendar quarter.

    Lord Price

    Increasing exports is a key factor in the Government’s long-term economic plan. Government departments are working together to support UK businesses looking to take advantage of overseas opportunities and to create a strong business environment that allows them to flourish both at home and overseas.

    A key part of this work is to identify export opportunities, many of which are based around the needs of high-growth and emerging markets. We are making those opportunities available to UK businesses through the Exporting is GREAT campaign which has elicited over 25,000 responses to the 7,000 export opportunities published online since it launched in November 2015.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the levels of performance of (a) good, (b) satisfactory and (c) inadequate schools after becoming academies as a result of the introduction of new criteria for academisation in 2010.

    Edward Timpson

    We are committed to the vision of a dynamic high-performing school system where every school is an academy.

    The department routinely monitors the performance of all academies and intervenes swiftly if there are signs of underperformance.

    The department published analysis in 2014 which showed that schools rated good or satisfactory were more likely to improve their rating after converting to academy status, this can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/performance-of-converter-academies-in-2012-to-2013

    Ofsted data from December 2015 have shown that 88% of previously inadequate schools improved their rating when inspected for the first time as a sponsored academy.

    “

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the reasons for unaccompanied children from Albania seeking to purchase tickets to fly to the UK in order to claim asylum.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Albanians require a visa to travel to the UK and are not allowed to board the plane without one. We do not issue visas for the purpose of claiming asylum in the UK. Unaccompanied children who nonetheless manage to reach the UK, including those from Albania, claim asylum for a variety of reasons. Each case is considered on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations and protection is granted where it is needed.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure women’s participation in future peace negotiations in Syria by supporting women’s groups in Syria.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The second meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Vienna on 14 November agreed an outline timetable for Syrian peace negotiations, leading to transitional governance, a new constitution and elections within eighteen months. The International Syria Support Group will now meet on a regular basis, in parallel with Syrian-led discussions facilitated by UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan De Mistura, to take forward this process.

    Ministers and senior officials have made regular representations to the UN Special Envoy and other UN officials to impress upon them the importance of the inclusion of Syrian women’s groups in the peace process. We continue to encourage the moderate Syrian opposition to be gender-inclusive and were pleased that a senior female activist accompanied the Syrian National Coalition President, Khaled Khoja, on his official visit to the UK earlier this month. Our programmes of support to grass roots peace-building initiatives and civil society groups inside Syria support this objective, and are designed to ensure that Syrian women’s voices are heard and that they are represented in political negotiations.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the need for special education facilities to educate young people coming to the UK as a result of the conflict in Syria; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    The Government is wholly committed to ensuring that Syrian refugees who are resettled in the UK receive appropriate support and have a positive experience while they remain in the UK. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is conducting detailed assessments of the needs of all Syrian refugees who are to be re-settled in the UK, including any special educational facilities required by children. These are forwarded to host local authorities prior to the families’ arrival in the UK and will help to ensure that their needs are matched to the availability of local facilities. Based on the experience of the first 1000 arrivals, the government is in the process of assessing the longer term and wider requirements for specialist provision arising from the Prime Minister’s pledge to re-settle 20,000 refugees during the life-time of this Parliament.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much income his Department has received from the sale of surplus equipment in each of the last six years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Ministry of Defence equipment disposal receipts for the last six full financial years are provided in the table below:

    Financial Year

    Net Receipts £ million

    2009-10

    28.6

    2010-11

    46.2

    2011-12

    229.5

    2012-13

    39.8

    2013-14

    44.9

    2014-15

    32.0
  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to encourage UK companies to improve (a) working conditions, (b) safety standards and (c) pay in clothes factories in Bangladesh in their supply chains.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK, through DFID, is encouraging UK companies to improve working conditions, safety standards and pay in the garment sector in Bangladesh in a number of ways. The UK has used every opportunity to call for companies to take responsibility for the working conditions. This has included a Westminster Hall debate, repeat Ministerial visits to Bangladesh, and various meetings with retailers and buyers.

    The UK Government has also encouraged all UK Brands to sign up to the Bangladesh Safety Accord, an independent and legally-binding agreement between trade unions and private companies that was established in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster to improve safety and health standards in the Bangladeshi Ready-Made Garment Industry. A total of 30 UK companies have signed the Accord.

    The UK is also supporting the Trade in Global Value Chains Initiative (TGVCI) which supports UK companies to invest more in their supply chains and improve working conditions in the factories in which they are working. DFID also supports the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) which is a leading alliance of British companies, trade unions and non-governmental organisations working together to improve the lives of workers around the world.