Category: Speeches

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those in the reserves of the armed forces have opportunities to use and develop linguistic skills.

    Earl Howe

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the valuable skill sets of our reservists, all of whom have full access to the MOD’s language schemes. We work to ensure that those reservists who already have a second language are able to use and develop that language. Any reservists employed in roles with direct requirements for language capability receive the same training as regular personnel.

    The MOD maintains a pool of linguists through the Education and Training Services (Reserves), which provides additional language capability to exercises, operations and Defence Engagement tasks. A new training programme, which makes use of courses and bespoke training provided by the Defence Centre for Languages and Culture, has recently been introduced to develop the skills of linguists in the reserves.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Education and (b) Northern Ireland Executive on increasing the involvement of children and young people of school age in commemorative events for the First World War.

    David Evennett

    My Department works in close partnership with the Department for Education on the First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours and Legacy 110 programmes for secondary schools, which we encourage schools to sign up to throughout the centenary period. To get even more young people involved in commemorations, we will soon launch the Great War Debate series for schools. We plan to hold one of these debates at the Clandeboye Estate, a First World War army training site, in November.

    Children will take part in all our national commemorative events to mark the Battle of Jutland in Orkney on 31 May, and the Battle of the Somme at Thiepval and Manchester on 1 July. As one example, over 1300 school children are due to visit the Experience Field at Heaton Park in Manchester on 1 July, as part of the Somme commemorations.

    Commemorative events in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland WWI Centenary Committee. The Chair of the Committee attends Government Advisory Group meetings where all aspects of the centenary programmes are discussed.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-06-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in relation to certificates of sponsorship used to support immigrants’ entry clearance or extension of stay applications, (1) how many sponsoring employers are currently registered, (2) where those employers are listed, (3) how many certificates of sponsorship are granted to each sponsoring employer, (4) whether such figures are available on application, and (5) what was the total number of those sponsored in the last two years.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There are currently 30,181 sponsoring employers on the register of licensed sponsors.

    The register is published on the “www.gov.uk” website and can be found on the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers

    The number of certificates granted to sponsoring employers differ depending on their recruitment requirements. Sponsoring employers may submit a request at the point their licence application is submitted. A sponsor can submit a further request to increase their allocation once licensed.

    A sponsor is not granted a pre determined allocation of Certificates of sponsorship (CoS) at licensing stage.

    The total number of CoS assigned to individuals in 2014 is 133,820.The total number of CoS assigned to individuals in 2015 is 131,617

  • Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many additional employees he plans to hire from outside the Civil Service for the purposes of managing the process of leaving the EU; in what roles those employees will be deployed; over what timescale those employees will be under contract; and what the cost to the public purse such employment will involve.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    None.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Review of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of human trafficking, published in November 2014, whether her Department plans to increase the exit times from support for people going through the NRM for victims of slavery and human trafficking to (a) 14 days for reasonable grounds decision and (b) 28 days for a conclusive grounds decision.

    Sarah Newton

    We are committed to doing all we can to identify and support UK-based victims of modern slavery. Following a review of the NRM, and in consultation with law enforcement and NGOs, we are piloting ways of improving the efficacy and efficiency of existing arrangements in two regions. The pilot will be evaluated and the findings will inform any reforms that we decide to roll out. Putting the NRM on a statutory footing would require secondary legislation and we will consider whether there is a need do so at the end of the pilot.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of Monitor on spending on mental health services during 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    In total, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure in excess of their increase in allocation for the year. NHS England is tracking actual expenditure against those plans and it will report to the Secretary of State at the end of the year on whether those plans have been met.

    Departmental Ministers meet the Chief Executives of NHS England and Monitor regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including funding for mental health services.

    NHS England was formally established on 1 April 2013.Expenditure by NHS England on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2013/14 was £1.780 billion and £1.795 billion in 2014/15. NHS England’s planned expenditure on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2015/16 is £1.859 billion.

    NHS England has published CCG level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15. Estimates for 2015/16 are not available.

  • Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how he plans for the two per cent council tax precept to fund care services to be monitored to ensure funds raised are used for disabled people, older people, and carers seeking social care and support from local authorities.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Details of how the two per cent social care precept will operate will be confirmed alongside the provisional local government finance settlement in due course.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of homes affected by flooding in winter 2015-16 that do not have insurance.

    Rory Stewart

    We have made no assessment on the number of uninsured homes affected by flooding this winter.

    To help those affected by the current flooding, including the uninsured, the Government has announced nearly £200m to support recovery efforts. This includes funding to make properties more resilient to future flooding. In addition, we are taking action to protect people at the highest flood risk by making sure that everyone can access affordable flood insurance, regardless of where they live. Flood Re has now been set-up and it is expected to begin in April.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve access to mental health services for care leavers aged 18 to 25 years old.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is committed to making the full £1.4 billion investment available over the course of this Parliament to improve mental health services for children and young people.

    In line with guidance published by NHS England, all clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have produced Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children and young people’s mental health and these have all now been assured and funding allocated for implementation. These plans required all key partners to agree locally how best to meet the mental health needs of children and young people in their local populations and should cover the whole spectrum of need, which includes improving access to mental health services for vulnerable groups such as children in care and care leavers so that they can receive high quality mental health care when they need it. It is for local partners to decide how much of the funding which will be allocated to CCGs to improve local services throughout the five years will be spent specifically on children in care and other vulnerable groups. However, this will be based on an assessment of local needs and set out in the LTPs.

    The Government’s overall strategy to improve outcomes for care leavers is set out in the Care Leaver Strategy: A cross-departmental strategy for young people leaving care report (October 2013), and a one-year-on document, Care Leaver Strategy: One year on progress update, (October 2014) that reported on progress made and set out how the Government intends to further improve support for care leavers. The Government intends to publish its refreshed Care Leaver Strategy later this year.

    The Local Government Association has produced a spreadsheet giving details of every LTP can be found using the following webpage address:

    www.local.gov.uk/camhs

    “

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Justin Tomlinson

    DWP recognises the importance of good health and wellbeing and the positive impact this has on employee morale, engagement and performance.

    We have in place a comprehensive range of policies and measures to encourage and help employees.

    Particular interventions include:

    An Occupational Health service which supports employees during periods of ill health and absence, enabling them to remain in work/return to work more quickly.

    An Employee Assistance Programme which offers immediate support for employees on a wide range of issues.

    We also provide employees with access to a range of advice on our dedicated Wellbeing site.

    And we have a longstanding, active network of 2,000 volunteer Wellbeing Champions, who arrange and deliver a large number of local events.