Category: Speeches

  • Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle smuggling and trafficking at British ports.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force works closely with other law enforcement agencies, including the National Crime Agency and Police, to combat suspected human trafficking and people smuggling and to target and disrupt those who would attempt to smuggle prohibited and restricted goods such as firearms and illegal drugs in to the UK.

  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide additional funding for battery and fuel cell electric vehicles research and development.

    Mr John Hayes

    The government allocated more than £600 million to support the uptake, development and manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles in the 2015 Spending Review. Our comprehensive package of support includes funding provision for research and development projects, and the scope of a new competition launched on 5 September 2016 includes battery and fuel cells.

    Further details are available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-competition-low-emission-vehicle-systems-idp13.

    The UK already provides one the most comprehensive support packages for ultra low emission vehicles anywhere in the world. We shall keep the funding requirements for the OLEV program under constant review.

    “

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the presence and scope of existing commercial assets when considering new public funding for research and development and innovation.

    Joseph Johnson

    All potential major capital projects are assessed against the additional value they add, including an evaluation of whether the research or innovation activity is already being undertaken elsewhere. The majority of decisions about which research investments to undertake are taken directly by Research Councils, based on rigorous criteria including peer review.

    In respect of the establishment of Innovate UK’s 11 Catapult Centres, all candidate areas have undergone a robust evaluation by Innovate UK’s Senior Innovation Leads who have relevant domain expertise. In addition, facilitated workshops, with leading figures in the relevant industries – including business, academic and representatives from the public sector, are held to ascertain whether Innovate UK’s analysis of the market opportunities in this area is correct. Each candidate area is evaluated according to an agreed process to assess the size of the global market opportunity and the demand for a Catapult to help business build on their capabilities to commercialise innovation and realise this potential in the UK.

    In setting up new Catapult centres Innovate UK take into account the option of working within or alongside existing physical centres in the UK either to avoid duplication or to achieve quicker delivery.

    At a local level, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are responsible for identifying, assessing and approving Local Growth Funded projects. They do this in accordance with their strategic economic objectives and Local Assurance Frameworks which have to comply with the LEP National Assurance Framework. The National Assurance Framework covers value for money and states that methodology should be proportionate to the funding allocated and in line with established Government guidance including the HM Treasury Green Book.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what preparatory work his Department has undertaken in advance of sending letters to tax credit recipients on changes to tax credits.

    Damian Hinds

    HM Revenue and Customs will be ready to notify tax credit claimants of their 2016/17 tax credit award in good time.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reform judicial review.

    Dominic Raab

    The government has always been clear that judicial review, when used properly, is a crucial component of the rule of law.

    But too often the system is open to abuse. That is why we have taken forward reform, such as the creation of the Planning Court, which we have implemented with the assistance of the judiciary, and the changes in the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, which we are implementing. The reforms will speed up the process for people who have arguable grounds and a genuine case to put.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to proposed changes in personal injury law and procedure announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment he has made of the level of potential reduction in recoupment of social security benefits paid to personal injury victims following such changes; and if he will make a statement.

    Justin Tomlinson

    DWP officials have been working with the Ministry of Justice to assess the potential impact of the proposed changes to personal injury legislation on the level of recoupment of social security benefits paid by the compensator to DWP. The early analysis indicates that the vast majority of personal injury victims who claim compensation for whiplash do not claim DWP benefits which are recoverable under the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997. Therefore, if this trend continues, the potential changes to the personal injury legislation will have a minimal impact on the level of recoupment of social security benefits. DWP officials will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice as the proposed changes to personal injury legislation are developed and progressed.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 24 July 2015 (HL1524), how many modifications can be made to an existing research licence previously approved by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority before it can no longer be legitimately considered as essentially the same research project as that for which a licence was originally sought; and what sort of modifications can be made to an existing research licence before it is no longer considered to have exactly the same aims as those in the initial licence application that were originally deemed to fulfil the purposes specified in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 as amended.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that there are no fixed number of modifications that can be made to an existing research licence project. Such questions are considered on a case by case basis with reference to the statutory tests.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will promote their Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative at the Commission on the Status of Women meeting in March.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    At the current time, four UK Ministers (from the Department for International Development, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education) are planning to attend the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and promote UK objectives, including the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI). Tackling violence against women and girls is a key UK objective. We will be actively participating in the Review Theme and a significant number of side events focused on tackling all forms of violence against women and girls including sexual violence. We will use the opportunity of these different discussions to promote PSVI.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires.

    The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

    The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the evidence that ISIS have sold Yazidi women to Saudi Arabians, and what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia about recovering them.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We maintain a close dialogue with Saudi Arabia on Counter Terrorism issues. We have seen no evidence of Saudi Foreign Terrorist Fighters trafficking Daesh sex slaves to Saudi Arabia.