Category: Speeches

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of British nationals claiming pensions who live outside the UK and in the European Economic Area; and if he will make a statement.

    Justin Tomlinson

    No information is available concerning the number of British individuals who are living outside the UK and inside/outside the European Economic Area who are in receipt of a UK State Pension. This is because the UK State Pension is a contributory based pension, where nationality or citizenship do not form part of the eligibility criteria.

    Information is available on the number of UK State pension recipients who live outside the UK by country; this can be found on the link below to the Department’s Tabulation tool.

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/cccountry/ccsex/a_carate_r_cccountry_c_ccsex_nov15.html

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Sudan on bringing peace to South Sudan.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Whilst I have not yet personally discussed South Sudan directly with representatives of the Government of Sudan, the UK regularly engages with the Sudanese over this pressing issue. We do this both bilaterally and in the margins of international meetings on South Sudan’s peace process, such as July’s Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission Partners Group meeting, which Sudan hosted and co-chaired with China.

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will be part of the UK-China economic and financial dialogue meeting in November 2016; and whether the illegal dumping of steel by China will form part of the discussions at that meeting.

    Greg Hands

    My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, alongside other Government Ministers, is attending the UK-China economic and financial dialogue meeting in November 2016, at which a range of issues will be discussed.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government has taken to (a) improve destination data for school leavers and (b) develop online portals to help advise school leavers of all post-16 learning options.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Information on the destinations of Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 students was published on 20 October 2015. These experimental statistics are available online.[1]

    The statistics are published at national, local, constituency, and institution level.Since they were first released in 2012, we have added data about employment destinations; improved the coverage by including independent schools, special schools, pupil referral units and other alternative provision; and have improved the timeliness of the data. We have also included the Key Stage 4 education destinations in performance tables.

    We are looking to improve the quality of the destinations data by linking it to employment and benefits data. We plan to publish all Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 destinations as headline performance measures in the 2016 performance tables.

    In our guidance on post-16 funding, we set out the expectation that providers of post-16 education and training will add information on their Government funded courses to a national database. The aim is that portal providers will be able to access this information and present it in a user-friendly way, to help young people make informed decisions about their options. Providers of post-16 education and training are currently uploading course information to this database.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations

    “

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether hospitals will incur financial penalties if they breach performance standards as a result of the suspended industrial action on 1 December 2015.

    Ben Gummer

    In the normal course of events, a hospital which misses a key national standard (such as the 18-week referral to treatment waiting time standard or the six-week diagnostic wait standard) will incur a mandatory financial sanction applied by its commissioners, as set out in the NHS Standard Contract.

    However, the Contract also includes a ‘Force Majeure’ clause (General Condition 28) which would, in principle, apply to planned industrial action. Under this clause, a provider is able to claim relief from its liabilities under the Contract, to the extent that an event outside of its reasonable control has directly caused it to fail to meet its contractual obligations.

    Therefore, if a hospital were to breach an operational standard for the month, but could demonstrate to the commissioner that:

    * this was solely and directly due to the action it had reasonably taken in anticipation of the industrial action proceeding; and

    * it had done everything reasonable to mitigate the impact of its actions on achievement of the standard in that month

    then the commissioner could set aside the sanction for that month.

    If the breach of the standard was only partly due to the impact of the planned industrial action, only the relevant proportion of the sanction would be set aside.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether there will be discussion of long-term support for the countries bordering Syria at the Syria Donors Conference 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We and our co-hosts (Germany, Norway, Kuwait and the United Nations) are inviting leaders from countries around the world, NGOs and civil society to come together next month to raise significant new funding to meet the needs of all those affected by the Syria crisis within the country itself and by supporting neighbouring countries. The conference will identify long term funding solutions for Syria and the region, covering 2016 and subsequent years. It will address the longer term needs of all those affected by the crisis, inside and outside Syria, by identifying ways to create jobs and provide education, offering all those that have been forced to flee their homes greater hope for the future. The conference will also pave the way for a broader discussion about how the international community responds to protracted crises, in advance of the UK, UN and World Bank High-Level Forum on Forced Displacement in Protracted Crises later in 2016 and the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of city regions to commissioning and delivering healthcare.

    George Freeman

    Devolution of health and social care responsibilities has the potential to further progress local integration going beyond statutory health and care services – leading to better patient experience, improved outcomes and more efficient use of local resource.

    Devolution creates opportunity for strategic, innovative commissioning, underpinned by a stronger model of local shared accountability.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what legal advice the Government has sought on the potential effect of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on the NHS; what the cost was to the public purse of provision of such advice; and if he will publish the legal advice on this matter his Department has received.

    Anna Soubry

    Legal advice the Government has received in relation to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is subject to legal professional privilege and as such is not disclosable. This is a well-established principle which there is compelling public interest in upholding.

    It is essential for the effective conduct of the Government’s business that ministers are able to seek candid advice from their lawyers and to discuss and debate possible policy options fully. They are less likely to hold full and frank discussions with their legal advisers if there is an expectation that the advice will subsequently be disclosable.

    We do not maintain records of the total cost of the legal advice.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic benefits of extending Crossrail to (a) Dartford and (b) Ebbsfleet stations.

    Claire Perry

    In 2014 the Department commissioned a value for money review of the benefits offered by an extension of Crossrail services to Ebbsfleet (via Dartford). This report recommended further analysis before an informed decision could be made. Subsequently Network Rail have launched a Kent Route Study which will assess the need for, and feasibility of, rail network enhancements across Kent. This will include any possible extension of Crossrail services which would need to be underpinned by further economic analysis conducted by Transport for London.

  • David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment of airstrikes in Yemen since 2012.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has carried out no impact assessments of airstrikes in Yemen since 2012. Impact assessments are required for the implementation of domestic UK policy, not for military action abroad either by the UK or other countries.

    During the current Saudi-led Coalition operation in Yemen the MOD has monitored incidents of alleged International Humanitarian Law violations using available information. We consider a range of information from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations.