Category: Speeches

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect civilians in Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has been at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the conflict in Syria. To date, we have pledged over £1.1 billion aid in response to the crisis in Syria and the region, making us the second biggest bilateral donor after the United States. We are exploring with the UN and other major donors how best to ensure that the momentum on fund-raising is maintained over the longer term, including how to respond to the 2016 Appeals, once these have been issued. The UK has provided £6.7m for the Syrian civil defence teams (known as ‘White Helmets’) to carry out search and rescue, fire fighting and First Aid in besieged areas. They have saved over 14,840 lives since March 2013. We are also working with other international donors to establish and build up the Free Syrian Police, a moderate police force in opposition-controlled areas in Syria. We are also taking action internationally. The UK co-sponsored and lobbied hard for UN Security Council Resolutions 2165 and 2191 which enable the UN to deliver aid across borders, without the consent of the regime, to assist those in the hardest to reach areas. By 31 August 2015, the UN and its partners had delivered 175 convoys of aid cross-border.

  • Lord Harrison – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Harrison – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are changing the availability of podiatric services to diabetics, and if so, based on what criteria.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Podiatry services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups working with local partners and based on the need of the local population, resources available and evidence based practice. These commissioning decisions are informed by the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the local Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Clinical networks provide opportunity to adopt and disseminate best practice.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to allow greater flexibility for the UK to develop trade agreements outside Europe as part of the renegotiation of the UK relationship with the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future.My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has set out the four objectives at the heart of our renegotiation: economic governance, competitiveness, sovereignty and migration/welfare.The Government is focused on success: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of local authorities that bid for pothole funding in 2014-15 were successful.

    Andrew Jones

    In April 2014 English local highway authorities were invited to bid for a share of a £168 million Pothole Fund for 2014/15 to repair local roads in England as announced in the March 2014 Budget.

    An announcement was made in June 2014. All local highway authorities received a share of the funding as set out in the table available at the following weblink:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321677/pothole-funding-2014.pdf

    “

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to his officials in each of the last five years; and what the total of such bonuses was to the public purse.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Prime Minister’s office and No.10 are integral parts of the Cabinet Office.

    Non-pensionable bonuses are only awarded to staff in recognition of sustained high performance. This allows the Cabinet Office to reward high performance and create an organisation that delivers on its challenging objectives. The information requested since 2011-12 for all Cabinet Office staff including that of Ministerial offices has been published on the Cabinet Office website.

    Information on non-consolidated bonuses for 2011-12 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62006/ncprp-data-collection.csv/preview

    Information on non-consolidated bonuses for 2012-13 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/83748/CO_NCPRP.csv/preview

    Information on non-consolidated bonuses for 2013-14 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/414856/Cabinet_Office_NCPRP_2014.csv/preview

    The most up to date information for 2014-15 is due to be published in due course.

    “

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether all documents released by his Department as a result of Freedom of Information requests are placed on his Department’s website.

    Harriett Baldwin

    A proportion of our responses are published on GOV.UK, which you can find at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=hm-treasury&publication_type=foi-releases.

    “

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Natura 2000 sites have been identified as being within 10 miles of the proposed Phase 2 route of High Speed Two.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The following Natura 2000 sites within 10 miles of the proposed Phase 2 Route (Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)) have been identified:

    1 SPA site

    17 SAC sites

    SPA Name

    Peak District Moors

    SAC Name

    Birklands & Bilhaugh

    Cannock Chase

    Cannock Extension Canal

    Denby Grange Colliery Ponds

    Ensor’s Pool

    Kirk Deighton

    Manchester Mosses

    Mottey Meadows

    Oak Mere

    Pasturefields Salt Marsh

    Peak District Dales

    River Mease

    Rixton Clay Pits

    Rochdale Canal

    Skipwith Common

    South Pennine Moors

    West Midlands Mosses

  • Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many new businesses have been set up in Manchester, Withington constituency since May 2010.

    Anna Soubry

    There is no single data source that comprehensively measures all business start-ups within the UK.

    However, ONS has published statistics showing that there were 2,210 businesses newly registered for VAT or PAYE in the Manchester, Withington constituency between 2010 and 2014. Some newly registered businesses will have been trading for a number of years and other active businesses will not be covered because they are operating below the VAT and PAYE registration thresholds.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when negotiations with EU member states on the future of EU citizens in the UK will begin.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    When the Prime Minister decides to trigger the formal process for the UK’s departure from the EU, the issue of the future status of EU nationals in the UK will form part of those negotiations.

  • Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Parish on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities have breached legal air quality limits in the last year.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    Defra uses both monitoring and modelling to assess air quality in the UK. Currently, 156 monitoring stations in the national network report near-real-time data on five key pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Information about these sites and modelled data is available on Defra’s UK-Air website.

    Latest compliance data show that the UK is meeting the EU limit values for all pollutants covered by the European air quality Directives other than those for NO2.

    That is why in December last year, the Government published the national air quality plan for reducing NO2 concentrations through a new programme of Clean Air Zones in five cities in England, including Leeds, Nottingham and Southampton, as well as Birmingham and Derby, along with the Ultra-Low Emission Zone in London. The plan combines targeted local and national measures and continued investment in clean technologies.

    The councils which were observed to have exceedances of the annual mean NO2 limit value in 2015 are in the attached table.