Category: Speeches

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any new proposals to reduce significantly the number of road casualties.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Britain has some of the world’s lowest road casualty rates. But, in line with our Manifesto commitment, we are determined to do more to make our roads even safer. The British Road Safety Statement, published on 21 December 2015, sets out the Government’s priorities for action, including practical measures to help vulnerable groups stay safe on our roads, extra money to crackdown on drug drivers and tougher penalties for people using mobile phones while driving.

    Copies of the British Road Safety Statement are available in the Libraries of the House.

  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, with reference to the statement in their pamphlet Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK that the UK has secured a special status in a reformed EU”

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The settlement reached in February, as set out in the 22 February 2016 White Paper “The Best of Both Worlds: the United Kingdom’s Special Status in a Reformed European Union,” secures the UK’s objectives for reform. The settlement covers four key areas: economic governance; competitiveness; sovereignty; and welfare and free movement. It gives the UK a special status within the EU, as well as setting the EU as a whole on a path of long-term reform.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what analysis she plans to undertake of the data gathered from border exit checks; and whether those checks will provide accurate data on emigration disaggregated by route.

    James Brokenshire

    Exit checks were introduced in April 2015. They will, over a period of time, provide us with a range of insights into the behaviours of migrants and how they comply with restrictions placed upon their length of stay in the UK.

    Data collected from exit checks is a record of cross border movement. It may in the future help inform but will not in itself answer questions on emigration.

    The Home Office has announced that it is considering the use of exit checks data for statistical reporting and intends to publish an initial evaluation of the use of exit checks for this purpose. The evaluation will be a technical assessment of the analysis carried out thus far and of the further analysis necessary to better understand short, medium, and long term opportunities.

    The initial evaluation of the use of exit checks will be published on 25 August to coincide with the next quarterly immigration statistics release.

    Publication of the initial evaluation on the use of exit checks will be on the GOV.UK website

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on potential links between rates of stillbirth and exposure to high levels of air pollution.

    George Freeman

    The Department has not conducted or commissioned specific research on this topic.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times his Department has used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms since his Department was established; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.

    Greg Hands

    The information will take time to collate. I will place this in the libraries of the House as soon as the information is available.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Prison building revolution announced by Chancellor and Justice Secretary, published on 9 November 2015, what plans he has for relocating prison populations in prisons in central London that are planned for closure.

    Andrew Selous

    On 9 November the Chancellor and Secretary of State announced their intention to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated, thereby enabling them to turn away from a life of crime. This will involve building nine new prisons and closing old and inefficient prisons which do not support the aims of a redesigned estate. No decisions have yet been made on where new prisons will be built.

    We are currently considering which of our old and inefficient prisons will close. We will engage with stakeholders during the process of sale including valuation experts and potential developers in order to maximise the value achieved.

    Any relocation of prisoners will be done with careful planning. Where staff are affected they will be managed through the process of change using processes deployed during previous closures.

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he and his ministerial colleagues have had with the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the creation of a statutory duty on firefighters in England and Wales to respond to flooding.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

    Both the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 detail the roles and powers of fire and rescue authorities, in respect of both emergency response and rescue in a wide range of situations, including from flooding. Fire and rescue authorities are expected to undertake integrated risk management planning, dovetailed with the community risk register overseen by the Local Resilience Forum (a multi-agency grouping of which fire and rescue authorities are key members). Integrated Risk Management Plans identify the full range of risks that an authority’s service is expected to respond to and are subject to consultation. The National Fire Framework published in July 2012 and given statutory effect in August 2012 makes this clear and I believe that fire and rescue authorities are fully competent to deliver on this.

    The Government has had no recent representations on this arrangement and in light of how well fire services have responded to recent flooding suggests there is no need for review.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the increase in sexual offences on Teesside.

    Karen Bradley

    Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes and the Government has made protecting women and girls from violence and supporting victims and survivors of sexual violence a key priority. We want victims to have the confidence to report these crimes, knowing they will get the support they need and that everything will be done to bring offenders to justice.

    These are under-reported crimes, and the Office for National Statistics report that recent increases in police recorded crime are likely due to improved recording by the police and an increase in the willingness of victims to come forward and report to the police. The number of prosecutions and convictions for sexual offences are at their highest ever levels.

    The Government continues to support improvements to the criminal justice system’s response to victims of sexual violence. We have supported the publication of data on rape for every police force in the country as a basis for improving recording and investigations of rape and ensure that guidance on investigating and prosecuting rape is implemented in every police force area. The Rape Action Plan, led by the Crown Prosecution Service and the police, is helping to ensure that every report of rape is treated seriously and every victim is given the help they deserve.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    As a legally compliant employer we do provide healthcare benefits where we have a legal obligation to do so imposed by The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). This means that where staff transfer with their work into the Civil Service then we are legally obliged to match their terms and conditions and these might include travel allowances and subsidised health insurance

    No staff in the Department currently receive a home to work travel allowance, a car allowance or subsidised health insurance, which compares to the position before 2010 where fewer than 5 staff received subsidised health insurance.

    The number of staff in the Department for Transport’s non-departmental public bodies who currently receive a home to work travel allowance, a car allowance or subsidised health insurance is shown in the table below:

    Home to work travel allowance

    Car allowance

    Subsidised health insurance

    Number of staff

    less than 5

    less than 5

    12

    Where there are less than 5 staff receiving these allowances we are not releasing the number to ensure they cannot be identified.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the safety of aircraft flying over heavily populated areas of West London, in the light of the laser attacks on aircraft pilots and the possible expansion of Heathrow Airport.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The UK aviation industry has an excellent safety record and safety is monitored continuously by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as safety regulator. The safety of the public is the first consideration in any decision-making process.

    The CAA has conducted extensive assessments of the risks to aircraft of laser attacks. The CAA Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MORs) provide statistical data on the frequency and geographical location of attacks on UK aircraft. In addition, the data provides details of the rate of reported attacks in relation to the number of aircraft movements at all UK airports including London Heathrow.

    The assessments are supplemented with further enhanced statistical analysis of the MORs by Imperial College London.

    The Government is actively working to draw together a plan to tackle the issues around the sale and misuse of lasers, and to ensure the safety of consumers and aircraft.