Category: Speeches

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of in-work recipients of housing benefits in the last five years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Under this Government the number of out-of-work Housing Benefit claimants has fallen and one key reason for this is that they have made the positive move into work. In this way it is unsurprising, therefore, that the number of in-work recipients of Housing Benefit should rise.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 17 December (HL4250), whether they now have any additional information about the number of women responsible for one or more young children who are currently serving prison sentences in England and Wales.

    Lord Faulks

    Whilst the specific information requested is not held, the Ministry of Justice recently published statistics on child dependents of female offenders, which can be found at gov.uk on the Statistics at MOJ pages under the topic Ad-hoc justice statistics. A copy of the report is attached here.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the objectives for NHS England’s National Clinical Directors post April 2016 will be agreed.

    George Freeman

    From 1 April 2016, objectives for the National Clinical Directors will be set according to the priority areas and major programmes, as set out in the Mandate and planning guidance. They will relate, where appropriate, to established programmes of service improvement.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of his Department’s budget was spent on Christmas parties hosted by British embassies and consulates in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of such planned spending in 2015-16.

    Mr David Lidington

    Information on the expenditure incurred for individual events is not kept centrally, so this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 27310, on how many occasions other than cases in which an objection was submitted the Schools Adjudicator has judged a school’s admission arrangements not to be compliant with the Schools Adjudicator’s Code in the last two years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Schools Adjudicator has the power, under Section 88H of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, to consider objections to a school’s determined admission arrangements. She also has the power, under Section 88I of the Act, to consider whether admission arrangements that come to her attention by other means comply with the School Admissions Code.

    Data on the number of cases considered by the Adjudicator and their outcome can be found on page 20 of the Chief Schools Adjudicator’s annual report for 2014/15. The report can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/osa-annual-report.

    The Adjudicator does not publish data broken down in the way requested.

    “

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government has contributed to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ appeal for the Burundi humanitarian response in 2016; what steps she is taking to encourage international partners to contribute to that fund; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK is very concerned about the ongoing political and human rights crisis in Burundi, and the flow of refugees to neighbouring countries. DFID has contributed £21.15 million in Tanzania and Rwanda towards the UNHCR regional refugee response plan since April 2015 to support shelter, food, healthcare and livelihoods assistance for Burundian refugees. The 2016 Burundi Regional Refugee Response Plan was published in January and appeals for $313.8 million to support 330,000 refugees in Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda. DFID is currently reviewing the 2016 allocation to this appeal and intends to release further funds in coming months. DFID is also supporting refugees in the DRC and Uganda through existing programmes and the provision of technical advice. DFID has deployed a humanitarian adviser to the region in support of the response and to monitor funding provided so far.

    DFID officials across the region are working closely with national and international counterparts – including UNHCR, the EU, World Bank, NGOs and other donors – to ensure that humanitarian needs in Burundi and the region are met. We are encouraging developmental donors in Burundi to re-programme funds quickly to maintain the basic functions of the state – such as health centres – and working with the international financial institutions (IFIs) to respond to the growing needs and develop programmes that support the resilience of existing systems.

    The Humanitarian Response Plan for Burundi was published in March 2016 and appeals for $62.3 million to support 1.1 million people. DFID is currently reviewing a potential contribution to the appeal, and is undertaking contingency planning should the situation deteriorate.

    DFID continues to monitor the situation closely with the FCO, and liaises regularly with interested and influential parties such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to pressure the international community to act and focus attention on the crisis.

  • Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of his Department’s properties and in which locations are classified as void.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The number and locations of properties classified as void as of 24 May 2016 are shown in the table below:

    County

    Voids

    ABERDEENSHIRE

    5

    ANGUS

    20

    ARGYLL AND BUTE

    237

    AVON

    42

    AYRSHIRE

    21

    BEDFORDSHIRE

    194

    BERKS

    276

    BUCKS

    183

    CAITHNESS

    1

    CAMBS

    373

    CHESHIRE

    50

    CLWYD

    1

    CORNWALL

    46

    *COUNTY ANTRIM

    647

    *COUNTY DOWN

    397

    COUNTY DURHAM

    16

    CUMBRIA

    14

    DEVON

    202

    DORSET

    151

    DUMBARTON

    4

    DUMFRIES

    3

    DURHAM

    8

    DYFED

    45

    EAST SUSSEX

    2

    EAST YORKSHIRE

    4

    EDINBURGH

    169

    ESSEX

    155

    FIFE

    221

    GLOUCESTERSHIRE

    88

    GWENT

    45

    GWYNEDD

    53

    **HANTS

    1074

    HEREFORDSHIRE

    8

    HERTS

    176

    INVERNESS-SHIRE

    58

    ISLE OF BENBECULA

    3

    KENT

    483

    LANCASHIRE

    86

    LEICESTERSHIRE

    162

    LINCOLNSHIRE

    294

    LONDON

    86

    MIDDLESEX

    163

    MIDLOTHIAN

    43

    MORAY

    121

    NORFOLK

    209

    NORTH LANARKSHIRE

    4

    NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE

    3

    NORTH YORKS

    522

    NORTHUMBERLAND

    67

    NOTTINGHAM

    58

    ORKNEY ISLANDS

    1

    OXON

    361

    OXON

    1

    PEMBROKE

    4

    PERTH

    3

    POWYS

    64

    RENFREWSHIRE

    26

    ROSS AND CROMARTY

    1

    SHETLAND ISLANDS

    1

    SHROPSHIRE

    223

    SOMERSET

    90

    SOUTH GLAMORGAN

    111

    SOUTH YORKS

    2

    ST ANDREWS

    3

    STAFFORDSHIRE

    83

    STIRLING

    1

    SUFFOLK

    281

    SURREY

    222

    SWINDON, WILTS

    19

    TYNE AND WEAR

    12

    WARWICKSHIRE

    69

    WEST MIDLANDS

    9

    WEST SUSSEX

    14

    WEST YORKS

    2

    ***WILTS

    1294

    YORKSHIRE

    29

    (blank)

    Total Voids

    10219

    Of these properties 4623 were vacant for more than 12 months.

    *The majority of void properties in Northern Ireland are awaiting demolition while 59 have been gifted to the NI Executive.

    **Void properties in Hants have been retained due to short term Ministry of Defence requirements and plans have been made to release many of these for disposal.

    ***In the Wiltshire region a number of properties remain void to accommodate Army personnel returning to the area from Germany as a result of the Army Basing Programme.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he has received from non-governmental organisations on the reported use of arms sold by Britain to Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

    Mark Garnier

    There have been no representations from non-governmental organisations on the reported use of arms sold by Britain to Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much Welsh steel will be used in the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

    Alun Cairns

    The UK Government does not hold the specific figures requested. The decision to proceed with the first new nuclear power station for a generation will provide a huge boost to the regional economy including South Wales. Construction at the Hinkley site will provide 26,000 jobs and apprenticeships, and 64% of the project’s costs will be spent in the UK.

    Welsh companies are already taking advantage of the opportunities this project presents, for example, Express Reinforcements in South Wales was given preferred bidder status for a £100m contract to supply 200,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel for the project.

    I would encourage businesses in Wales to register with EDF in order to take advantage of upcoming supply chain opportunities.

  • Baroness Hamwee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hamwee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the joint central and local government working group referred to in paragraph 3.3 of their response to the consultation on reforming support for failed asylum seekers and other illegal migrants has met, and whether they will publish the minutes of that group’s meetings.

    Lord Bates

    The working group has so far met on two occasions, on 10 September and 6 October. Formal minutes of these meetings were not taken. It is anticipated that a further meeting of the working group will be held shortly.