Category: Speeches

Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of women who are entitled to a state pension based on married women’s reduced rate national insurance contributions.

Justin Tomlinson

The information is not available. Married women’s reduced-rate National Insurance contributions do not count for the purposes of entitlement to state pension. Instead, women who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 and who had paid reduced-rate National Insurance contributions may be entitled to a state pension based on the National Insurance contributions of their spouse.

01/01/2023
Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) introducing a Standardised Means Test for Residence Order Payments and (b) making the use of such a test a statutory requirement for local authorities.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities have the legal responsibility for deciding what financial support should be provided to families supporting children under a Child Arrangements Order (previously known as a residence order). We do not propose to introduce a national standardised means test for Child Arrangements Order allowances.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is her policy that local stakeholders will be able to express views on proposals to require a school to convert to academy status.

Edward Timpson

Since launching our proposals in the White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere, the Government has listened to feedback from all stakeholders with an interest in the proposals, and will continue to do so.

Under the Academies Act 2010, governing bodies of schools who wish to convert to academy status must consult formally about their plans with anyone who has an interest in the school. This will include staff members and parents, but should also involve pupils and the wider local community. Where a school is failing or otherwise eligible for intervention there is no requirement to consult, but the proposed sponsor of the new academy is under a duty to communicate their plans to improve the school to parents.

01/01/2023
Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has received a copy of the report by the Westminster Commission on Autism, entitled A Spectrum of Obstacles, published in July 2016; and what plans he has to implement that report’s recommendations.

David Mowat

The Department welcomes the Westminster Commission report as a valuable addition to the autism debate. Departmental Officials met with the co-ordinator of the report in July to discuss the report and work is underway to consider the report’s recommendations.

01/01/2023
Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions the Government has had with the European Investment Bank on continued investment in the UK following the UK leaving the EU; and how many loans were issued by the European Investment Bank to projects in each region of the UK in the 2015-16 fiscal year.

Mr David Gauke

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the UK Governor of the European Investment Bank and continues to fulfil his governance duties. The Chancellor continues to meet his European counterparts on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues.

The EIB publish all loans made to UK borrowers as well as details on future projects yet to be financed. In 2015 the EIB lent over €7.77bn to UK projects. The link below provides full details on EIB lending to the UK.

http://www.eib.org/projects/regions/european-union/united-kingdom/index.htm

01/01/2023
Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the creation of 28 states in South Sudan on the prospects for peace in that region.

Mr Philip Hammond

With our Troika partners, the United States and Norway, we issued a statement on 6th October expressing serious concern at President Kiir’s announcement of 2nd October concerning the creation of 28 states in South Sudan, as it contradicts the Government of South Sudan’s stated commitment to implement the peace agreement. The full text of this statement can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/south-sudan-troika-statement

01/01/2023

Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time was for a Disclosure and Barring Service check at (a) standard, (b) enhanced and (c) enhanced with list checks level to be conducted in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is funded through fees charged for disclosure certificates and from subscriptions to the DBS disclosure update service. DBS operates on a full cost recovery basis. There has not been a fee increase in four years and volunteers receive free checks.

The table below sets out the average time taken to process all three types of checks.

Timeframe	Standard Disclosures	Enhanced Disclosures	Enhanced Disclosures with List Checks
01st Nov 2010 to 31st Oct 2011	5.21	16.84	16.81
01st Nov 2011 to 31st Oct 2012	5.34	11.24	11.25
01st Nov 2012 to 31st Oct 2013	4.57	10.60	10.63
01st Nov 2013 to 31st Oct 2014	6.37	14.12	14.17
01st Nov 2014 to 31st Oct 2015	5.97	14.92	14.94

The fluctuations in processing times over the years relate to a number of factors, including changes in demand and demand forecasting, changes to IT systems and the performance of police forces for enhanced disclosures.

01/01/2023

Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many defibrillators are provided in each building her Department manages.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

My Department is based at two locations; one in Belfast and one in London. There is no defibrillator on site in Belfast. The London office is situated in a building which is shared between several Government departments and there are 10 defibrillators on site.

01/01/2023
Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by NHS England Improving Value for Patients from Specialised Care: Commissioning Intentions 2016/2017 for Prescribed Specialist Services, what progress has been made to establish collaborative commissioning arrangements for hepatitis C services and how many Clinical Commissioning Groups have come forward with proposals for the collaborative commissioning of hepatitis C services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The report by NHS England Improving Value for Patients from Specialised Care: Commissioning Intentions 2016/17 set out the probable areas for specialised services work planned for 2016/17. Hepatitis C is one pathway which was identified as providing an opportunity for collaborative commissioning.

Operational Delivery Networks now provide a local focus for discussions between providers and commissioners on the hepatitis C pathways. Local specialised commissioning teams will work with other local stakeholders where opportunities for a collaborative approach are agreed as a local priority.

No formal requests for proposals have been requested, nor have any proposals yet been received.

01/01/2023
Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the extent of regional disparities in publicly-funded opportunities outside schools for children to learn musical instruments without charge; and if he will make an assessment of the effect of such disparities on the music industry.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government invested £171m between 2012-15 in 123 Music Education Hubs to ensure that children aged 5-18 have the opportunity to sing or learn a musical instrument. A further £75m of funding was made available for 2015/16. We have subsequently introduced a new, fairer funding system which reflects both the total number of pupils and the number of pupils who are eligible for free school meals. This means hubs can target money towards pupils who need it most and local areas are now much more accountable for how they deliver music. Alongside Hubs, the Government has also introduced the In Harmony programme which inspires and transforms the lives of children through community-based orchestral music-making in areas of exceptional deprivation. Both of these programmes offer opportunities for children and young people in the local area to attend after school sessions to learn music.

In addition, originally set up by DCMS and UK Music and now overseen by UK Music, we have helped to create 14 pilot music rehearsal spaces for young people in a range of urban and rural areas of England experiencing multiple deprivation. The funds were used to provide instruments and equipment, and contributed towards the cost of necessary capital works, such as sound proofing.

01/01/2023