Category: Speeches

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will list the members of the neuroscience clinical reference group of NHS England.

    David Mowat

    Clinical Reference Groups (CRG) are currently undertaking a process of recruitment. Once all appointments have been made, a full list of members for each CRG will be published on NHS England’s website. However, for the Specialised Neurosciences CRG, the Chair and Lead CRG Commissioner have been confirmed as Adrian Williams and Jacquie Kemp respectively.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will list (a) his Department’s correspondence and (b) meetings with the former hon. Member for Redcar between May 2010 and May 2015 on SSI Redcar.

    Anna Soubry

    It is an established convention that Minsters of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested by the hon Member.

  • Lord Rana – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Rana – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rana on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to spend the £5 million pledged for the development of the new Commonwealth counter-extremism unit.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), announced UK funding of £5million over 5 years to establish a Counter-Extremism and Counter Radicalisation Unit in the Commonwealth Secretariat. Setting up a new unit recognises that Commonwealth countries must work together to counter extremist ideologies and build their counter extremism capabilities. The unit will:

    •Provide technical assistance to governments developing counter-extremism strategies.

    •Mobilise Commonwealth civil society networks to counter radicalisation through targeted counter-narratives and strategic communication training.

    •Enable Commonwealth members to meet their international counter extremism obligations. There is a demand from Commonwealth countries for support in implementing international counter extremism obligations, for example in relation to UN Security Council Resolution 2178.

    Other Commonwealth partners have also pledged a contribution to this unit. We will work closely with the Commonwealth Secretariat, Commonwealth members and key stakeholders to ensure that UK funding supports the work of countries across the Commonwealth to tackle the threat of extremism

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the need for a new concert hall in London.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    In February 2015 the Chancellor announced that the government would fund the Barbican in the City of London to consider the feasibility of a creating a new world class concert hall in London.

    As part of the Spending Review, the Chancellor agreed to provide a further £5.5million over the next 18 months for more detail business case work, which fully explore the costs and benefits of options for this project.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ask the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to conduct an equality impact assessment as part of its decision-making process on the vaccination of adolescent boys.

    Jane Ellison

    I refer the hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr John Baron) on 20 July 2015 to Question 7298.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department plans to provide to (a) the public and (b) potential investors on the proposed sale of the M6 Toll Road.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department provides a wide range of information about the UK road network, including traffic counts for all major roads. However it does not plan to provide any information specifically on the proposed sale of the M6 Toll Road.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to maximise engagement of children and young people in the arts.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Culture White Paper published last month makes clear that this Government is committed to ensuring that the arts should be an essential part of every child’s education both in and out of school. This includes working with the Department for Education on a range of music and cultural education programmes since 2012, supporting the Arts Council’s Cultural Education Challenge to create a network of cultural education partnerships and a new Cultural Citizens programme which will be piloted in three areas to support the engagement of disadvantaged young people with arts and culture in their local community.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on what dates the Inter-Ministerial Group on Oil and Gas met representatives from that industry to discuss its plan for the UK oil and gas workforce.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The members of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Oil and Gas regularly meet with industry in their roles and use this to inform the group’s work.

  • The Countess of Mar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The Countess of Mar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2016-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to amend Section 4:4 of The Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England) to exclude the first sentence that specifies certain medical conditions in order to ensure that eligibility is based on disability or ill health regardless of diagnosis.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has no current plans to amend the non-statutory guidance to local authorities about the Blue Badge scheme. As the guidance makes clear “Each application should be considered on its merits – not on a “one size fits all” basis. The final decision about whether an applicant meets the criterion is for the issuing authority to make.”.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that regulations governing the exploitation on a significant scale of shale gas by fracking will be robust and will not permit an unacceptable level of self-regulation.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Shale companies need permission from independent expert regulators before any hydraulic fracturing operations can begin:

    – A licence for onshore oil and gas exploration is required from the Oil and Gas Authority

    – Planning permission is required from the local Mineral Planning Authority

    – Permits to operate a site are required from the Environment Agency

    – Safety on a drilling site and standards of well construction are regulated by the Health and Safety Executive

    – A drilling consent is also required from the Oil and Gas Authority

    We are confident that we have a robust regulatory regime in place. The Government will keep the regulatory regime for shale under review as the industry develops to ensure it is proportionate and fit for purpose.