Category: Speeches

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to decriminalise drug use and encourage the implementation and enforcement of anti-discrimination and protective laws, based on human rights standards, to eliminate stigma, discrimination, social exclusion and violence against young people who inject drugs based on actual or presumed behaviours and HIV status.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government has no intention of decriminalising drugs in the UK. Decriminalisation would not eliminate the crime committed by the illicit trade, nor would it address the harms associated with drug dependence and the misery that this can cause to families and communities.

    The Government’s approach to drugs, based on our balanced 2010 Drug Strategy, remains clear. We must prevent drug use in our communities and support people dependent on drugs through treatment and recovery. At the same time, we have to stop the supply of illegal drugs and tackle the organised crime behind the drugs trade.

    There are promising signs our approach is working, with a downward trend in drug use over the last decade and more people recovering from dependency now than in 2009/10.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Israeli government on the displacement of Bedouin people from townships in the Negev.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I discussed the Bedouin in the Negev with Head of the Joint List MK Ayman Odeh during my visit to Israel on 18 February. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv are following developments closely, and we continue to encourage the Israeli authorities and Bedouin communities to work together to identify satisfactory solutions.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much school surplus has remained with local authorities after schools have converted to academy status.

    Edward Timpson

    The Academy Conversions (Transfer of School Surpluses) Regulations 2013 set out the process for the treatment of any surplus balance of a school when it converts to academy status. It is for the local authority and academy trust to agree together, within four months of conversion, the amount of surplus that should be paid to the academy trust. The final amount of any payment can take into account, for instance, any sum which might have been owed by the school to the local authority. No surplus funding has remained with local authorities.

    Further detail of the process can be found in the guidance on “Treatment of surplus and deficit balances when maintained schools become academies”, which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416430/School_balances_on_conversion_submission.pdf

    “

  • Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 16 December 2013, column 507W, what the updated figures are for the latest period available.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The average waiting time from receipt to disposal for all Social Security and Child Support appeals between October and December 2015 (the latest period for which figures are available) was 19 weeks nationally and 15.9 weeks in the Kettering venue.

  • 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, what the cost was for (a) management of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation estate of Service Family Accommodation (SFA), (b) the maintenance of SFA and (c) improvements to SFA in (i) 2013, (ii) 2014 and (iii) 2015.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The cost for the management of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation estate of Service Family Accommodation (SFA), the maintenance of SFA and the improvements to SFA, by financial year (FY), can be found within the table below.

    FY 2012-13

    FY 2013-14

    FY 2014-15

    FY 2015-16

    Totals

    £ million

    £ million

    £ million

    £ million

    £ million

    Management of DIO Estate

    20.6

    15.7

    20.4

    18.8

    75.5

    Maintenance of SFA

    42

    39.9

    41.1

    40.9

    164.5

    Improvements

    64.5

    96.3

    65.9

    56.7

    283.4

    Totals

    127.1

    151.9

    127.4

    117.4

    523.8
  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will discuss with Marks and Spencer PLC its plans to introduce changes to pay and conditions for staff working at nights and weekends associated with the introduction of the new national minimum wage.

    Margot James

    Provided that they obey the law and pay their workers at least the National Living Wage where it applies, it is for employers to decide how they manage increases in their wage bill.

    But it is my clear view that all employers look to implement the National Living Wage in the spirit in which it was introduced. The Government believes that it is essential for employers to ensure that their reward packages are competitive, in order to retain and develop the staff who are fundamental to their success.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has made of how transparently (a) insurance companies and (b) other providers of a public good (i) formulate the price of their products and (ii) ensure any pricing structure is not affected by the consumer’s ethnicity.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society and sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone. There are specific exceptions for providers of financial services such as insurance companies, which allow them to use a person’s age as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products. However, insurers are not able to use a person’s race as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products.

    The pricing of risk is a commercial decision for individual insurers, and differences in premiums reflect different insurers’ experience of claims and other industry-wide statistics. While insurers are not required by the Financial Conduct Authority to be transparent about pricing decisions, it expects firms to comply with relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010, and can undertake its own enquiries to better understand what the firm is doing and whether any of its regulatory requirements have been breached.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they took to ensure that women’s voices were included at the recent meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIL in London.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    On 28-29 October, the UK hosted the fourth meeting of the Global Coalition’s Communications Working Group, along with our Coalition Co-Chairs, the United Arab Emirates and the US. Ministers and senior officials from 32 Coalition countries participated. 149 delegates were involved in the meeting over the two days, of whom 43 were women.

    The meeting focused on digital communications and what more coalition governments could do, in partnership with civil society and digital industry, to promote positive voices and to ensure those promoting extremism and violent extremism online were not left unchallenged.

    The meeting agreed that highlighting women’s voices was a key part of the Coalition’s response to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s propaganda.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any two-way secondment programmes in place in the Department for International Development to foster a comprehensive understanding of small business development.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID does not have any secondments in place with small business. Its two-way secondment arrangements with the private sector have been with larger firms, including a current inward secondment from Glaxo Smith Kline and a previous outward secondment to John Lewis.

    Aside from secondments, DFID recruits from the private sector, contracts in private sector expertise, benefits from pro bono arrangments with a number of firms, and maintains close partnerships and dialogue with the private sector.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what monitoring his Department conducts of staffing levels at all probation services and community rehabilitation companies.

    Andrew Selous

    Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are contractually required to maintain a professional and appropriately skilled workforce to deliver the services set out in their contracts. We robustly contract manage each CRC to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitment to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and deliver value for money for taxpayers. The National Probation Service staffing levels are kept under constant review to make sure public safety is maintained and value for money delivered.