Category: Speeches

  • – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 25 November (HL3916) concerning the 49 closed files with children’s home” and “London” in the catalogue description

    Lord Bates

    Of the 49 references to ‘children’s home’ and ‘London’ in the National Archives catalogue description, some relate to open files and one to a home in London Road, Gloucester.

    Once these have been discounted and allowing for homes which have more than one closed file, those children’s homes operated by London boroughs which have files identified as closed at The National Archives are as follows:

    100 Balgores Lane Children’s Home Gidea Park

    4 King Edwards Grove Children’s Home, Teddington

    44 Princess Road Children’s Home Teddington

    54 Muswell Avenue Children’s Home, Muswell Hill

    68 King Edwards Grove Children’s Home, Teddington

    69 Kingston Lane Children’s Home Teddington

    7 The Ride Children’s Home, Brentford

    74 Goshawk Gardens Children’s Home, Hayes

    8/26 Crescent Road, South Woodford, London E18

    82 Muswell Avenue Children’s Home, Muswell Hill

    9 Whitley Road Children’s Home, Tottenham, N17

    Abbey Wood Estate Children’s Home 242 Panfield Road, London SE2

    Abbeywood Estate Children’s Home 52 Chalcombe Road, London SE2

    Britwell Estate Small Children’s Home, 2 Dove House Crescent, Britwell, Bucks

    Britwell Estate Small Children’s Home, 270 Longfurlong Drive, Britwell, Bucks

    Chevington Children’s Home, 25 Warham Road, Croydon, Surrey

    Deaconbank Children’s Home, 80 Aldersbrook, Wanstead London E11

    Derwent House Children’s Home, 10 Armdel Gardens, Winchmore Hill

    Dr Barnardo’s Children’s Home and Mission, 8-26 Crescent Road, South Woodford, London E18

    Hoblands Children’s Home, Carlton Road, Sidcup, Kent

    Langley House Children’s Home 54 East India Dock Road, London E14

    St Paul’s Cray Estate Small Children’s Home. 41 Highfield Road Chislehurst, Kent

    Westleigh Children’s Home 6 Dartmouth Park Avenue, London NW5

    Wood Vale Children’s Home 32 Elder Road, West Norwood London SE 27

    Woodlands Children’s Home 12 Charterhouse Road, Godalming, Surrey

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will undertake a review of extant legislation that could be undermining the principle of free speech in the UK or rendering it conditional in some circumstances.

    Lord Faulks

    As set out in my answer of 20 July 2015 (HL1111), currently, there are no plans to review extant Acts of Parliament to ensure that the right of freedom of expression is not being restricted.

    The Government will be bringing forward proposals for a Bill of Rights to protect fundamental human rights, but also prevent their abuse and restore some common sense to the system.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of psychological therapists employed by the NHS who experienced workplace-related stress in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    All National Health Service trusts are required take account of and involve patients and the public in the way they plan and provide services. Transforming Participation in Health and Care, published September 2013, sets out the legal duties on NHS Commissioners to both involve patients in their own care and to involve the public in the way they commission services. The Commissioning organisation should ensure that providers they commission to provide services have suitable arrangements in place to involve patient and the public.

    In addition NHS foundation trusts have specific responsibilities to involve their members and local communities usually through the appointment of Governing Body members. Trusts have their own arrangements as to how they make arrangements to involve their patients, carers and communities. Details of the arrangements would usually be available on the trust website.

    Health Education England (HEE) has responsibility for training new therapists and high intensity training. In 2015/16, the budget was £22.0 million to support 1,031 trainees. These trainees provide supervised practice alongside college attendance. There may also be some workforce development funding used to further develop people working in such services, however, HEE does not code its workforce development expenditure to the degree of detail to separately identify this.

    Data is not collected centrally on the number of psychological therapists employed by the NHS who experienced workplace-related stress in each of the last five years.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to meet the objectives outlined in the Impact Assessment of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 in relation to in-house lobbyists, specifically increasing the transparency of lobbying by opening it up to public scrutiny and increasing public accountability and public trust in the system of Government.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Transparency of Lobbying Act created a statutory register of lobbyists. The Register has increased transparency by requiring that, for the first time, people who are paid to lobby the Government on behalf of others must disclose their clients on a publicly available register. The statutory Register has also enabled the activities of consultant lobbyists to be more effectively scrutinised by requiring lobbyists to declare whether they subscribe to a code of conduct.

    In addition, the Register of consultant lobbyists complements the Government’s existing transparency commitment to regularly publish details of the meetings of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with external organisations and individuals and tackles the problem that it was not always clear whose interests were being represented by “third-party" or consultant lobbyists.

    The Register does not include in-house lobbyists because it is, by definition, clear who they are working for when their details are published in the list of meetings of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether requirements for starter homes will be retrospectively placed on developments which have received planning permission but are not yet built.

    Brandon Lewis

    Requirements for starter homes will not be placed retrospectively on developments that have received planning permission.

    Section 106 agreements may of course be renegotiated at any time by mutual consent. Planning guidance is clear that local planning authorities should be flexible in their requirements, taking into account site specific circumstances and changing circumstances.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what oversight her Department has over the operation of the Financial Crime Alerts Service; and which banks have agreed to share information through that Service.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Department does not have oversight of the Financial Crime Alerts Service. The service was established and is operated by the British Bankers’ Association.

    The Government published the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Finance Action Plan on 21 April 2016. As part of the Action Plan, the Government is seeking to strengthen public-private partnership, based on joint-working and the sharing of information.

    The Financial Crime Alerts Service is a good example of this kind of partnership and will help deliver the aim, set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, to make the UK a more hostile place for those seeking to move, hide or use the proceeds of crime or corruption.

    The Financial Crime Alerts Service distributes real-time alerts from domestic and international bodies, including the National Crime Agency and 11 other government and law enforcement agencies, with banking officials in place to tackle fraud, financial crime and other violations.

  • Yvette Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Yvette Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yvette Cooper on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of asylum-seeking minors in France with family members in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    Please refer to the answer given for PQ 40665 which was answered on the 27th June 2016.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has the ability to overrule chief constables on decisions about uniform policy.

    Brandon Lewis

    Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are best placed to decide the uniform requirements for different roles within their force.

    The police remain operationally independent and it is for local leadership to ensure that officers can perform their duties effectively whilst taking officer safety, appropriate risk assessments and effective engagement with the public into consideration.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider introducing stronger sentencing powers against those involved in illegal dog fighting.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government recognises the seriousness of offences involving illegal animal fights. We will look to increase the maximum sentence when a legislative opportunity arises.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to ensure that UK scientific institutions have the funds to collaborate with those in Arctic countries to monitor and predict the melting of permafrost and the release of methane; and what practical steps are being considered to minimise the environmental impact of the melting of permafrost and the release of methane in the Arctic.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The UK is funding and participating in a number of projects that will improve our knowledge of the Arctic, for example the current NERC Arctic Research Programme, the European JPI (Joint Programming Initiative) Climate collaboration between 16 European countries to coordinate jointly their climate research, and NERC’s Discovery Science grant programme. The UK also continues to invest in infrastructure to support polar science such as the new £200m polar research vessel.

    The best practical way to limit the melting of permafrost and the subsequent release of methane is to keep the rise in global temperatures as low as possible. At the recent United Nations conference on climate change in Paris, the world took an important step forward with an unprecedented number of countries agreeing to a deal to limit global temperature rises.