Category: Speeches

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the cost to the public purse has been of the refurbishment of Crown Post Offices in Lancaster since January 2010.

    George Freeman

    Post Office Limited runs and manages its directly managed Crown post offices. Arrangements for employees of these offices and changes to the Crown network are the operational responsibility of the Post Office.

    I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to you on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-03-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Parliament will be involved in the scrutiny of any proposals for changes to systems of Islamic finance in the UK following the outcome of the Bank of England’s consultation.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Bank of England will decide whether or not to establish a Shari’ah compliant liquidity facility in light of feedback to its consultation from the market and other relevant stakeholders. None of the proposals in the consultation are expected to require a change to primary legislation. Once the Bank of England has concluded, the Government will consider whether there is a need for Parliament to review legislation in relation to Islamic Finance in the UK more widely.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to (a) announce the criteria and (b) begin the bidding process for allocating the funding available through the Pothole Action Fund.

    Andrew Jones

    The Pothole Action Fund is worth £250 million over the next five years to local highway authorities in England, outside London. On 7 April the Government announced the share each local highway authority will receive from the £50 million available for 2016/17. Funding is allocated according to the size of the road network the local highway authority is responsible for.

    Further details can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cash-for-councils-to-fill-almost-1-million-potholes

    “

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what opportunities his Department offers to trainee soldiers aged under 18 to resit GCSEs as part of their elective personal development.

    Mark Lancaster

    Army junior entry training provides for educational opportunities up to the equivalent of AS level. The Army is ensuring that it remains aligned with ongoing changes in the state education sector and balancing these with the career development needs of its people and capability development requirements. All junior soldiers undertake a substantial education programme irrespective of their previous attainment and will progress in their functional skills, to be prepared better for employment whilst in service and beyond. In addition to its comprehensive provision of functional skills education, the Army is looking at the future provision of GCSE mathematics and English re-takes for those junior soldiers who narrowly miss the new Level 4 standard (currently A-C on the existing qualifications and credits framework), as well as other options to fulfil the academic potential of those already at the national GCSE standard.

    Opportunities to resit full GCSE qualifications while in standard entry initial training for under 18s are limited as the programme is intensive. However, within their training programme individuals do undertake functional skills, a programme of learning in English, mathematics and information and communication technology at either Levels 1 or 2 as appropriate.

    Following training, elective personal development opportunities are actively encouraged by the Army, including academic qualifications such as GCSEs, for which employer funding is available through the standard and enhanced learning credits schemes.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Minister of the Scottish Government on the proposed Apprenticeship Levy.

    Greg Hands

    We are working with the Scottish Government and the other devolved administrations to ensure they can get their fair share of the levy and, as far as possible, to develop a system for administering the levy which complements the skills and apprenticeship policies of each of the devolved administrations.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have been transferred from other EU member states to the UK under the Dublin regulations in each year from 2010 to 2016; and how many cases resulting from such applications have been completed in each of those years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We will always fully consider cases passed to us under the Dublin Regulation, and have made significant progress in improving and speeding up the existing processes via Dublin especially since the beginning of the year.

    Any request to unite family members under the Dublin Regulation is carefully considered. Where someone seeking asylum elsewhere in the EU can demonstrate they have close family members legally in the UK, we will take responsibility for that claim. At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation.

    The latest release of published data on asylum can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2016

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to deliver a faster payments infrastructure.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Faster Payment Scheme (FPS) launched in 2008 and provides near-instant settlement for over one billion payments that consumers and businesses make every year.

    FPS is one of the eight payment systems regulated by the new Payment Systems Regulator – which the Government launched in 2015, equipped with powers to ensure that UK payment systems are competitive and innovative. A key part of the PSR’s work is to ensure that UK payment systems work efficiently to deliver benefits for the individuals and firms that use them.

    The Government is also working with the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Project Innovate – which looks to foster and support innovative financial technology (“FinTech”) firms, including firms that offer customers new and efficient ways to make payments in the UK.

  • Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Mental Health Taskforce report on a new five-year national strategy for mental health will be published.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Mental Health Taskforce is finalising its recommendations and supporting analysis to ensure these are robust. Their report is due to be published by NHS England in the New Year.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) Ofcom have made of the effectiveness of the gaining provider-led notification of transfer process for broadband since its introduction.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    A Government call to evidence on switching principles has recently closed. We have committed to legislating for easier switching in the Communications markets, and we are now working with Ofcom to progress this.

    Ofcom’s assessment of the costs and benefits of implementing the enhanced process are set out in Chapter 9 athttp://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/consumer-switching-review/.

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who accumulate credit card debt after the Christmas period.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Treasury does not hold information on the number of people who accumulate credit card debt.

    Publically available information on consumer credit, including credit card debt, is available up to Q4 2015 from the Bank of England. The most recent statistical release can be accessed at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/Pages/bankstats/2015/dec.aspx

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