Category: Speeches

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether membership of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe requires them to regard all citizens in the UK to be equal and thus requiring equal treatment by law.

    Lord Dunlop

    In the UK, The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.

    The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has many commitments that recall that all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he intends to answer the letter to him dated 12 January 2016 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms S Lyons.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Our records show that this correspondence, regarding the overpayment of Tax Credits, was transferred to Ministerial colleagues at HM Treasury on 26 January 2016.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with US Secretary of State on the killing of Yazidis by Daesh.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    I frequently discuss Daesh with US Secretary of State Kerry, including their appalling brutality towards both Muslims and minorities, such as the Yazidis.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are guidelines in place outlining steps to be taken if main service providers of patient transport fail to deliver satisfactory services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is the responsibility for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission and performance manage patient transport services, in line with the national guidance Eligibility for Patient Transport Services. This guidance is attached.

    CCGs will manage performance of patient transport providers through regular monitoring performance against Key Performance Indicators and have a range of interventions to improve performance, which are available through the NHS Standard Contract.

    NHS England ultimately maintains oversight of CCG commissioning, and holds CCGs to account for their commissioning decisions. In addition, NHS Improvement has a role in ensuring that procurement, patient choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients, and to step in if anti-competitive behaviour by National Health Service commissioners or providers goes against patients’ interests.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the unaccompanied minors brought to the UK from refugee camps in Europe will be assigned to families through the usual system of allocation to foster carers.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 May and now reflected in the Immigration Act 2016, we will work to admit unaccompanied refugee children to the UK from elsewhere in the EU, where this is considered to be in the child’s best interests.

    The legislation is clear that consultation with local authorities is needed before any figure is set. We are working closely with local authorities and consulting NGOs, the UNHCR, UNICEF and relevant Member States to establish suitable processes to im-plement this initiative.

    We are committed to act as quickly as we can but we must take the necessary time to ensure we have the capacity to resettle and support those who are resettled.

    We must also ensure that we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK. We will be working closely with local authorities to find suitable placements within the UK. Statutory agencies at a local level are best placed to understand and meet the needs of all children and will continue to make decisions about the right accommodation and support services for those who are looked after. Unaccompanied children will be eligible for foster care if it is considered that that this placement type will provide appropriate support and best meet their individual needs.

    The UK has well-established and effective safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of children who come to the UK. All children brought to the UK will be given the care, support and education they require.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to (a) amend or (b) repeal any of the international development acts.

    Rory Stewart

    There are no plans to amend or repeal any of the International Development Acts.

  • Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of UK withdrawal from the EU for the rice milling industry.

    George Eustice

    We are preparing for negotiations to exit the EU. As part of these preparations, we will consider future global trading relationships and the impacts on different agricultural sectors

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2015 to Question 7476, when he expects Public Health England and the National Offender Management Services’ health needs assessment of all prisons to be (a) complete and (b) published.

    Ben Gummer

    Public Health England (PHE), NHS England and the National Offender Management Service commission individual health and wellbeing needs assessments (HNAs) in all prisons and young offender institutions in England on a regular basis, as part of the commissioning timetable. The current NHS England procurement timetable runs to 2017 and the current round of HNAs are commissioned to inform this.

    In the procurement process for prison health services, an HNA identifies health needs for which health services will becommissioned in that establishment. All prisons have produced individual HNAs and these are now at various stages of review. NHS England anticipates that each prison would need to undertake a full HNA every three to five years and to complete a low level refresh of its HNA every year. HNAs are not currently published routinely, but some are published by PHE’s regional Public Health Observatories, with details of these available at:

    http://www.apho.org.uk/default.aspx

    All HNAs are available on request from the local NHS England Area Team commissioners.

    “

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2015 to Question 16174, what success his Department has had in targeting operational and intelligence activity on tackling online VAT fraud.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue. The work is ongoing. However, HMRC is unable to give details of specific results in respect of any individual taxpayer because of taxpayer confidentiality.

  • Peter Bone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Peter Bone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on reducing net migration to the tens of thousands.

    James Brokenshire

    Uncontrolled mass immigration increases pressure on public services and can drive down wages. That is why our ambition remains to cut net migration to sustainable levels. We continue to work across government to reduce net migration outside of the EU and seek reform in Europe to reduce the pull factors behind EU migration. Building on the measures in the Immigration Act 2014, our new Immigration Bill will address illegal working, the availability of public services which help migrants remain here unlawfully and will extend our ‘deport first appeal later’ approach to ensure that even more illegal migrants are removed from the UK.