Category: Speeches

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the average period of time which (a) male and (b) female student podiatrists who enter training at the age of (i) 19, (ii) 25 and (iii) 30 in 2017-18 will take to pay off their student loans taking into account changes to the student support system from 2016-17.

    Joseph Johnson

    The changes announced at the Spending Review will enable us to lift the cap on the number of students on nursing courses and will provide nursing students with access to around 25% additional financial support. We expect this reform will enable universities to provide up to 10,000 additional nursing, midwifery and allied health training places over this Parliament.

    The average repayment term on student loans is calculated for the total full time student population, rather than separately for students taking certain courses or their age on starting their course. On this basis, we estimate that the average repayment term for a full time student entering Higher Education in 2017-18 is around 20 to 25 years.

    This estimate includes both borrowers who fully repay their loans and those who have loans written off due to death, disability leading to permanent inability to work, or reaching the end of the repayment term. The estimate takes into account the changes to student finance announced at Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Written Statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence of 9 December 2015, HCWS372, on War Pension Scheme – Uprating 2016, if he will make an estimate of the cost of uprating war pensions in line with average earnings in 2016.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Department uprates War Pensions annually in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), ensuring a consistent approach to social security disability benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions. This is in keeping with other public service schemes and reflects the measure of inflation used by the Bank of England. Therefore the Ministry of Defence has no plans to estimate the cost of uprating compensation payments made under the War Pension Scheme in line with average earnings.

  • 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 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how his Department plans to monitor and assess the effect of the revised anti-lobbying clause beyond 1 May 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In line with guidance provided by the Cabinet Office, the Department will monitor compliance with this clause in the same way as other contractual terms and conditions, and will consider enforcement action where necessary.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of grandparents that care for grandchildren.

    Edward Timpson

    Informal family and friends care arrangements, such as grandparents who provide care to their grandchildren, are made within families, without local authority involvement.

    The Department collects and publishes information about looked-after children who are placed in foster care with a relative or friend. As at 31 March 2015, 7,910 looked-after children were cared for in these arrangements.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate the total number and proportion of dwellings in the UK occupied with the Households Representative Person being a foreign national from (a) another EU member state and (b) a non-EU country in each of the last 10 years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The department collects details on the nationality of all household reference persons in the English Housing Survey. However, the sample size of the English Housing Survey does not permit us to report detailed nationality statistics.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average length of time is from joining for an employee to qualify as a (a) senior watch manager, (b) watch manager, (c) watch officer and (d) watch assistant.

    Mr John Hayes

    The length of time taken to train Coastguard Officers is entirely dependent on their level of experience and competence when they join Her Majesty’s Coastguard and the level of experience of competence they gain prior to any internal promotion. Therefore an average for these would be misleading.

    On entry to HM Coastguard as a Maritime Operations Officer it will take between six and 12 months to become trained, depending on previous maritime experience and competence.

    HM Coastguard do not recruit direct entry Senior Maritime Operations Officers, they are internally recruited from the cadre of fully trained Maritime Operations Officers who will then undertake a further six months of training for this post.

    As roles that can be directly recruited from outside HM Coastguard the training for both Maritime Operations Controllers and Maritime Operations Commanders is entirely dependent on their prevailing maritime experience and is in effect bespoke for the individual concerned.

    It should be noted that the roles senior watch manager, watch manager, watch officer and watch assistant no longer exist within HM Coastguard.

  • Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any British forces in either Iraq or Syria are under the command of US officers.

    Earl Howe

    The coalition’s counter-Daesh military response in Iraq and Syria is directed by the US commander of the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF).

    All UK forces in Iraq and Syria remain under national command, apart from UK military personnel embedded into coalition posts in the CJTF. However, embedded personnel are still bound by UK law, policy and guidance on response in an armed conflict.

  • Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports about VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad, what action they are taking to reduce the extent of such tax evasion, and whether that action will be completed before Christmas in order to protect UK businesses.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government from which sources they derive their claim that there are 70,000 Syrian ground troops available to fight ISIL; what assessment they have made of whether that figure is correct; and what is their assessment of the statement by General Sir Richard Shirreff that that force would be incapable of liberating a city of 350,000, such as Raqqa.

    Earl Howe

    I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 1 December 2015 to Question 17826 and have nothing further to add.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to minimise the time taken for military aircraft parts to be delivered to his Department’s bases in Cyprus.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The supply chain to Cyprus is operating well in support of military aircraft based there with aircraft parts delivered in a timely fashion ensuring there are no disruptions to military operations.