Category: Speeches

Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent under each cost heading by UK defence attachés in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning

The following information shows Ministry of Defence previous spending for the Defence Attaché and Advisor Network from Financial Year 2010-11 to 2015-16. The information is not available to give an accurate breakdown by cost heading for each Defence Attaché. These figures do not include costs associated with British Defence Section United States as those costs cannot be broken down by cost heading.

Financial Year	Personnel	Equipment Support Costs	Infrastructure Costs	Inventory/ Other Consumption	Net Interest Payable	Other Costs	Receipts and other Income	Total RDEL
2010-11	£21,296,462	£452,981	£12,661,662	£410,753	-£1,217	£8,924,225	-£110,851	£43,634,016
2011-12	£22,017,758	£353,361	£1,496,946	£360,208	-£2,260	£17,188,040	-£97,264	£41,316,790
2012-13	£21,782,956	£646,092	£1,432,271	£272,149	-£2,507	£17,023,974	-£296,291	£40,858,644
2013-14	£22,819,582	£270,350	£1,424,211	£386,100	-£3,023	£17,099,861	-£213,642	£41,783,439
2014-15	£23,919,518	£283,823	£1,822,433	£347,263	-£3,538	£18,705,945	-£136,778	£44,938,665
2015-16	£25,974,993	£292,365	£1,634,154	£968,244	-£1,973	£16,844,778	£4,443	£45,717,004

01/01/2023

Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data his Department collects on the (a) demographics, (b) pension pot size and (c) decisions taken after the consultation of people accessing the Pension Wise service.

Harriett Baldwin

The government committed to providing free, impartial guidance through Pension Wise, to help people make informed and confident decisions about how they use their defined contribution pension savings in retirement. It is available online, via the telephone and face to face. As of 29 October 2015, there were over 20,000 completed appointments for face to face guidance and 9,000 completed appointments for telephone guidance as well as over 1.7 million visits to the website.

Pension Wise runs exit surveys of those who have completed an appointment It is not mandatory for a user to complete an exit survey. The government is committed to being open and transparent with Pension Wise data and will be making core data readily available by placing it on the government performance platform this autumn. The data will be in the public domain and updated regularly. HM Treasury is working with Pension Wise delivery partners to provide the level of detail that we require for reporting purposes.

The Financial Conduct Authority, in line with its remit to protect consumers and ensure markets function in consumers’ interests, is monitoring developments in the retirement income market closely and has committed to take action where consumers are coming to harm or where the market is not operating competitively.

The government recognises that people may wish to consult different sources of information before reaching a decision about their retirement income. In addition to Pension Wise, The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) provides independent, impartial information and guidance about pensions, free of charge, to members of the public. The Money Advice Service also provides free and unbiased information and guidance on all money matters.

A number of pension providers offer financial guidance. Individuals can also access regulated advice from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority are jointly considering how financial advice could be made more accessible and affordable for consumers through the Financial Advice Market Review.

01/01/2023
Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Muslim women reported being the victim of abuse or hate crime in each police authority area in England and Wales in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015; and how many such reports (i) have been investigated, (b) resulted in prosecution and (c) resulted in a conviction.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not hold the requested information. While the Home Office collects information on the number of recorded hate crimes by police force area, we cannot tell from these data the religion or the sex of the victim.

The Home Office does not hold information on prosecutions; these figures are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

I refer the Right Honourable Member to my answer of 3 November in response to question 13254. In the future, we intend to collect a breakdown of religion-based hate crime data from the police to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account.

01/01/2023
Lord Moonie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2015-12-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they estimate to be the flying costs, including maintenance, of the (1) F-35A, and (2) F-35B, aircraft.

Earl Howe

The Ministry of Defence has made an estimate of the flying and maintenance cost of the UK’s F-35B but I am withholding this information as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.

01/01/2023
Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce interim payments under the Basic Payments Scheme for farmers who have not received their payments by the end of January 2016.

George Eustice

When part payments have been made in the past this has led to years of confusion for farmers and additional costs in processing and disallowance for the Rural Payments Agency. This is why the RPA continues to focus on making full payments on the remaining claims as quickly as possible.

As at 18 January the RPA had paid around two thirds of eligible Basic Payment Scheme claims received. The Agency continues to focus on making payments on the remainder of claims as soon as possible and remains on track to pay the vast majority of claims by the end of this month.

01/01/2023
Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which organisations are responsible for enforcing security of aircraft against incidents with drones, and what means they have to disable such drones and identify the owners.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Working alongside other agencies in the intelligence and law enforcement communities, the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority are responsible for assessing and managing the risks to and from civil aviation, including remotely piloted aircraft systems. There are regulations in place that require users to maintain direct, unaided visual contact with their drone and to not recklessly or negligently allow a drone to endanger any person or property; these regulations have recently led to successful prosecutions for misuse. Work is ongoing to identify appropriate and effective mitigations from point of sale to incident resolution.

01/01/2023
Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for the BBC’s service licences being reviewed and strengthened by an independent regulator at an early date.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

These issues are being considered as part of Charter Review. The Government will set out its proposals in the forthcoming White Paper.

01/01/2023
Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the rising default rate of companies in the oil and gas sector on their high-yield loans on wider stability of the financial sector.

Harriett Baldwin

The Chancellor has set out the government’s view on the challenges facing the UK economy at budget on 16 March 2016. The transcript of the speech is available from:

www.gov.uk/government/speeches/budget-2016-george-osbornes-speech

In addition, the Bank of England’s December 2015 Financial Stability Report sets out analysis on the exposures of UK banks to commodity sectors. The full report can be found here:

www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/fsr/2015/dec.aspx

01/01/2023
Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of suspended sentences is that one person has received before receiving a prison sentence in a (a) magistrates court and (b) Crown court.

Dominic Raab

Where the court imposes a custodial sentence of two years or less it may suspend the sentence, for up to two years, and also impose one or more community requirements. This is a decision for the independent judiciary. If the offender breaches a suspended sentence order, there is a statutory presumption that the custodial sentence will be given effect, unless it would be unjust to do so in view of all of the circumstances.

Repeat offenders can expect to go straight to prison if they commit a serious offence. Offenders serving suspended custodial sentences, however, have a lower re-offending rate than offenders serving immediate, short custodial sentences.

The highest number of suspended sentences received by one person who has not also received an immediate custodial sentence, as recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) up to 31 December 2015, and the latest sentencing occasion being (a) in a magistrate’s court was 10 and (b) in the Crown Court was 6.

The highest number of suspended sentences received by one person, as recorded on the PNC up to December 2015, before receiving an immediate custodial sentence in; (a) a magistrate’s court was 9 and (b) the Crown Court was 8.

01/01/2023
William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to remove any potential conflict of interest between National Grid and its electricity balancing and management responsibilities.

Jesse Norman

There is a case for greater independence for the system operator to promote more competition and flexibility in our electricity system. We are working alongside National Grid and Ofgem to this end, so that the electricity system continues to be operated in the best interest of consumers.

01/01/2023