Category: Speeches

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will publish the information her Department holds on the (a) process, (b) criteria and (c) guidance followed by the National Grid to deliver (i) supplementary balancing reserve and (ii) black start ancillary services contracts for the next 12 months; and what analysis was taken in advance to inform that delivery.

    Andrea Leadsom

    These services are a matter for National Grid, and the appropriate documentation is published on their website. The contingency balancing methodologies are available here:

    http://www2.nationalgrid.com/UK/Services/Balancing-services/System-security/Contingency-balancing-reserve/Methodologies/

    These documents also include National Grid’s analysis.

    And information on the procurement of the Black Start Service is published here:

    http://www2.nationalgrid.com/UK/Services/Balancing-services/System-security/Black-Start/Black-start-about-the-service/

    National Grid have not published their analysis of this as it is commercially confidential.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the yearly contributions by her Department to WaterAid in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    WaterAid received over £24million of DFID funding from April 2013 to March 2016. We have so far committed £4.7million in funding for April 2016 to March 2018.

    DFID funding has contributed to WaterAid directly reaching more than 2 million people with safe water and over 3 million people with sanitation in the last year alone. In addition, our Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) funding, effective from 2011 until the end of 2016, enabled WaterAid to improve their overall organisational effectiveness by supporting them to develop stronger Monitoring and Evaluation systems; improve their Value for Money framework and supported growth and innovation throughout the organisation.

  • Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the total mileage of each UK motorway is subject to speed restrictions lower than 70 mph.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The number of miles of a motorway subject to speed restrictions varies on a daily basis, depending on planned roadworks as well as temporary restrictions that need to be imposed due to incidents. There also are some sections, such as motorway to motorway junctions, which have speed restrictions due to the road geometry or for other safety considerations. Every effort is made to keep such restrictions to a minimum.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations his Department has received on including art and design within the curriculum for STEM subjects.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department works closely with the Department for Education and Arts Council England to increase access to music and cultural education for every child. This Government has ensured that art and design remain core subjects that must be taught in Key Stages 1-3 as part of the National Curriculum.

  • Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to assist unemployed people over the age of 50 back in to work; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 November 2015 to Question UIN16531.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support people suffering from acute stress.

    Alistair Burt

    Support for people experiencing acute stress is available through the improving access to psychological therapies programme which aims to help adults with common mental health conditions to recover. The programme uses a stepped care approach in which patients with higher need are referred for more intensive treatment.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) trustees and (b) directors of academies and academy chains are paid salaries in excess of £142,500.

    Edward Timpson

    The information is available about each academy trust in the notes to their financial statements which are published online by the Department for Education and at Companies House.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in the last three months.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer.

    At present pilot work in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis to the National Cancer Registration Service but the uptake has been slow and the data is not complete. Further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

    Data on the number of people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is not currently available.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the extra restrictions placed on both Muslims and Christians wanting to worship in Jerusalem this year due to the Jewish festival of Purim.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities, we remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of movement between the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It remains difficult for Palestinians to enter East Jerusalem for religious worship. We continue to work closely with the Quartet and EU partners to call on Israel to ease access restrictions.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to Israeli authorities about reports of further demolitions of EU-funded structures in Jabal al Baba.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We condemn the demolition of Bedouin homes at Jabal Al-Baba, which is a particularly vulnerable community in East Jerusalem. We have not specifically raised the issue, but we are extremely concerned at the large increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the start of 2016, compared to the monthly average in 2015. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv continues to raise our concern about demolitions regularly with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 May. We call on Israel to provide a legal route for Palestinians to obtain building permits.