Category: Speeches

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will bring forward plans to consolidate existing legislation on online abuse and malicious communication.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    Legislation that can be used to prosecute online abuse and related offences includes the Protection from Harassment Act 1997; the Malicious Communications Act 1988; and the Communications Act 2003. The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 made changes to the relevant offences in these last two Acts which aim to ensure that people who commit them are prosecuted and properly punished.

    The Government believes that current legislation is sufficient and does not intend to consolidate existing legislation relating to online abuse and malicious communication.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by when his Department plans to report its funding on a proposed breathing space mechanism for problem debt.

    Simon Kirby

    The Government is exploring whether some form of “breathing space” would be a useful and viable addition to the range of formal and informal debt solutions available to consumers and creditors. Officials in HM Treasury and the Insolvency Service have been asked to discuss this issue with stakeholders and the Government will report back this autumn.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of changes to the work allowance in universal credit announced in the Summer Budget 2015 on incentives to work.

    Priti Patel

    Universal Credit will have a powerful positive effect on labour market participation. We expect 300,000 more people to be in work as a result of the introduction of Universal Credit, and around 75% of the households that gain under Universal Credit are in the bottom 40% of the income distribution.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on the future of the Warm Home scheme; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government announced in the Spending Review on 25 November 2015 that the Warm Home Discount scheme would be extended to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per year, rising with inflation, to help households who are at risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills.

  • Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which organisations in addition to Rothschilds and the Governor of the Bank of England provided him with advice on whether the Government should sell its stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has been consistently clear that its policy in respect of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to return the bank to the private sector in full. The advice received from Rothschilds and the Governor of the Bank of England relates specifically to the appropriate timing of an initial share sale.

    UK Financial Investments (UKFI) is responsible for the execution of share sales, and advised the Chancellor in August 2015 that it would be appropriate to conduct the first sale of the Government’s shareholding in RBS. On 3 August 2015, UKFI sold approximately 5.4% of the bank via an accelerated bookbuilding process.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost is of each patient who attends a Same Day Walk-In Centre in the Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group area.

    Jane Ellison

    The data requested are not centrally available. This is a matter for Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group.

  • Stephen Metcalfe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stephen Metcalfe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Metcalfe on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what (a) human resources, (b) communications, (c) grant administration, (d) building and estates management and (e) other administrative functions are shared by the seven research councils; and which such services are delivered independently by each research council.

    Joseph Johnson

    The seven Research Councils currently operate their own corporate functions, with separate Human Resources, Finance, Communications and IT operations.

    The Research Councils are working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on a new digital grants system and common technology platform.

    The Research Councils share a number of services including a main campus in Swindon at Polaris House; access to the London base of the Medical Research Council (MRC); and Internal Audit and Assurance functions, which are hosted by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). BBSRC also operate the estates and facilities management of Polaris House.

    All seven Councils have their transactional HR, finance, payroll, systems and grants administration provided by UK Shared Business Services and six of the seven Councils share a pension scheme and its administration, with MRC running its own pension scheme.

    The Government is implementing Sir Paul Nurse’s report, which recommended an evolution of the Research Councils into a formal organisation with a single Accounting Officer. Sir Paul advised that a new Research UK body could support the whole system to collectively become more than the sum of its parts, including by simplifying transactional operations, reducing the burden of administration currently placed on each individual Research Council, and enabling a stronger focus on multi-disciplinary research. We also want to strengthen collaboration between the research base and the commercialisation of discoveries in the business community and this is why we are looking to integrate Innovate UK into Research UK. Innovate UK will retain its clear business focus and separate funding stream.

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken to be diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.

    Jane Ellison

    Information concerning the average length of time taken to be diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease is not collected.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for emergency authorisation for the use of neonicotinoids have been received since February 2016; and how many such applications have been granted.

    George Eustice

    The Government has received two applications for emergency authorisation for the use of neonicotinoids since February 2016. These applications are currently being assessed according to the normal rules, which allow for limited and controlled use of a pesticide on an exceptional basis in emergency situations to control a danger which cannot be contained by any other reasonable means. No authorisations have been granted.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government has taken to recover funds it is owed by Odyssey Marine Exploration from the deduction of salvage expenses from the Government’s share of the silver recovered from SS Gairsoppa.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Odyssey Marine Exploration deducted 29,228,972 US Dollars as salvage expenses from the total value of silver bullion recovered from the SS Gairsoppa.

    The question as to whether or not Odyssey Marine Exploration deducted excessive salvage expenses under the contract, which was awarded in January 2010, is disputed between the parties, and would accordingly need to be the subject of legal proceedings in the United Kingdom and possibly also in the United States of America to resolve. This issue is being kept under review.