Category: Speeches

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to refuse the applications to use neonicotinoid pesticides on British fields this year.

    George Eustice

    The Government has received two applications for emergency authorisation of neonicotinoid seed treatments for use on oilseed rape during 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.

    The decision on whether or not to grant the authorisations will be made on the basis of an examination, by the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides, the Health and Safety Executive and Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser, of the technical and scientific information submitted by the applicant.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated income from tourists from the EU who visited the UK in each of the last five years.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    In 2011, tourists from the EU spent £8.26 billion in the UK. This was £8.28 billion in 2012, £9.19 billion in 2013, £9.55 billion in 2014 and £9.71 billion in 2015. This Government is committed to further growing the tourism industry across the whole of Britain, encouraging more visitors to travel beyond the capital.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many fatalities there were on the A55 in Wales in (1) 2010, (2) 2011, (3) 2014 and (4) 2015.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The number of road traffic fatalities on the A55 in Wales in each year since 2010 are as follows:

    Number of fatalities

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    1

    2

    2

    1

    2

    3

    “

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost to the public purse has been to date of the National College for High Speed Rail.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government has committed £52 million of capital cost up until the College opening. To date £12.3 million has been spent.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of tax credit claimants who will be eligible for the Government’s planned 30 hours of free childcare per week; and what the average reduction in childcare cost will be for each such claimant.

    Damian Hinds

    This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor made clear, the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

    As announced at Summer Budget, the Chancellor announced that free entitlement childcare would be doubled from 15 hours to 30 for working parents. This will not be rolled out until September 2017, with early implementation in some areas in September 2016.

    Information about the age, gender and number of children in receipt of tax credits can be found in HMRC’s Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics, April 2015. Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-provisional-statistics-2013-to-2009

    “

  • Lord Rowe-Beddoe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Rowe-Beddoe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rowe-Beddoe on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 30 November (HL Deb, col 931–3) about the non-devolution of the long-haul element of air passenger duty to Wales, how they differentiate between Edinburgh and Newcastle, and Cardiff and Bristol with respect to state aid.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    As set out in the St David’s Day Agreement, the government is considering the case and options for devolving powers to the Welsh Assembly over air passenger duty (APD). Any next steps pursued by the government will comply with EU State aid rules on tax devolution.

    Discussion of State aid is relevant to options we are considering to mitigate the effects of APD devolution with respect to English airports. In July, the government published a discussion paper on several options to do this. We will respond to the consultation and announce next steps in due course.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on compiling a definitive central list of all service personnel who lost their lives on operations in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 2007.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Work to produce a central list of Service personnel who lost their lives on operations in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 2007 has been a time consuming and detailed task. The process of finalising the details should appropriately consider the format of such a list and where such a list might be hosted in order to appropriately commemorate the loss of personnel during this operation. Publication will be made once due consideration of these issues has been completed.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that police forces and local authorities are making use of female genital mutilation protection orders.

    Karen Bradley

    Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders (FGMPOs) were fast-tracked for implementation in July 2015, ahead of the school holidays, and are already being used protect girls at risk of FGM.

    The Ministry of Justice published guidance on FGM Protection Orders for local authorities in July 2015, and in September 2015, the College of Policing updated its Authorised Professional Practice on FGM to include guidance on FGMPOs.

    In addition, the Government will shortly be publishing updated FGM multi-agency guidance, which we are placing on a statutory footing for the first time. This will help increase awareness of FGM and improve compliance with good practice and will include guidance for all professionals on FGMPOs.

    We will also continue to work with the police and other agencies to take forward the recommendations in Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s report into ‘honour-based’ violence to ensure the police response to victims, including through use of FGMPOs, is as strong as possible.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the BBC upholds its obligations under the charter relating to impartiality during the EU referendum campaign.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    In June 2015 I wrote to the Chairs of the BBC Trust and Ofcom on this subject. Their replies set out their plans. The Trust has since consulted on and published guidelines for covering the referendum.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of (a) human trafficking and (b) forced labour have been recorded by Humberside Police for each year from 2010 to 2014; in how many such cases prosecutions were brought; and what the outcomes were of those prosecutions.

    Mike Penning

    Recorded crime figures for the period 2010 to 2014 do not directly map on to the two categories in the question. Data on human trafficking for sexual exploitation shows that one case of this type was recorded by Humberside in 2012/13. Crime recording rules stipulate that only the most serious offence in a sequence of crimes is recorded, so it is possible that other cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation offences have been recorded under even more serious crime types.

    On a principal offence basis, no defendants were proceeded against, convicted or sentenced at magistrates’ courts during the period 2010 to 2014 for offences related to human trafficking and forced labour in the Humberside Police Force Area. Such data is recorded on the basis of the location of the magistrates’ court where proceedings started, so it may be that an offence recorded in Humberside was then proceeded against in another police force area.