Category: Speeches

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the climate threat arising from Chinese activities affecting the third pole region.

    James Duddridge

    Ministers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department of Energy and Climate Change have not discussed this issue. However, the Tibet Society has been in contact with China Department about a report they produced on the Tibetan Plateau.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the effect of the introduction of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.

    Mike Penning

    We are committed to monitoring the impact of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 which commenced on the 26 May.

    Section 58 of the Act commits the Secretary of State to review the operation of the Act, prepare a report of the review, and lay a copy of the report before Parliament 30 months after the commencement of the Act. This review will therefore report its findings in late 2018.

    Since commencement, the police have made arrests across the country of those involved in the supply of psychoactive substances; a number of head-shops have ceased trading and many more have handed in their remaining stock to be destroyed; and action by the National Crime Agency has resulted in the removal of psychoactive substances from sale by United Kingdom based websites.

  • Alasdair McDonnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Alasdair McDonnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alasdair McDonnell on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans the Government has to pursue co-ordinated North-South renewable energy projects that take advantage of the North-South electricity interconnector.

    Kris Hopkins

    Non-nuclear energy is devolved in Northern Ireland and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive. My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has discussed with Executive Ministers and the sector increasing the security of supply, the costs to consumers and meeting the UK’s renewables commitments.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to hold a second phase of the Small Modular Reactor Competition; and if he will make a statement.

    Jesse Norman

    As the Government stated at the outset of the competition, the intention of Phase One was to gauge market interest among global market actors in developing, commercialising and financing Small Modular Reactor Competitions in the UK. The evidence gathered during Phase One is being used to inform policy decisions, including the design of any future stages of the competition. Given that Phase One is still continuing, I am not able to provide any further information at this stage.

  • Alasdair McDonnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alasdair McDonnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alasdair McDonnell on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he expects revenue to be generated to the public purse from the sale of assets, buildings and land in Northern Ireland during 2015-16; and if so for what amount.

    Greg Hands

    The devolved administrations have the capacity to generate income from asset sales and should do so where this is a sensible way of realising value for taxpayers and freeing up resources for investment.

    The Government has committed to securing good value for money for taxpayers by establishing UK Government Investments to deliver the sale of a wide range of publicly-owned assets.

    The Stormont House Agreement contains specific measures whereby the Treasury would allow the Northern Ireland Executive to retain the proceeds of specific agreed asset sales in their entirety, and give exceptional consideration to those funds being used for a combination of both capital and resource spending.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.125 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the cap on housing benefit for single claimants under 35 will apply to those in receipt of disability benefits.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants aged less than 35 will be carefully considered prior to implementing the cap for similar tenants living in the social rented sector.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact assessment his Department has carried out on the effects of reductions in the universal credit work allowance on carers.

    Priti Patel

    The impact of the work allowance change cannot be considered in isolation – it is part of a broader package of measures announced at the Summer Budget, such as the increase to the personal tax allowance and introduction of the national living wage, which strengthens incentives to find work and better paid jobs.

  • Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Crawley on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the effects of the Government’s welfare programme on social and economic inequalities in Scotland.

    Priti Patel

    I refer the hon Lady to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon Members for Glasgow North East and Angus.

  • Lord Hamilton of Epsom – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hamilton of Epsom – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hamilton of Epsom on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether it would be consistent with the policy and objectives of the European Communities Act 1972 to notify the European Council of their intention to withdraw from the EU without prior approval by an Act of Parliament.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The European Communities Act 1972 does not require prior approval of actions by Act of Parliament. The European Union Act 2011 does define some circumstances where this is required, but these do not include a notification under article 50. As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), said on 22 February, “if the British people vote to leave, there is only one way to bring that about, namely to trigger Article 50 of the Treaties and begin the process of exit, and the British people would rightly expect that to start straight away."

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many claims for underpayment of the national minimum wage have been brought before employment tribunals in each of the last five years; how many such claims were successful; and how much was awarded to claimants in claims related to underpayment of the national minimum wage in that period.

    Andrew Selous

    The number of National Minimum Wage claims accepted by the Employment Tribunal in each of the last five years, including those accepted by the Tribunal since 1 July 2015, are published in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. The number of successful National Minimum Wage claims are also published in the quarterly statistics. The most recent report, for the period October to December 2015, published on 10 March 2016, can be viewed at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-and-gender-recognition-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2015

    The Tribunal only records and publishes awards made to claimants in discrimination cases. The amount awarded in National Minimum Wage claims in each of the last five years can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

    Information relating to the period of time an Employment Tribunal claim refers to underpayment of the National Minimum Wage for a period of more than (a) two and (b) six years is not recorded by the Tribunal and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

    “