Category: Speeches

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what consultation the Oil and Gas Authority has undertaken on nuclear decommissioning; and whether that authority is subject to the Cabinet Office’s Consultation Principles, published in January 2016.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is responsible for decommissioning and clean-up of UK’s nuclear legacy sites. The Oil and Gas Authority has no remit for nuclear decommissioning. ­

    All OGA consultations will consider the Cabinet Office’s consultation principles where relevant.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect on children of the suspension of child tax credit when investigations are carried out.

    Jane Ellison

    In most cases, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during checks on tax credit awards. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay. Nevertheless, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.

    HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the (a) NFU and (b) other farming bodies on the effect of herbicides on reducing crop yields.

    George Eustice

    I have had regular meetings with the National Farmers Union (NFU) and other farming bodies where herbicide issues will have been discussed, but there have been no discussions about herbicides reducing crop yields.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses were employed in each Agenda for Change band in the latest month for which figures are available.

    Ben Gummer

    The latest information about the number of nurses employed in each Agenda for Change band is in the attached table.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why clinical research in mental health is scheduled to receive a tariff 32 per cent lower than for other clinical medicine subjects, including dentistry and nursing, for the same type of research, in the light of the overall increase in funding following the 2014 Research Excellence Framework conducted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is allocated funding from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) Science and Research budget to distribute to higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. Most of HEFCE’s funding is allocated as an unhypothecated research block grant to institutions, ensuring university leaders have flexibility to support their own research priorities. While this block grant is calculated using research quality and volume information from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) at a subject level, it is a matter for individual HEIs to determine how it is ultimately distributed to particular activities/subjects.

    In developing the REF, the attribution of different disciplines to particular units of assessment was agreed with the relevant professional bodies. Research relevant to clinical mental health was assessed in a unit including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As this unit included a mix of research with higher costs (clinical psychology and psychiatry, and neuroscience) and lower costs (social psychology), the funding was allocated at an intermediate cost rate, reflecting the mix of disciplines.

    REF2014 demonstrated significantly improved research quality in all disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As a result, the funding allocated on the basis of performance to this group increased by 16.5 per cent.

    As announced in the Spending Review 2015, the Government is taking forward a review of the REF to ensure that future university research funding is allocated efficiently, offers greater rewards for excellent research and reduces the administrative burden on institutions. This review will be led by Lord Stern, and he is expected to deliver his review to the Government in summer 2016.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether Daesh are committing genocide in Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against Christians, Mandeans, Yezidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Syria and Iraq who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.

    It is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred are a matter for the international judicial system rather than governments or other non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations of International Humanitarian Law and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

    Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in a Global Coalition of more than 65 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh’s inhumanity.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure (a) people who have not received payments from the Basic Payment Scheme for 2015 will receive those payments by the end of March 2016 and (b) all claimants of that scheme will receive information on how payments have been calculated.

    George Eustice

    The Rural Payments Agency is working to pay the remainder of farmers their Basic Payment Scheme claims as promptly as possible and is aiming to make almost all payments by the end of March. The Secretary of State and I have regular conversations with the CEO of the agency about progress. The agency has been communicating with farmers who have not yet received their payments. Going forward the agency will keep them updated about the likely timing of their payment until they are paid.

    The Rural Payments Agency will support every payment with a paper explanatory claim statement and guidance on how payments have been calculated. These statements started to be issued in February and will continue to go out throughout March.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31226, on how many occasions his Department has found a local authority to be non-compliant with (a) the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and (b) the Local Government Transparency Code 2015.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    My Department has recently completed compliance testing of local authorities with the Local Government Transparency Code 2015, which entailed checking the websites of 103 authorities, a 25% sample of authorities to which the Transparency Code applies, for the data they are required to publish. We are currently analysing the initial results, including to ascertain whether where expected information has not been found on an authority’s website this is an accurate reflection of the authority’s circumstances or due to non-compliance.

    Principal local authorities will not be required to comply with the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act until 1 April 2018 [and Health and smaller bodies from 1 April 2017]. Compliance is currently monitored by Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd, a transitional body appointed to manage existing audit arrangements until they expire.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what change there was in the proportion of the working age population employed by the public sector in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland between 2005 and 2015.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many vacancies for (a) paramedics and (b) doctors there are in the East Midlands Ambulance Service.

    Ben Gummer

    The information requested is not held centrally. It may be available directly from East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust.