Category: Speeches

  • Julian Knight – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Julian Knight – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy that affordable rent to buy housing is included as an option for developers in the Housing and Planning Bill’s general duty on all planning authorities in order to promote the supply of starter homes.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Housing and Planning Bill will support our manifesto commitment to build 200,000 Starter Homes to help more young people into home ownership. Like other valuable products which support access to home ownership, affordable rent-to-buy, can be considered by councils as part of their wider affordable housing requirements for their area.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the process of fitting Tornado aircraft with the Honeywell Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System II to be completed.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As at 28 January 2016, 43 Tornado GR4 aircraft had been fitted with a Traffic Collision Avoidance System capability. A total of 61 Tornado GR4 aircraft will be fitted with this capability by the end of 2016, when the project is planned to be completed.

    It should be noted that as far as we are aware, this is the first time ever a Collision Avoidance System has been fitted to a combat fast jet, anywhere in the world.

  • Craig Mackinlay – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Craig Mackinlay – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes HM Revenue and Customs have (a) registered and (b) approved in each financial year since 6 April 2012.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not currently publish information on the number of Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes applications received and accepted.

    Official statistics on the number of companies raising funds, the number of subscriptions and amounts raised under SEIS in 2012-13 and 2013-14 are available to view at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/enterprise-and-seed-enterprise-investment-schemes-january-2016.

    The first official statistics for 2014-15 will be published in April 2016, alongside statistics for the Enterprise Investment Scheme. HMRC plans to publish new statistics within this release on the number of companies applying for the scheme and the number of those who are successful.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the terms of reference of the Police Reform Group; when it was established; what is its composition; and whether it is in receipt of public funds.

    Lord Bates

    The Police Reform and Transformation Board is a non-statutory governance board which first met on 23 February 2016. It has been established and supported by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to provide strategic oversight and impetus to police transformation.

    Funding of the Board is a matter for the NPCC and APCC. Further information is available from the APCC and NPCC http://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/new-board-set-up-to-oversee-further-police-reform

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on implementing UN General Authority motion A/70 L.44 which reaffirms SDG targets 3.6 and 11.2.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID officials meet regularly with both Department of Health (DoH) and Department for Transport (DfT) officials and work in a co-ordinated manner on international road safety, including UN General Authority motion A/70 L.44.

  • Lord Beith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beith on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will bring forward a draft bill to make provision for guardianship of the property of missing persons.

    Lord Faulks

    My Department is working to prepare the legislation necessary to create the new legal status of guardian of the property and affairs of the missing person. We will bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

  • Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) economic effect and (b) effect on the garment industry in Bangladesh of recent violence in that country.

    Alok Sharma

    Bangladesh’s export market, in particular the ready-made garments sector plays a pivotal role in Bangladesh’s economy. A loss of investor confidence, due to recent violence and attacks against foreign nationals, could adversely harm Bangladesh’s economy and as a consequence its impressive progress towards middle-income status.

    Extremist related violence is an international problem that requires all countries to work closely together to prevent atrocities and tackle the root causes. Along with the international community we are committed to supporting Bangladesh in this global challenge. As the largest grant aid donor to Bangladesh we continue to address some of the root causes such as poverty and economic marginalisation.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the Proposed Joint Declaration of Principles for the Export and Subsequent Use of Armed or Strike-Enabled Unmanned Aerial Systems.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) has had no direct discussions with his US counterpart on this US-led initiative. He was consulted by Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials, who agreed with their US counterparts the 5 October Joint Declaration for the Export and Subsequent Use of Armed or Strike –Enabled Unmanned Aerial Systems.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in other European countries on the imposition of tighter border controls across Europe and the effective screening of Syrian refugees for connections to ISIS.

    James Brokenshire

    Effective management of European external borders is vital as part of a comprehensive response to the migrant situation and the UK continues to engage with European partners on measures to improve the security of borders and to identify those who may a pose a threat to our countries.

    As set out in the response to PQ11691 answered on 19th October 2015, security is taken extremely seriously in cases referred to us for resettlement. We work closely with the UNHCR who have their own robust identification processes in place. When Syrian cases are referred by the UNHCR for our consideration under the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement scheme they are screened and considered by the Home Office for suitability for entry to the UK: we retain the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds. For reasons of national security, we cannot provide further on the details of the screening process itself.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which weapons were identified in health and safety near misses reported by his Department involving an unplanned or faulty discharge in each of the last five years; and how many such near misses there were for each of those weapons in each of the those years.

    Mark Lancaster

    We are investigating the compilation of the requested statistics and I will write to the hon. Member in due course.