Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making with the governments of the United States, Russia, and others, to stabilise Syria and to make significant progress on peace negotiations.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK has been undertaking stabilisation activities in Syria for a number of years, through projects totalling over £100 million funded under the Conflict Pool and thereafter the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. But as the Government made clear at the London Conference on Syria in February, the post conflict stabilisation and reconstruction needs in Syria following a political settlement which ends the civil war will require a significant international response.

    We are currently working with our international partners to ensure a coordinated post-conflict planning effort which is able to respond to the timeline that will – we hope – emerge from successful UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva, which are due to resume on 14 March. However, as agreed at the London Conference, it will rightly be for the UN to coordinate this work, with the support of Member States including the UK.

    The UK is supporting peace negotiations through our leading role in the International Syria Support Group, as well as our support to the Syrian High Negotiations Committee. UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura intends to resume peace negotiations in Geneva from 14 March. We hope that this effort delivers rapid progress towards political transition as envisaged by the 2012 Geneva Communiqué.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of how many people in Southampton will benefit from the introduction of the national living wage.

    Nick Boles

    The Government published its Impact Assessment with a full assessment of the National Living Wage policy on 7 December 2015.

    300,000 workers in the South East will directly benefit from the National Living Wage by 2020. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has made no detailed assessment of the benefits of the National Living Wage at local authority level.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to become a founding donor of the Education cannot wait fund for education in emergencies, at its launch at the World Humanitarian Summit.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK has played a leading role in the development of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23rd May. The UK has committed to provide £30million in support over two years to the new fund as a founding donor, which was announced by the International Development Secretary at the fund’s launch.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations the Minister of State for Universities and Science has made to his European counterparts since the EU referendum on access to EU research grants for UK researchers.

    Joseph Johnson

    As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made clear, while the UK remains a member of the EU, current EU funding and collaboration arrangements continue unchanged, including those that apply to students, researchers, and businesses. I am in close contact with Commissioner Moedas on the topic of Horizon 2020 funding, and I met with the Italian Minister for Education, Universities and Research on 11 July.

    The UK is world-class in research and innovation and we play a leading role in major European and international collaboration, including ESA and CERN.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on the use of citizens’ juries to define the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

    Mr David Jones

    There are currently no plans to use citizens’ juries to define the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Band 7 NHS psychologists were employed in each year since 2010-11.

    Ben Gummer

    The attached table shows the number of Band 7 clinical psychology staff employed in the National Health Service in England each year from September 2010 to September 2015. The figures are taken from the NHS hospital and community health services monthly workforce statistics, which are published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HM Revenue and Customs jobs in (a) Bradford and (b) West Yorkshire will be lost as a result of the proposed restructuring plan.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) restructuring plans will mean it is even more effective in raising the taxes on which public services depend.

    HMRC has around 3,774 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs in the Yorkshire and the Humber Region. The intention to consolidate HMRC operations across Yorkshire and the Humber into a single regional centre in Leeds accommodating between 4,100 and 4,400 FTE, by 2021, is expected to result in an overall increase in jobs in the region.

    In offices which will close and are outside reasonable travel distance of Leeds, HMRC employees will have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager. Until then HMRC cannot be certain of the number staff who are unable to move to a Regional Centre.

    More details on the number of people relocating from individual offices, including Bradford, Leeds and Shipley, will be known when lines of business have finalised their plans and individuals have had the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

    HMRC will look at redeployment opportunities for people who are unable to move, helping and supporting them to find another role, possibly in other government departments.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether revenue received from the criminal courts charge has exceeded the cost to the public purse of running such courts since that charge was introduced.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The principle underlying the Criminal Courts Charge was for offenders to contribute towards the cost of running the Criminal Courts, not to cover the full running costs.

    Data on the amount of the Criminal Courts Charge imposed and collected from April to September can be found here – https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.

    “

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what resources and schemes are being targeted at those who lack the basic levels of literacy and numeracy.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    This Government understands the importance of English and maths and makes these subjects a priority for support within the adult skills system. Adults who improve their literacy and numeracy are more likely to experience better health and well-being, increase their chances of employment and progress to better jobs.

    We fully fund, through a statutory entitlement, all adults to achieve their first English and maths GCSE at grade C or above as well as other qualifications which help them get to that level. The total funding for English and maths for academic year 2013/14 (including for apprenticeships, English for Speakers of Other Languages and prisoners) was £563,961,000. Of this £142m was spent on English and maths in apprenticeships. (905,600 learners participated in English and maths courses in 2013/14)

    We fund a wide range of learners to study English and maths including:
    • Prisoners, through the Offender Learning and Skills Service
    • Learners in the community, including through Family English, Maths and Language
    • People who need English for Speakers of Other Languages
    • Trainees as part of their traineeship
    • Apprentices as part of their apprenticeship
    • Jobseekers

    We have increased our expectations of what learners should achieve in order to increase the standard of literacy and numeracy. To do this we have embedded English and maths at the heart of all our major programmes. This means:
    • Learners who did not achieve a good GCSE pass in English and/ or maths by the age of 16 are now required to continue to study those subjects post-16;
    • Since 2014/15, the English and maths requirement for Intermediate Apprenticeships has been stronger, with all apprentices who have already achieved level 1 English and maths having to work towards level 2;
    • Since 2014/15, young people undertaking a traineeship have been required to study English and maths unless they already have level 2 qualifications in these subjects;
    • In August 2014, we introduced mandatory assessment of maths and English for all newly-received prisoners to ensure that all offenders, not just those that go into learning, receive a learning assessment (focused around English and maths, but also covering learning difficulties and disabilities)

    We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy and numeracy than the old GCSEs. We also recognise that some people are not ready to take GCSE so we are also improving the rigour and relevance of English and maths Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over. We have commissioned the Education and Training Foundation to revise the National Literacy and Numeracy Standards and reform Functional Skills. The foundation has launched a consultation which will run until April and which will involve employers, teacher and subject experts.

    We recognise the need to improve the quality of English and maths teaching in further education. We have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to fund a range of measures to improve the workforce in areas such as leadership, governance, teaching and learning, with a particular focus on maths and English. This has resulted in over 1,000 bursaries to attract graduates to teach in further education and over 3,800 teachers have benefited from training to improve the quality of their English and maths courses.
    We are undertaking a range of research to best understand where Government investment in English and maths has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. This includes:
    • Using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English and maths and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course; ;
    • Longitudinal research into skills gain and skills atrophy of adult English and maths learners
    • Comparing the impact of blended and more traditional classroom learning.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish responses to the consultation on the draft Shaw Report on the future structure of Network Rail.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Government has asked Nicola Shaw to undertake an independent report on the future shape and financing of Network Rail and it is up to her whether she chooses to publish the responses to her consultation.