Category: Speeches

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the energy-saving capacity of 5v USB outlets; and what assessment he has made of their potential effect on national domestic energy consumption.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department has not made a specific assessment of whether 5v USB outlets offer any energy-saving capacity nor of their effect on national energy consumption.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the costs of HM Revenue and Customs locating its regional hub in (a) Leeds and (b) Bradford.

    Mr David Gauke

    On 12 November, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the next stage of its ten-year modernisation programme. As part of that, the department demonstrated its long-term commitment to Yorkshire and the Humber by setting out that it would establish a Regional Centre in Leeds.

    A number of factors were considered by HMRC when deciding where to locate its new Regional Centres. In addition to cost, it considered local and national transport links, the local labour market, supply of future workforce and the retention of current staff and skills.

    HMRC modelled the impact of locating the Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in both Bradford and Leeds. For both scenarios, it took into account the potential loss of jobs for staff expected to be outside of reasonable daily travel (defined as approximately 1 hour from home to work, though dependent on individual circumstances).

    HMRC first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, setting out how and why it is changing. The department is committed to continuing to support all of its employees who are affected by these changes.

    Staff in Yorkshire attended a number of face-to-face events, providing feedback on the potential location of the regional centre. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

    This transformation programme will ultimately enable HMRC to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer. It will generate estate savings of £100 million a year by 2025.

  • Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of multiple myeloma and the risks presented by late diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England’s ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaigns do not currently include multiple myeloma.

    A number of factors are taken into account when deciding which campaigns to develop and run, with one of the main criteria being the scope to save lives through earlier diagnosis and whether the cancer has a clear early sign or symptom that the general public can act upon should it arise.

    We appreciate that this means that there are a number of cancers, besides Myeloid Leukaemia, that are not covered by ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ specifically. Given this, Public Health England is looking at developing an approach to raise awareness of generic symptoms that can indicate a wider number of cancers and the need to visit the doctor promptly with these symptoms. This work is currently in development, with the help of a number of experts, including clinicians and charities.

  • Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of savings that will accrue to UK businesses from his Department’s plans to introduce quarterly tax returns for business by 2020.

    Mr David Gauke

    I refer the honourable Members to my response of 11 January 2016 (with references 20876 and 21032).

    “

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings under the Belfast Agreement 1998 can be attended by members of the public.

    Lord Dunlop

    Meetings between the UK Government, Irish Government and Northern Ireland political parties, such as those which took place that led to the Fresh Start Agreement, are held in accordance with the three-stranded approach established by the Belfast Agreement. Such political talks are held in private but are attended by representative politicians.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2016 to Question 24849, how much of the budget allocated for the National Living Wage advertising campaign has been allocated to advertisements on the London Underground.

    Nick Boles

    £42,000 has been allocated to advertisements on the London Underground.

    The Government’s new National Living Wage is a step up for working people, so it is important workers know their rights and that employers pay the new £7.20 from April 1st. The campaign will tell people about their entitlements and is targeted at employers, and workers currently earning the National Minimum Wage.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the capacity and the availability of seating for passengers on peak services on High Speed 1 trains between Ebbsfleet and London St Pancras.

    Claire Perry

    No such assessment has been made by the Department but franchisees have an obligation to minimise overcrowding. Therefore it is the Train Operating Company running the service that is responsible for what rolling stock it allocates to which service, both in type and in quantity.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on the potential merits of reducing the insurance premium tax paid by drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 who have telematics car insurance policies.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Treasury receives representations on a wide variety of issues. We keep all taxes under review.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what service standard he expects of Capita for response times for correspondence from hon. Members relating to personal independence payments.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Capita aims to respond to correspondence within 20 working days but this is not a contractual service level agreement

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) consultants and (b) seconded staff (i) are working and (ii) have been recruited to work at his Department in the last three years; and from which (A) companies, (B) departments and (C) other organisations such staff were recruited or seconded.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    A) Consultants

    The data that the FCO holds on consultancy projects is tracked by project rather than by individual. Consultants are not always appointed as individuals, rather the project in question is delivered via a company, which allocates the work to experts according to requirements. It is not therefore possible to provide, at proportionate cost, data on the number of consultants recruited to work at the FCO in the last three years. We can however confirm that the FCO has spent the following on consultancy projects in the last three years:

    Financial Year 2015/16 – £1.1m
    Financial Year 2014/15 – £1.6m
    Financial Year 2013/14 – £1.5m

    The FCO’s consultancy expenditure is primarily for specialist advice that supports our diplomacy and where ‘in-house’ expertise is not available, such as de-mining surveys.

    B) Secondments

    With regards to staff on loan from other Government Departments and those seconded from the private sector, the numbers are as follows, based on the year the loan started:

    In 2016 (to date) 147 Civil Servants, 1 public servant, and 1 secondee from the private sector have joined the FCO on loan.

    In 2015, 161 Civil Servants, and 3 public servants joined the FCO on loan. There were no secondments from the private sector.

    In 2014, 149 Civil Servants, 1 public servant and 1 secondee from the private sector joined the FCO on loan.

    Due to the small numbers of loans from individual organisations, it is not possible to give a breakdown of all the organisations from which they were loaned, without risking identification of individuals in breach of data protection rules. However the largest numbers of officers loaned to the FCO in all three years came from:

    2016 2015 2014
    DFID 21 25 11
    Home Office 20 20 20
    Cabinet Office 10 9 20
    HM Treasury 11 11 10
    MOD 13 14 12
    BIS 14 12 14
    DECC 12 4 10
    MOJ 6 14 9

    Fewer than five individuals a year were loaned from any other department. The public servants loaned to the FCO were all Parliamentary staff or Police Officers.