Category: Speeches

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether changes have been made to the way evidence of illegal entry is recorded in response to the recommendations made in the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, An Inspection of General Aviation and General Maritime, published in January 2016, and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force fully accepted the recommendations of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration regarding General Aviation and General Maritime and is implementing changes as quickly as practicable. Border Force is working with other government departments and partners to deliver improvement during 2016-2017 and is closely monitoring progress.

  • Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to assist Bangladeshis living in the UK to bring their families to the UK in the event of an escalation in political violence in Bangladesh.

    Alok Sharma

    The UK has consistently called upon all parties to refrain from using violence, intimidation and confrontational action. The UK will continue to engage constructively with all political parties in Bangladesh and with international partners, to strengthen democratic accountability and build the willingness and capacity to hold future participatory elections. We are under no obligation to consider asylum claims lodged outside UK territory and it is not appropriate to do so. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach; that is the fastest route to safety.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s proposed deadline is for closing the 1993 and 2003 Child Support Agency IT system.

    Caroline Nokes

    The closure of existing child maintenance cases on the 1993 and 2003 schemes is proceeding as planned. The timetable for the closure of the underlying 1993 and 2003 child support IT systems is currently under consideration.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the publically available guidance entitled, Third Country cases: Referring and Handling refers to EC No 343/2003 and not EC No 604/2013.

    James Brokenshire

    The publicly available guidance on Third Country cases and the Enforcement and Instructions Guidance that refer to the Dublin Regulation are both under review and will be published shortly. Training on the Dublin Regulation in EU No. 604/2013 has been provided to Home Office officials dealing with Third Country cases.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many people of each gender have worked as special advisers in the Government Equalities Office since 2010.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Since May 2010, four female and two male special advisers working for successive Ministers for Women and Equalities have had responsibilities which have included women and equalities issues.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans HM Revenue and Customs has to take into account the effect of downtime of the HSBC online banking system during January 2015 when issuing penalties for late self-assessment tax returns.

    Mr David Gauke

    The downtime of online HSBC had no impact on customer’s ability to successfully file their tax return

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his future policies of the Sharm el Sheikh air crash in October 2015; and what recent reports he has received on the reasons for that crash.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The formal accident investigation into the loss of the Metrojet flight over Sinai on 31 October 2015 has not formally reached any conclusions as to the cause of the crash. But the Russian authorities announced, in November 2015, their conclusion that the aircraft was brought down by an explosive device, and the Government have been proceeding on that basis.

    The incident highlights the importance for airports, airlines and countries to increase vigilance and make sure that sound security measures are in place. The Government is working to ensure this happens, but does not discuss the details of security arrangements.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to encourage the use of faecal calprotectin in primary care to facilitate prompt and appropriate referral of people with suspected inflammation of the bowel.

    Jane Ellison

    The IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) Registry provides a United Kingdom-wide repository of anonymised IBD adult and paediatric patient data for prospective audit and research purposes. Patients must consent for their data to be added to the registry. The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) has allocated transitional funding this year to incorporate IBD audit data collection into the IBD Registry, providing an enhanced system for data capture and quality improvement that will be available to every hospital in the UK. This will allow the entry of data locally and support service improvement. Initially the focus will be for IBD patients receiving biologic treatments, but the system will address other key aspects of IBD care in the future.

    The second step of data collection will be to focus on new patients with IBD to begin to understand the incidence of IBD in the UK. This picture will build up over a number of years and be dependent on the engagement of clinicians.

    No specific assessment of the potential effects on healthcare due to the introduction of a registry of patients with IBD in England has been made. However, the data provided through the register can support National Health Service services in areas such as the assessment of local IBD populations as well as in measuring incidence and outcomes with services in other parts of the UK.

    Although there is no direct Department funding, HQIP have given £290,000 for a year’s transition funding to join the audit data with the registry.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends faecal calprotectin testing as an option to help doctors distinguish between inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and non-inflammatory bowel diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

    The NICE IBD Quality Standard states that general practitioners (GP) and GP practices should ensure that testing is offered and clinical commissioning groups should ensure the diagnostic services are in place to support this.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Base Case Conditions for EU approval of state aid for Hinkley Point C, whether there have been modifications to the (a) date of 31 December 2020 and (b) cap on the amount of debt drawn until Flamanville 3 has completed the trial operation period; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    The Chancellor’s announcement on 21 September 2015 set out that the government and the Hinkley Point C project company had agreed the terms of a £2 billion guarantee through the UK Guarantees Scheme. This initial guarantee will be repaid in December 2020. There is no further obligation to issue guarantees after that date.

    This initial guarantee is the first tranche of debt guarantees that was approved as part of the European Commission’s approval of the wider support package for Hinkley Point C. The government is satisfied that the terms of the guarantee remain within the Closing Decision of the EU Commission.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the College of Policing have travelled to Saudi Arabia to discuss the British police force training given to the Saudi Arabian police force in the last three years.

    Mike Penning

    We are rightly proud of the British model of policing by consent and of the high level of skill and expertise across policing in this country. The College of Policing, which is independent of Government, ensures that respect for human rights and dignity is integral to each programme it delivers.

    Course developers and trainers are required to include a bespoke human rights and ethical decision-making element in each course. Before undertaking any international work, the College refers to the International Policing Assistance Board (IPAB), which assesses all requests against British values and interests. IPAB comprises policing representatives and those from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for International Development and devolved administrations.

    The College always acts in accordance with HM Treasury’s guidelines on ‘Managing Public Money’, which includes guidance on commercial charging rates. The Home Office do not keep records on the travel of College of Policing officials.