Category: Speeches

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which cases of human rights violations against Tibetans he or ministerial colleagues have taken up with their Chinese counterparts in each of the last three years.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Over the course of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogues held in Beijing in April 2015 and in London in 2014, senior officials raised the cases of 22 Tibetans detained by the Chinese authorities. We also raised the full range of our wider human rights concerns on Tibet at each of these rounds, including allegations of torture, freedom of expression, right to a fair trial and freedom of religion or belief. A round of the Human Rights Dialogue was not held in 2013.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government websites include a link to information on the EU referendum.

    John Penrose

    The only Government websites currently linking to information on the EU referendum are Gov.uk and eureferendum.gov.uk.

    “

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) regular service personnel, (b) reservists and (c) civilian staff were employed by his Department in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    Information on the number of Regular Service personel and Reservists employed by the Ministry of Defence from 2012 to 2016 is available in the annual Service Personnel Statistics publication. Older data is also published by UK Defence Statistics. This information can be found at the following links:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-index

    http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140116142443/http://www.dasa.mod.uk/index.php/publications/UK-defence-statistics-compendium

    http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140116142443/http://www.dasa.mod.uk/index.php/publications/personnel/military/reserves-and-cadets-strengths/

    Civillian staff employed by the Ministry of Defence is published in the Quarterly Civilian Personnel Report and in the UK Defence Statistics publication which can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-index

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what response he plans to make to the serious concerns raised by the recent UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its concluding observations to its Fifth Period Report.

    Damian Hinds

    In section V. paragraph B92 of the UN concluding observations, the UN Committee has invited the UK to submit its combined sixth and seventh periodic reports (including a response to the observations from this year’s examination) by 14 January 2022; it would therefore not be appropriate for me to pre-empt this report by anticipating what we might say in 2022. In any event, the Government regularly assesses the impacts of its policies and will continue to do so.

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to sick pay and state benefits for women who suffer from severe endometriosis.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provides a measure of earnings replacement for employees unable to work because of short-term sickness if they satisfy the qualifying conditions, which are not related to specific medical conditions.

    Those who are not entitled to SSP or are still unwell at the end of the maximum payment period (28 weeks) may, provided they satisfy the conditions of entitlement, be entitled to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

    As two people with the same condition can be affected in different ways, there is no condition-based entitlement to ESA. The Work Capability Assessment recognises that conditions can vary in their severity and therefore people with the same condition could be placed in the Work Related Activity Group, the Support Group or found fit for work.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their estimate is of the cost of Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords, and which department will cover those costs.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

    Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

    Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

    The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

    Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

    Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

  • Lord Rennard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Rennard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce a limit on the size of personal, or company, donations to political parties.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    We remain committed to negotiating a comprehensive cross-party reform agreement, including donations from all funding sources including trade unions.

  • Baroness Benjamin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Benjamin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Benjamin on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 13 January in response to the oral question from Lord Clinton-Davis on what plans they have to impose a sugar tax on fizzy drinks, whether they will consider introducing a mandatory sugar reduction target on all firms in the food and drinks industry because of the high hidden sugar levels in many everyday foods.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Measures by industry to reduce calories, including from sugar, are important components in any approach to reduce obesity. Some parts of industry have already taken a range of actions to help people eat a healthier diet, but the challenge to make further substantial progress remains.

    We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy shortly. It will look at everything, including sugar, that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the amount of energy that would be generated in West Cumbria as a result of the (a) Moorside Nuclear development and (b) Solway Firth Tidal Gateway project; and what proportion of UK energy would be generated by those projects.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Nugen’s proposal for Moorside is for three Toshiba Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, which together have a stated generation capacity of 3.6GW. This is equivalent to around 27 TWh per year once the station is fully operational. This is estimated to be equivalent to around 7% of the UK’s electricity generation needs in 2030.

    No assessment of the amount of generation which could be produced by a potential Solway Firth Tidal Gateway project has been made by my Department as we have not received any detailed proposal for such a project.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to improve consumer awareness of the presence of high-fructose corn syrup in food with better labelling.

    Jane Ellison

    The Food Information for Consumers Regulation has recently overhauled the food labelling system. Under the regulations, any corn syrup must be clearly marked on all prepacked food products in the ingredients list. All ingredients must be listed by order of weight and in at least the minimum font size, making them clearly apparent to consumers.

    In addition, nutrition labelling of pre-packed foods, including the amount of total sugars, will be mandatory from 13 December 2016. It will supplement the ingredient information on food labels. Some parts of the food industry already provide nutrition information.