Category: Speeches

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contingency plans are in place for the young asylum seekers in Calais when the camp there closes.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Although the decision to clear the camp in Calais is a matter for the French Government, the UK and France remain committed to working together protecting our shared border in Calais and addressing the humanitarian challenges in the camps.

    The Home Secretary reaffirmed this when she met her French counterpart in August. Since the beginning of this year, over 130 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Europe have been accepted for transfer to the UK under the family reunion provisions of the Dublin Regulation, of whom over 80 are from France. We continue to support the French Government to provide alternative accommodation for those in Calais, including thousands of new places in reception centres across France to accommodate migrants and unaccompanied children. The French Government continues to urge anyone who does not want to live in the makeshift camps in Calais to engage with the French authorities who will provide accommodation and support.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the National Association of Retired Police Officers on steps to support national security.

    Mike Penning

    Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Policy engagement with external organisations is a matter for Chief Constables to take locally in conjunction with their democratically elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

  • Scott Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Scott Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to change the distribution of Common Fisheries Policy quotas for inshore fishing fleets.

    George Eustice

    Defra is in the final stages of a permanent quota realignment exercise which will represent a 14% uplift in the amount of quota the inshore fleet currently receives.

    We have also announced that the inshore fleet will be the principal beneficiaries of any quota uplift received as a result of the introduction of the demersal landing obligation.

    For species subject to the discard ban from January 2016, we have announced that the non-sector pools will receive the first 100 tonnes of any quota uplift received and 10% of any remaining uplift. For 2016 this represents more than 1,000 tonnes of uplift to support the non-sector in their adaptation to the landing obligation and includes key stocks such as haddock, whiting and plaice.

    In the Celtic Sea there will be an estimated additional 126 tonnes of whiting and 142 tonnes of hake to support the non-sector.

  • Lord Sharkey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Sharkey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Sharkey on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of Muslim students who have been unable to progress to higher education because their religious principles do not permit them to take out an interest-bearing student loan.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Government consulted in April 2014 on an Alternative Finance product that could be offered to students alongside traditional loans. 20,000 responses were received with 94 per cent believing there is a demand for Alternative Finance.

    The Government is working on the development of a Takaful Alternative Finance product and as part of this will be working with the Muslim community and others to understand the likely take-up of the product.

  • Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Special Advisers and Permanent Secretaries attended any meetings in which ministers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport discussed the future of Channel 4 between May 2015 and January 2016 inclusive.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Details of Ministerial meetings, and Permanent Secretary meetings, with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available via the gov.uk website.

    Historic records of internal government meetings are not kept.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the definition of domestic servitude used by the National Referral Mechanism when the victim is a child.

    Lord Bates

    Data on the number of child cases of forced labour or domestic servitude recorded through the National Referral Mechanism is already publically available on the National Crime Agency website and can be found here: www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics.

    The National Referral Mechanism is designed to gather evidence in order to determine whether someone is considered to be a victim of ‘slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour’ or ‘human trafficking’ in line with the offences set out in the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Whether an individual is considered to be a victim of either of these offences in the form of domestic servitude or forced labour will be determined on the indicators present and the facts of each case. Additional consideration is given to the particular vulnerabilities of children and their inability to consent.

    Information on how many cases of domestic servitude have been prosecuted where the victim was a child or how many cases of domestic servitude have been recorded which involved more than one person from the same family is not recorded centrally.

  • 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 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many single source contracts his Department placed in 2015; and how many such contracts were classed as (a) new contracts and (b) amendments to existing contracts.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Each year the Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes an analysis of all new contracts which sets out whether they were placed competitively or non-competitively. This analysis appears in the Department’s Statistical Bulletin Trade, Industry and Contracts and the most recent period for which data is available can be found through the link below. Table six in the excel tables and page 11 of the pdf refer to the relevant information.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015

    Figures for amendments to existing contracts are not held centrally and, due to the large number of such cases, an analysis could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    All single source procurement contracts which met the criteria set out in Part two of the Defence Reform Act 2014 (DRA) are subject to the new single source procurement framework, apart from a very small number which have been specifically exempted from the framework by the Secretary of State for Defence, using the powers granted to him under section 14(7) of the DRA. The Department does not release details of these exemptions in order to avoid influencing future decisions.

    Contracts which were signed prior to the new single source procurement framework coming into force can become subject to the regulations on amendment by agreement between the MOD and the contractor. To maximise the benefits from the regulations, the MOD intends to seek such agreement where appropriate, except where there are well founded commercial or practical reasons not to. However, the Department does not hold a central record of the number of contracts which have, on amendment, not been converted to Qualifying Defence Contracts, and the data could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    Contracts which fall under the Regulations are only referred to the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO) when there is a disagreement between the supplier and the contracting authority which cannot be resolved through negotiation between these two parties. The subjects that can be referred to the SSRO are set out in the DRA, and include whether or not costs are allowable, attributable to the contract and reasonable. Should a referral be made by either the MOD or the supplier, the consent of the other party is not required. One such referral was made in 2015, by the MOD.

    The MOD is currently pursuing the recruitment of a Chair for the SSRO. The SSRO has an Interim Chairman in post and the Department plans to advertise this substantive position shortly.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Justice does not set a budget for food served in its offices. Catering services are provided by private companies under contract to the Ministry of Justice and provided to staff without subsidy. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from Ministry of Justice staff.

    The Ministry of Justice has worked with its current suppliers to align existing contracts with the requirements of the balanced scorecard.

    Details of the proportion of food produced for the Ministry of Justice that was sourced from British producers is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 35065 on 29 April 2016 which provides relevant details about food procured for prisons.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39321, on Civil Service recruitment, what assessment he has made of the effect of the geographical focus on London of fast stream recruitment on his Department’s plans to diversify the civil service.

    Matthew Hancock

    Research undertaken within the Civil Service (by the Bridge Group in 2015/16) and externally (e.g. by Trendence in 2015) shows that lower socio-economic applicants are potentially more likely to be less mobile and less willing to move to London.

    A dedicated new assessment centre will open in Newcastle in Autumn 2016. From Autumn 2017 we intend to regionalise further, introducing ‘pop up’ centres in support of our fixed assessment locations.

    Beyond the assessment process, we also require all centrally managed Fast Streamers to undertake a regional place.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to classify the cost of armed intervention to achieve regime change as overseas aid.

    Lord Bates

    No – the use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for general military activities is circumscribed; ODA can only be used in well-defined training on a limited list of topics consistent with development objectives, for example in human rights and humanitarian law.