Category: Speeches

  • Judith Cummins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Judith Cummins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Judith Cummins on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the business case on the closure of the HM Revenue and Customs offices in Bradford.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs has based its decisions on the locations of the future regional centres on a number of key principles including retention of its current staff and skills, access to a pipeline of talent and local and national transport links. In this context it will be locating its Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in Leeds.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, under what criteria NHS trusts can place mental health patients in care homes.

    David Mowat

    Mental health providers must comply with the requirements of the Mental Health Act 1983 and its Code of Practice when delivering mental health services.

    We would expect that commissioners and providers would assess the clinical and care needs of a person to determine the most appropriate setting to deliver care, whether in a hospital of other setting such as a care home. The setting should be the least restrictive setting to meet the needs of the person.

    Before it is decided that admission to hospital is necessary, consideration must be given to whether there are alternative means of providing the care and treatment which the patient requires. However, if a person requires treatment in hospital for their mental health needs then we would expect them to receive that treatment in a hospital, it is unlikely that a care home could provide equivalent treatment.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to increase passenger carrying capacity on Inter City West Coast services between cities in the West Midlands.

    Paul Maynard

    We expect potential bidders for the next Inter City West Coast (ICWC) franchise to plan their train services to meet the needs of their passengers and the wider network. To make sure the Department’s specification best reflects the needs of the passengers and stakeholders of the franchise a public consultation on the franchise was run from 10 May to 2 August this year. This sought the public’s and stakeholders’ views and priorities on a number of areas of the franchise specification. The consultation acknowledged that capacity for additional train services on the West Coast Mainline is limited and sought views on how the franchise could cater for growth.

    The responses will help inform us about what we will ask for in the tender documents from the future franchise operator and will be provided to bidders for the franchise to inform their responses. We are now reviewing and analysing the consultation responses and will publish a summary in due course.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to amend the Investment Regulations for Occupational Pensions Funds to require them to set out within their Statement of Investment Principles their approach to considering environmental, social and governance risks and to stewardship.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Earlier this year the Government consulted on whether to amend the reference to social, environmental, or ethical considerations ,in the Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations 2005, and whether to require trustees to state their approach to the Stewardship Code. The Government plans to respond to this consultation shortly.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and test staff representatives in order to seek a resolution of the industrial disputes at that Agency.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) regrets the current industrial action, which is focussed on a modernised employment contract, and the effect it is having on its customers. DVSA has kept dialogue open with the Public and Commercial Services and Prospect unions. Senior DVSA managers have made themselves available for talks, but the unions set unacceptable preconditions to talks, so they could not take place.

    DVSA is seeking to come to an agreement on acceptable conditions for talks, seeking the help of Acas on 2 December to do this.

  • Lord Burnett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Burnett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Burnett on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many complaints have been raised, and disciplinary proceedings brought, in each of the last 10 years involving the interaction between men and women serving in the Royal Navy.

    Earl Howe

    This information is not held in the format requested.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council acting as final court of appeal for Commonwealth relations in 2015.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The administration of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council administration has been the responsibility of the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) and its costs are integrated with those for running the UKSC. Accordingly it is not possible to identify precisely those costs which are attributable to the JCPC.

    In 2014 – 2015, however, which is the latest financial year for which figures are available, the JCPC accounted for approximately 33% of the number of cases heard by both courts and 29% of the number of sitting days in both courts. On the basis of the average of both options the JCPC can notionally be regarded as consuming 31% of the total gross expenditure of both courts. In 2014 – 2015 this was £12.44 million, which means the JCPC’s share of this is notionally £3.85 million. Costs are offset by the £316,000 raised from fees charged to JCPC litigants.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prepare for RansomWare attacks on NHS facilities.

    George Freeman

    The Department, the Health and Social Care Information Centre and strategic partners, have created the Care Computer Emergency Response Team service (CareCERT).

    CareCERT was launched in September 2015 and is a centre of excellence for Cyber Security advice and Security Incident Management.

    The CareCERT service is available to provide specific advice and guidance to organisations that may become affected. CareCERT maintains links with the United Kingdom National Computer Emergency Response Team and the Communications Electronic Security Group, and is able to call upon the expertise of these organisations should a larger incident be identified.

    CareCERT send regular alerts and advisories to every National Health Service organisation and local authority on a range of Cyber Security issues, three of which have, to date, contained information regarding ransomware.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department’s expenditure was on artificial football pitches in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15 and (f) 2015-16 to date.

    David Evennett

    Since 2010/11, the Government has invested over £125 million with the specific purpose of creating and maintaining new artificial grass pitches (AGPs) delivered by the Football Foundation, Sport England (whose investment includes AGPs for football, and multi-sport projects/facilities) and Parklife football hubs programme. This investment came to £8,925,413 in 2010/11; £11,958,279 in 2011/12; £18,107,308 in 2012/13; £26,996,902 in 2013/14; £31,751,581 in 2014/15; and £27,407,989 in 2015/16 to date.

    Government funding in the Football Foundation has been matched by the Premier League and the Football Association.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the grant settlement and provisional settlements for police forces up to 2019-20 on the ratio of officers to members of the public.

    Mike Penning

    The Government has protected overall police spending for the coming Spending Review period in real terms, when local income is taken into account. This is an increase of up to £900 million in cash terms by 2019/20. The public can be confident that over the next four years the police will have the resources they need to carry on cutting crime, fighting terrorism and keeping the people of this country safe.

    The proportion of police officers in frontline roles in England and Wales has increased from 89% in March 2010 to 92% in March 2015. Ultimately, decisions on the size and composition of a police force’s workforce are for individual chief officers and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).