Category: Speeches

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil law suits have been brought against her Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office deals with thousands of cases every year and litigants frequently rely on arguments based wholly or partly on the Human Rights Act 1998. In most cases, the 1998 Act is relied on in addition to other claims. The Government Legal Department’s records do not, historically, distinguish between cases where the 1998 Act is invoked and cases where it is not. Nor do they record how many suits were settled out of court before a judgment was delivered; or how much has been paid out in such settlements. Consequently, it is not possible to provide the information requested.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29811, on further education, how many meetings have been held for area reviews in (a) Birmingham and Solihull, (b) Greater Manchester, (c) Sheffield City Region, (d) Tees Valley, (e) Sussex, (f) Solent and (g) West Yorkshire in each of the last nine months.

    Nick Boles

    A wide range of meetings are held within each area review, which is a locally owned process designed to meet the needs of each local area. Bilateral meetings will often take place, for instance, between individual colleges which might be exploring restructuring options. Local stakeholders will often meet in smaller groupings to discuss particular issues or themes, for example local enterprise partnerships and local authorities may have set up separate meetings. Additionally, some local stakeholders will seek meetings to ensure their involvement at particular points, for example local MPs once recommendations emerge.

    The number and type of meetings are likely to vary with each review, depending on local provision, circumstances and issues as well as local interest in engaging with the review work. The following focuses on the formal meetings which are a core part of the area review process and would therefore be consistent across the country.

    A number of formal area review steering group meetings have taken place in each area since September 2015. No steering group meetings were held prior to September 2015. Meetings held between September 2015 and March 2016 are as follows:

    • In Birmingham and Solihull, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, October, November, December, January and March.
    • In Greater Manchester, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, November and December.
    • In Sheffield City Region, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, November, December and March.
    • In Tees Valley, one meeting was held in each of the following months: October, November, December, February and March.
    • In Sussex, one meeting was held in each of the following months: October, December, January, February and March.
    • In the Solent, one meeting was held in each of the following months: November, December, January and March.
    • In West Yorkshire, one meeting was held in each of the following months: November, December, January and March.
  • Chloe Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Chloe Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chloe Smith on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department measures the effectiveness of spending in the Palestinian territories by UN agencies to which her Department contributes funds.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    In the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) the UK provides funding to a number of UN agencies including the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), UN Women, the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO). We monitor programmes throughout the year and annually assess their delivery against targets. DFID also monitors its results framework for the OPTs quarterly to ensure results being delivered are in line with those planned.

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

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what accountability mechanics are in place related to decisions in Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints.

    George Freeman

    Each Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprint is convened by a senior leader who has agreed to chair and lead the meetings on behalf of their peers. Each footprint has agreed its own governance and representation, depending on local circumstances and to ensure that all relevant National Health Service bodies and partners are included. An STP footprint supports organisations to come together to agree how best to improve and sustain services and health for their local populations.

    The local, statutory architecture for health and care remains. The arm’s length bodies Regional Directors will retain accountability for delivery in their regions. Existing accountabilities for Chief Executives of provider organisations and Accountable Officers of Clinical Commissioning Groups are unchanged.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department issues guidance on the proportion of a school’s annual budget it considers prudent for a school to hold as a cash balance.

    Nick Gibb

    For maintained schools, local authorities have devolved responsibility for their funding and determine locally their balance control mechanisms. For academies, the Trustees determine the appropriate level of reserves that the Trust should hold in accordance with their responsibilities under Charity Law. The Department monitors the overall level of balances across the sector and keeps this under review.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding her Department has allocated to the Troubled Families programme for (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    There is no MoJ funding allocated to the Troubled Families programme for (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

    MOJ works with DCLG to encourage Troubled Families teams to co-operate with offender management services to identify families for the programme. MoJ is also supporting the evaluation of the programme through data matching with administrative data sets such as the Police National Computer.

  • Phillip Lee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Phillip Lee – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phillip Lee on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to make access to liver transplantation services more equitable.

    Jane Ellison

    Livers are retrieved and allocated on a zonal basis and the decision whether or not to list a patient for transplantation is taken by a multi-disciplinary team at the transplant centre, of which there are seven in the United Kingdom.Patients meeting the agreed clinical criteria, and with their consent, will be added to the National Transplant List. All centres must follow a common listing policy to ensure equity of access and that organs are allocated in the most clinically effective way, resulting in 842 liver transplants between 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015.

    NHS Blood and Transplant, the organ donation organisation for the UK, launched their strategy in July 2013 – Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, that sets the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates by increasing consent rates. Encouragingly organ donation rates have increased by around 60% and transplant rates by some 47% since 2008 mainly through a strengthening of the donation infrastructure including increased specialist nurses and improved retrieval arrangements.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Written Statement of 11 January 2016, HCWS458, what steps his Government has taken to implement the Smith Commission’s recommendation to explore the possibility of introducing formal schemes to allow international higher education students graduating from Scottish further and higher education institutions to remain in Scotland and contribute to economic activity for a defined period of time; whether he has consulted with Scottish further and higher education institutions on this matter; and (c) for what reasons his Department has not discussed this matter with the Scottish Government.

    David Mundell

    I have regular discussions with the Scottish Government’s Deputy First Minister on all aspects of the Smith Commission Agreement, the UK and Scottish Governments have had a number of meetings to discuss this issue and my written ministerial statement was shared with the Scottish Government in advance of publication. Scotland Office Ministers and officials also have regular discussions with further and higher education institutions and representative organisations such as Universities Scotland.

  • 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 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24122, when his Department last made an assessment of responsibility for damage to cultural property in Yemen.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We remain concerned about any damage to cultural property in Yemen and are aware of reports of alleged damage by actors in the conflict. Yemen and many members of the Saudi-led coalition are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict and to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. We have raised our concerns regarding protection of cultural property with both the government of Yemen and the Saudi Arabian government.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Written Statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, 25 February 2016, HCWS549, on offender management, what financial penalties were incurred by his Department as a result of terminating the contract to develop a bespoke tagging product with Steatite Limited; and how much his Department spent on that contract before its termination.

    Dominic Raab

    The relevant termination costs are subject to ongoing commercial discussions. We have spent approximately £21m on programme mobilisation to date. The majority of this was spent on investment in the telecommunications network, mapping software, monitoring service and other programme costs which the MoJ will be able to reuse for ongoing electronic monitoring work.