Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to respond to the report from the Prison Reform Trust In care, out of trouble; and whether they will publish an assessment of the position of children in care within the criminal justice system.

    Lord Nash

    As at 31 March 2015, five per cent of 10-17 year olds who had been in care for a year or more had been convicted of an offence or were subject to a final warning or reprimand.[1] Proven offending by young people, including looked after children has fallen significantly in recent years. Since the peak in youth offending in 2007, proven youth offending is down 79%; first-time entrants to the youth justice system are down 82%. Youth offending teams work with the police and other agencies to prevent looked after children from offending and coming in to contact with the youth justice system.

    The Government has asked Sir Martin Narey to review residential care for looked after children and he will make recommendations on criminalisation. Charlie Taylor is leading a review of youth justice. We will respond to those reviews in due course.

    I am grateful to the Prison Reform Trust for their contribution to this important debate. The Minister of State for Children and Families recently met with Lord Laming to discuss the contents of the Prison Reform Trust’s report ‘In care, out of trouble’.


    [1] Department for Education Statistical First Release – 34/2015

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 36 of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, how many members of staff are employed in his Department’s commercial specialist team designed to act as the single sponsor for aspects of the defence nuclear enterprise.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) new Director General Nuclear organisation was established on 1 April this year. The acting Director General was appointed in May and we expect to make a permanent appointment by the end of the year. The MOD Head Office staff working on different aspects of nuclear-related matters have transferred into the new organisation and additional recruitment to strengthen and deepen the capabilities of the team is also taking place. At present, the new organisation has around 120 staff and it is envisaged that this will rise to about 175 staff over the course of the next year.

  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will assess the merits of increasing the penalty charged to developers who regularly build without planning permission.

    Gavin Barwell

    Legislative changes which came into effect in March 2015 mean that both the magistrates’ and the crown court can already impose an unlimited fine on conviction for the most serious enforcement related offences – non compliance with enforcement notices, temporary stop notices and stop notices and for giving false or misleading response to a planning contravention notice. In determining the amount of the fine, the courts are required to “have regard to any financial benefit which has accrued or appears likely to accrue to him in consequence of the offence”.

    In addition, where a local planning authority achieves a successful conviction for failure to comply with an enforcement notice, they can apply for a Confiscation Order, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, to recover the financial benefit obtained through unauthorised development.

    We believe these penalties remain appropriate and have no plans to amend them at this time.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Right to Rent provision was included in the Immigration Bill before the report from the trial in the West Midlands had been completed.

    Lord Bates

    The Government has always been clear that the Right to Rent scheme would be rolled out across the country after phase one in Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton. The Prime Minister committed to do so in May this year. Home Office Science has carried out an evaluation of phase one. The findings of the evaluation have now been published and are informing implementation of the roll out of the scheme.

    The evaluation was overseen by an expert panel consisting of representatives from landlords and letting agents associations, housing charities, local authorities and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to enable concerns about the operation of the scheme to be taken into account.

    The Home Office evaluation reported on mystery shopping research, conducted by independent contractors. This found that there were no major differences in prospective tenants’ access to accommodation between the Right to Rent phase one area and comparator areas, where the scheme was not running.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of reductions in funding made between 2010 and 2015 on police forces that have been rated as outstanding for efficiency by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.

    Mike Penning

    Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) have found that there is no simple link between funding and efficiency. As the Home Secretary has previously set out, it is often the need to make savings that drives innovation and change for the better.

    In future, we believe that the allocation of core Government funding to the police should be on the basis of relative need, and that is why the Government has committed to replacing the current, outdated arrangements.

    HMIC set out in their latest PEEL inspection report (October 2015), that there remain significant efficiencies to be delivered from ICT, collaboration and improving workforce capability.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the governments of (a) Japan, (b) Norway and (c) Iceland on whaling.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    This Government continues to raise its opposition to whaling with Japan, Norway and Iceland at every appropriate opportunity, including through correspondence and during bilateral meetings, making clear the strength of opposition to whaling in the UK. In 2014 our Ambassador to Norway called on Norway’s Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission on 4 September. The UK joined a demarche against Iceland on 15 September 2014 and, during his visit to Iceland in October 2015, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) raised whaling with Prime Minister Gunnlaugsson. On 7 December 2015, the UK, together with 32 other countries, delivered a demarche to Japan in response to the Japanese government’s decision to recommence research (special permit) whaling in the Southern Ocean.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many employment tribunal (ET) cases involved employees and employers from the maritime industry in each year since 2008-09; and what proportion of the total number of ET cases such cases were in each such year.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    This information is not held.

  • Victoria Borwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Victoria Borwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Victoria Borwick on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support disabled people affected by the changes to employment and support allowance work-related activity group.

    Priti Patel

    We are providing new funding for additional practical support for claimants with limited capability for work from April 2017, when the removal of the work-related activity component will come into effect, rising from £60 million in 2017/18 to £100 million a year in 2020/21.

    In addition to this, we also plan to provide additional funding of £15 million in 2017/18 to increase the local Jobcentre Flexible Support Fund.

  • Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the sale of puppies under eight weeks old; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    We are reviewing certain local authority licensing schemes, including the breeding and selling of dogs. The public consultation on this issue closed on 12 March. The consultation proposed that anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs, or who breeds more than two litters in a twelve month period, would need a licence.

    We also proposed to prohibit the sale of puppies under eight weeks of age in all cases. We are currently analysing the 1,500 or so responses before making any firm decisions.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current average waiting time is for the completion of pre-employment checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service involving (a) Cleveland Police and (b) the Metropolitan Police Service.

    Karen Bradley

    Performance data for the Disclosure and Barring Service for March 2016 indicates that average processing time for DBS applications was 14.8 days. Certificates dispatched to applicants by the DBS in March 2016 involving (a) Cleveland Police and (b) the Metropolitan Police Service took an average of (a) 24 days and (b) 122 days.

    Protecting the public is a priority for this Government and it is important that checks undertaken are thorough; a proportion of the applications received by the DBS must be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process. In the vast majority of cases these checks are completed within target. The DBS is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.