Category: Speeches

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to set out its own nationally-determined contribution to the Paris Agreement on climate change.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    For now the UK remains a Member State and part of the EU’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). It is not appropriate at this point to speculate about arrangements for after the UK ceases to be a Member State. The UK’s commitment to tackling global climate change remains firm.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many university technical colleges have (a) closed and (b) converted to an academy or free school since 2010.

    Edward Timpson

    Three University Technical Colleges (UTCs) have closed since 2010. These are Black Country UTC and Hackney UTC, which closed in August 2015, and Central Bedfordshire UTC in August 2016.

    One UTC has converted into a free school (i.e. a new academy), namely UTC Royal Borough of Greenwich, which ceased to be a UTC in August 2016 and became the Royal Greenwich Trust School.

  • Derek Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Derek Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the average amount spent on new school textbooks in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2010.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education does not collect data on the specific amount schools spend on textbooks.

    The department publishes the amount of money spent on educational resources, including textbooks. This information is published in releases which can be found online at GOV.UK.[1]

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-education-and-childrens-services-spending-2013-to-2014

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-and-expenditure-in-academies-in-england-2013-to-2014

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil servants in his Department are in the redeployment pool.

    Mike Penning

    As at 30 September 2015, 210 members of staff within the Department were listed on the redeployment pool. This includes Ministry of Justice HQ, Legal Aid Agency, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Office of the Public Guardian and National Offender Management Service.

  • Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information he holds on how many Volkswagen vehicles have been re-tested for emissions since September 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department has retested three of the VW Group vehicles for which the UK provided type approval. These tests have confirmed that the extended test programme announced by the Secretary of State on 10 November can identify defeat device strategies. The testing of vehicles is underway and a report of the findings will be published in the spring.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 28 January (HL Deb, col 1405), what is the estimated cost of the next two years’ work by Network Rail that has now been cancelled on (1) the stabilisation of the cliff between Parsons and Teignmouth, and (2) breakwaters, groynes and revetments in the Dawlish area; and what are the new estimated completion dates for those works.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    No work on this study has been cancelled. Network Rail is currently progressing the Exeter to Newton Abbot geo-environmental study on the existing route via Dawlish to explore options which will reduce the chances of future route failure. The work will produce a short-list of options for further strengthening of the existing railway from Control Period 6 (CP6) (2019 to 2024) and beyond. It is due to be fully complete in May 2016 and will feed into the funding deliberations for CP6 and beyond.

    Plans for Control Period 6 will be defined through the standard industry planning processes. These will take into account the recommendations of the Bowe and Shaw reviews and the re-profiling carried out by Sir Peter Hendy, along with the views of both PRTF and Network Rail .This process is led by Network Rail, with input from a wide range of stakeholders and funders, and covers the needs of each 5-year Rail Investment Strategy (RIS) with consideration of longer term requirements up to 2043.

  • Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their planned pharmacy cuts on patients and health services in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020-21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

    We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, other pharmacy bodies and patient and public representatives on our proposals. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

    NHS England has a statutory duty to ensure the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services across England and will ensure that duty continues to be met, including in respect of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what international humanitarian aid exercises her Department has been involved in that have (a) involved EU member states and (b) been EU-led.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK participated in the Triplex 2013 Exercise which was led by the International Humanitarian Partnership and co-funded by the European Union.

    The Triplex Exercise brings together EU Civil Protection Teams and Modules with the United Nations, International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and military, to strengthen preparedness and coordination of an effective response in the first phase of a large-scale humanitarian emergency.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK, along with the other countries that have committed to the Sustainable Development Goals, delivers clean water for all by 2030.

    Baroness Verma

    In the UK Aid Strategy published in November 2015, we committed to help 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation in support of goal 6 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

    We will achieve this target through projects managed by our Country Offices, the Department for International Development offices based in the UK and through our contributions to multilateral organisations such as the World Bank. We will continue to invest in country and regional programmes to improve water resources management, water efficiency and improve water quality.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average response time is for coastguard personnel on emergency callouts; and what the longest response times were in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Each incident involving a Coastguard Rescue Team (CRT) is different in its context given geography, terrain, weather conditions, prevailing traffic conditions and the availability of individual volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers and other responders. Against that background the Maritime and Coastguard Agency does not collate or maintain data in respect of cumulative response times either locally or nationally. However it can provide specific response times for specific incidents.

    In a typical year there are between 12,000 and 14,000 incidents to which a CRT will be required to respond.