Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the number of UK firms based in the North West of England that trade with other EU member states; and how many people are employed by each such firm.

    Anna Soubry

    HMRC Regional Trade Statistics on the number of firms trading with the EU are publically available through the UKTradeInfo website.

    HM Treasury has published estimates of the number of UK jobs linked to EU exports broken down by region. These are available through the GOV.UK website.

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to discourage the commemoration of acts of violence against Israeli civilians in the Palestinian Authority.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have urged the leadership of both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities to avoid doing anything to encourage violence or any steps which will make it more difficult to achieve a peaceful negotiated solution to the conflict. Our Consul General in Jerusalem regularly raises such concerns with the Palestinian leadership, including with President Abbas at their last meeting in March. We continue to support Palestinian calls to reinstate the Tripartite Committee on Incitement as the appropriate channel to deal with allegations of Palestinian or Israeli incitement.

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moynihan on 2016-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in carrying out its assignment in Russia on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency, UK Anti-Doping has at any time (1) been asked for 30 days’ notice of tests by Russian authorities; (2) disputed payments for doping control officers; or (3) faced customs delays preventing the transport of blood samples to laboratories outside Russia within the 48-hour window needed for accurate testing or at any time been unable to match the tests being undertaken by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency to Russian athletes; and if so, on which occasions those events occurred.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    UK Anti-Doping has not been asked to provide 30 days’ notice by Russian authorities. UK Anti-Doping is not involved in the contractual agreement between the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and sample collection agencies. This would be a matter for RUSADA and the World Anti-Doping Agency. While UK Anti-Doping has encountered challenges due to customs delays, it does not discuss details of its testing programmes as doing so might undermine what it is trying to achieve and the processes involved.

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many women’s organisations the Minister for Middle East and Africa met during his recent visit to Somalia.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    In my recent visit to Somalia on 2 August I met with representatives from Committee of Goodwill Ambassadors for Female Participation; a group tasked by the Federal Government of Somalia to identify mechanisms to deliver a Somalia commitment to increase women’s representation in Parliament, through the electoral process planned for October this year. I used the opportunity to emphasise UK support for the work of the Committee and the UK’s continued commitment to women and girls in Somalia.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role armed militias play in enforcing Sudan’s commitments under the Khartoum Process; whether they are being used to enforce border controls and to capture migrants; and what action the regime took, under its commitments in the Doha Document for Peace, 2012, to disarm militias.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are concerned by the reported use of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to tackle migration in Sudan and have raised these concerns with the government of Sudan, most recently during the visit of the UK Special Representative to Sudan and South Sudan in September. We have also made clear that our cooperation on migration will necessarily be guided by our human rights principles. The EU has also raised the role of the RSF with the government of Sudan and has made absolutely clear that no funding aligned with the Khartoum Process will be provided to them.

    The government of Sudan has undertaken some of its disarmament commitments under the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), but together with our international partners we continue to urge them to do more. The UK is a member of the DDPD’s Implementation Follow-Up Commission (IFC), which we use to press for progress on disarmament and other areas of the DDPD’s implementation. The most recent meeting of the IFC was in May 2016.

  • Ian Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Murray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with Ministers of the Scottish Government on the devolution of abortion legislation to the Scottish Parliament.

    Jane Ellison

    I have had discussions with Ministers on the Smith Commission Agreement and the Scotland Bill. The Secretary of State for Scotland has spoken to women’s groups in Scotland about devolution of abortion legislation, and Department of Health officials have had informal discussions and communication with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on this matter.

  • Baroness Corston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Corston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Corston on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many owners of Community Rehabilitation Companies have hired public relations companies or consultants since February.

    Lord Faulks

    The MoJ robustly manages and monitors the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), in line with Government standards, to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. CRCs are contracted to deliver services for a fixed fee. We are aware that some of the CRCs have contracted with Public Relations Agencies. However, we would not normally monitor information on how many owners hire PR companies or consultants.

  • Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff who work at Wallasey Jobcentre Plus in Liscard live within two miles of that office; and how many of those staff will be (a) made redundant and (b) transferred as a result of the closure of that office.

    Priti Patel

    Staff currently based at Wallasey Jobcentre Plus live in various locations throughout Merseyside. Travel considerations form an integral part of the One-to-One discussion process with all staff.

    No staff will be made redundant as a result of the proposed relocation of services to Birkenhead if Wallasey Jobcentre Plus were to be closed.

    There are 116 staff based at Dominick House, all of whom will be transferred to either Brunswick House or other locations depending on personal circumstances – should the closure go ahead.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprenticeship starts there were in each construction occupational area in 2015.

    Nick Boles

    Apprenticeships are categorised according to the Sector Subject Area of the apprenticeship, not the industry sector of the employer.

    The Department does not produce forecasts for apprenticeship starts by Sector Subject Area. Apprenticeships are paid jobs and their availability is dependent on employers offering opportunities and hiring apprentices.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided to the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Chairs in each financial year since its establishment.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department for Education has provided the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children Board Chairs with funding totalling £460,000 between September 2012 and March 2016, as follows:

    Financial year

    Total

    2012 – 2013

    £60,000

    2013 – 2014

    £180,000

    2014 – 2015

    £130,000

    2015 – 2016

    £90,000