Category: Speeches

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many people working for her Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Rory Stewart

    Direct employees

    There are no staff directly employed by DFID who are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

    Workers in agencies which report to DFID

    There are no workers in agencies which report to DFID who are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

    Outsourced workers

    We encourage outsource partners to pay the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. None of our contracted workers are paid less than the National Living Wage and London Living Wage.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which agreed EU directives have not yet been transposed directly into UK law; and if he will make a statement.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    Until the UK leaves the EU the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation. The Foreign and Commonwealth Ofiice currently has one directive yet to be transposed directly into law: Council Directive (EU) 2015/637 on the coordination and cooperation measures to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens of the Union in third countries and repealing Decision 95/533/EC. Transposition date for this directive is 1 May 2018.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of the doctors entering core and further specialty training were in each (a) specialty and (b) training region or deanery in each year since 2005.

    Ben Gummer

    Neither the Department nor Health Education England hold the information requested in the format specified. To collate the data would incur disproportionate costs.

  • The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many oak trees have been killed by Acute Oak Decline in the past five years.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Over the past five years Forest Research, in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, has conducted a systematic survey to model the distribution of acute oak decline (AOD) in England and Wales. The results show that the condition currently affects several thousand oak trees, mostly across East Anglia, the Midlands and southern England.

    The complex nature of the condition means it is often associated with other pathogens, as well as insect defoliators and the research has not yet concluded whether AOD kills trees or not. A large proportion of the infected trees monitored have entered remission suggesting some level of host resistance. We do not have information at the landscape level on the number of oak with AOD symptoms that die every year.

    Since 2013, Defra has invested £1.1 million in research to understand the causes, distribution and scale of AOD in the UK. This includes work to investigate the bacterial species associated with the condition and to understand whether the Agrilus biguttatus beetle plays a role in the dispersal of these bacterial species. Early findings from this research are still inconclusive. There is currently no firm evidence of transmission by the beetle.

    Earlier this year, Defra in collaboration with the Research Councils, Scottish Government and the Forestry Commission launched a further £2 million call for research proposals on ‘oak health’ and Phytophthora. The successful bids from this call are due to be announced shortly.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff were employed at each civil service grade at UK missions to each African country on 1 January 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are not able to provide a breakdown of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) UK based staff numbers by grade at individual UK missions for operational security reasons. Please find attached numbers of FCO UK based staff by Post and Country and separately by civil service grade on 1st January 2016.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the cost resulting from the reduction in the work allowance of universal credit relates to (a) new claimants to universal credit, (b) current recipients of universal credit and (c) current tax credit recipients naturally migrated onto universal credit.

    Priti Patel

    This information is not available.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 10 December 2015, Official Report, column 1132, on smart ticketing, whether the £80 million funding referred to has been allocated to the South East Flexible Ticketing programme; and what proportion of that funding his Department has so far spent on which elements of that programme.

    Claire Perry

    Smart ticketing was taken forward by the Coalition Government after 2010. I can confirm that £80m was allocated to the South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme. So far, £39.11m has been spent on the SEFT programme to develop a central back office for the entire rail industry to use and towards the costs to train operators of new infrastructure and upgrades.

    We are working with the industry to find the best way to deliver smart ticket solutions that meet customers’ needs and take advantage of technological improvements, so ensuring that everyone is benefitting from 21st century ticketing.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department for Education was not directly in receipt of programme funding from the European Social Fund. The European Social Fund programme for England that operated from 2007 to 2013 (extended to 2015) did, however, include monies for young people aged 14-19 who were not in education, employment or training or who were at risk of being so. This funding was administered initially by the Learning and Skills Council. From 2010 to July 2015, the funds have been administered by the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Young People’s Learning Agency and then on behalf of the Education Funding Agency. Given the nature of this European Social Fund programme operated by arm’s length bodies across a number of departments, without in depth analysis it is not possible to attribute funding for the period requested to particular departments. Such information will, however, be available in the Skills Funding Agency’s evaluation of the programme which will be published later this year.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34466, for what reason a save function is only available as part of the universal credit full service.

    Priti Patel

    The ‘save and return’ functionality is available in the Universal Credit Full Service because the Full Service has all the security features necessary to safeguard the claimant’s data, by confirming the identity of the returning user.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to ensure the proper provision of safe housing for unaccompanied minors brought to the UK from refugee camps in Europe.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 May and now reflected in the Immigration Act 2016, we will work to admit unaccompanied refugee children to the UK from elsewhere in the EU, where this is considered to be in the child’s best interests.

    The legislation is clear that consultation with local authorities is needed before any figure is set. We are working closely with local authorities and consulting NGOs, the UNHCR, UNICEF and relevant Member States to establish suitable processes to im-plement this initiative.

    We are committed to act as quickly as we can but we must take the necessary time to ensure we have the capacity to resettle and support those who are resettled.

    We must also ensure that we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK. We will be working closely with local authorities to find suitable placements within the UK. Statutory agencies at a local level are best placed to understand and meet the needs of all children and will continue to make decisions about the right accommodation and support services for those who are looked after. Unaccompanied children will be eligible for foster care if it is considered that that this placement type will provide appropriate support and best meet their individual needs.

    The UK has well-established and effective safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of children who come to the UK. All children brought to the UK will be given the care, support and education they require.