Category: Speeches

Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many of the structures in the West Bank funded through aid provided by her Department have been demolished by Israeli forces in 2016 to date.

Rory Stewart

No structures that the UK has funded bilaterally in the West Bank have been demolished. A number of structures funded by the EU’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO) have been demolished in recent months.

01/01/2023
Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consultation HM Revenue and Customs conducted with its staff based in Yorkshire prior to its decision to locate its regional hub in Leeds.

Mr David Gauke

On 12 November, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the next stage of its ten-year modernisation programme. As part of that, the department demonstrated its long-term commitment to Yorkshire and the Humber by setting out that it would establish a Regional Centre in Leeds.

A number of factors were considered by HMRC when deciding where to locate its new Regional Centres. In addition to cost, it considered local and national transport links, the local labour market, supply of future workforce and the retention of current staff and skills.

HMRC modelled the impact of locating the Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in both Bradford and Leeds. For both scenarios, it took into account the potential loss of jobs for staff expected to be outside of reasonable daily travel (defined as approximately 1 hour from home to work, though dependent on individual circumstances).

HMRC first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, setting out how and why it is changing. The department is committed to continuing to support all of its employees who are affected by these changes.

Staff in Yorkshire attended a number of face-to-face events, providing feedback on the potential location of the regional centre. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

This transformation programme will ultimately enable HMRC to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer. It will generate estate savings of £100 million a year by 2025.

01/01/2023

Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many press, communication and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) Public Health England, (c) NHS England, (d) Monitor, (e) the Care Quality Commission, (f) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, (g) NHS Blood and Transplant, (h) the NHS Litigation Authority, (i) the Trust Development Authority, (j) the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, (k) the Human Tissue Authority, (l) the NHS Business Service Authority, (m) Health Education England and (n) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and communication by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

Below are details of communications headcount and spend for the organisations requested.

On headcount, to ensure consistency, all organisations have provided information according to the following criteria for public relations (PR) and communications staff:

– Press and PR

– Stakeholder relations

– Campaigns (including marketing and strategic communications)

– Digital Communications (not IT/digital service teams)

– Internal Communications

On communications spend, we have provided figures for 2014/15, which is the most recent year for which figures are available.

The figures on spend are split between major communications and marketing spend costs (submissions of above £100,000 which are assessed through the Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group process) and the remaining admin and minor programme spend costs. Major programme spend costs cover budgets for public information campaigns – such as smoking cessation, blood and organ donor recruitment, dementia friends, cancer diagnosis and immunisation campaigns.

The figures on major campaign programme spend (in column three below) reflect the amount of money requested in the Cabinet Office submission. In some instances, the final spend on communications was lower, as some of the budget was reappropriated for operational requirements or was unused and returned to central budgets.

Organisation	Number of Communications Staff	Major campaign programme spend (Activity over £100,000 approved in 2014/15)	Admin (staff / non-staff) and minor programme spend 2014/15 (£)
Department of Health	106.5	1,129,507	6,968,643
Public Health England	115.5	57,162,157*	8,134,900
NHS England	69	9,721,465	3,292,340
Monitor	21	n/a	1,697,000
Care Quality Commission	34	650,000	6,671,635
NICE	74	n/a	2,427, 944
NHS Blood & Transplant	124.59	4,862,257	8,689,004
NHS Litigation Authority	3	n/a	315,329
NHS Trust Development Authority	12	n/a	926,023
Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority	6.5	n/a	381,443
Human Tissue Authority	3.2	n/a	291,454
NHS Business Services Authority	17.6	1,028,800	823,586
Health Education England	32	n/a	2,219,301
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority	28	n/a	1,987,441

*See breakdown of Public Health England campaign spend in table below

Public Health England Campaign Spend in 2014/15	Cost
Smokefree (tobacco control) includes Stoptober and January Health Harms campaigns	£11,580,000
PHE Smokefree Cars	£1,400,000
Be Clear on Cancer	£11,685,000
Stroke- ACT Fast	£975,000
Change4life	£11,514,248
Start4life	£3,200,000
Rise Above	£1,970,000
DH PHE Dementia Friends Campaign	£4,000,000
HIV Prevention England 14/15	£550,000
Sexual Health Information Family Planning Association	£262,000
Care & Support Reforms Phase 1	£1,950,000
Dementia Friends Phase 2	£1,500,000
Seasonal Flu Campaign	£1,868,000
PHE Alcohol Campaign	£1,825,000
PHE, Seasonal Flu, respiratory and hand hygiene 2014/15	£500,000
TOTAL	£54,779,248

We can provide information on staff paid in different salary bands. However, due to differing bands between organisations and differing geographical weighting, this does not allow us to provide figures for the number of employees paid more than £50,000 and £100,000.

01/01/2023

Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff employed in each secure training centre is registered with the Mental Health and Care Professions Council.

Andrew Selous

The information is not held centrally. However, certain roles within Secure Training Centres (STC) must be filled by qualified social workers. Qualification requirements for staff in Secure Children’s Homes (SCH) are set by the Department of Education.

All young people undergo a health and education assessment upon arrival into custody, whilst all staff undergo training in child and adolescent development and safeguarding. STC and SCH providers should ensure that they meet the needs of all detained persons including those with Special Education and Needs (SEN) requirements, and that all staff are suitably qualified to support young people and make referrals to other specialist support where this is appropriate.

01/01/2023
Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether under the human rights arrangements within the Belfast Agreement 1998, they have raised or will raise the decision by the authorities in the Republic of Ireland to ban all Church of Ireland services in the centre of Dublin on Easter Sunday, and if they have raised this matter, what was the result.

Lord Dunlop

I am informed that the authorities in the Republic of Ireland have not banned all Church of Ireland services in the centre of Dublin on Easter Sunday but that there will be restricted access to the city centre on that day due to security measures being put it place around a planned Easter Rising Commemoration parade.

I understand that the Irish Government and An Garda Síochána are working closely with senior Church of Ireland representatives in order to facilitate worship at those churches in the area. This matter has not been raised under the human rights arrangements within the Belfast Agreement 1998.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much public funding was spent on research and development in each year for which data is available.

Joseph Johnson

The information requested is published annually and can be found on the Office for National Statistics website at the following location:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/researchanddevelopmentexpenditure

“

01/01/2023
David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what incentives she plans to encourage more schools to extend their teaching hours.

Nick Gibb

In March 2016, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget statement that over £500 million of additional funding will be allocated to give 25 per cent of secondary schools the opportunity to extend their school day to include a wider range of activities, such as sports, arts and debating. The Department is currently determining the details of how the funding with be allocated and will provide further details in due course.

01/01/2023
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Iranians have been executed since the visit of the Foreign Secretary to Iran and the re-opening of the UK embassy in Tehran last year, and what assessment they have made of whether that figure indicates any improvement in the human rights position of Iranian citizens.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran believes that between 966 and 1,025 people were executed in 2015. The UK repeatedly calls on Iran to bring an end to the use of the death penalty.

01/01/2023
Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to provide financial support to coastal communities to develop their capacity to manage local fishing waters after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice

The precise nature of our relationship with the EU is still being determined and will be subject to negotiation. We will be looking at a future package for fishing, including potential support measures, and will work closely with industry and other key interests to develop these new arrangements.

01/01/2023
Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make the punishment of people traffickers more severe to increase its deterrent effect.

Sarah Newton

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 increased the maximum sentence for modern slavery offences from 14 years to life imprisonment. The Act also gave law enforcement agencies the power to seize traffickers’ assets and introduced risk and prevention orders which restrict the activities of traffickers outside prison if they are judged to pose a serious threat.

Earlier this year, the Government commissioned the barrister Caroline Haughey to carry out an independent review of the operation of the criminal justice provisions in the Modern Slavery Act. Ms Haughey found that the Act had set an international benchmark to which other jurisdictions aspire, and recommended that we do more to ensure that law enforcement agencies use the Act to full effect.

The Government agrees and the Prime Minister recently announced that she will be chairing a modern slavery taskforce to ensure that we leave no stone unturned in bringing the perpetrators of this vile crime to justice.

01/01/2023