Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to tackle obesity in children under 11.

    Jane Ellison

    Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. Progress has been made in recent years, but we know we have much further to go. We will announce our plans for tackling childhood obesity in the new year.

    In the meantime we are continuing to invest in the Change4Life campaign, which provides motivation and support for families to make small but significant improvements to their diets and activity levels. Industry has also taken a range of actions including removing billions of calories and tons of sugar from products and portion sizes have been reduced, but the challenge to industry to make further substantial progress remains.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the official records from 1987 relating to the ban on the publication of Spycatcher by Peter Wright have not been released to the National Archives under the 20-year rule.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Moving from a 30 year to 20 year rule has meant a doubling of the amount of information to be considered for release. The Cabinet Office is actively reviewing the remaining 1987 and 1988 records and will complete this work as quickly as possible.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much of the funding under the European Social Fund programme assigned to his Department he expects to allocate in the current funding round.

    Anna Soubry

    The Skills Funding Agency, one of the partner organisations of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has secured approximately £725,624,976 including administration costs from the European Social Fund (ESF) on behalf of 38 Local Enterprise Partnership areas. The Skills Funding Agency is currently procuring learning and skills activity identified by local areas. These funds are profiled to be spent by end March 2018.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of National Infrastructure Pipeline spending has been allocated to projects in (a) Stoke-on-Trent local authority, (b) Cheshire East local authority, (c) the West Midlands region, (d) the South East region and (e) London.

    Greg Hands

    The information requested can be obtained from “National Infrastructure Pipeline”, published in July 2015 and is available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-july-2015

  • Edward Leigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Edward Leigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Leigh on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support efforts to bring an end to the conflict in Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK is committed to peace talks between the Syrian parties, under UN auspices in Geneva and continues to work closely with the International Syria Support Group. The UK encouraged the UN Special Envoy for Syria and the Syrian opposition to include women in the negotiations. The UN established a Women’s Advisory Board and the opposition’s negotiating team includes women.

  • Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Manzoor on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) women, and (2) men, worked in part-time jobs in (a) 2013–14, and (b) 2014–15.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Allen of Kensington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Allen of Kensington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Allen of Kensington on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a broadband universal service obligation for businesses.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government has committed to putting in place a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) by the end of this Parliament. Once in place the USO will act as a safety net, giving both households and businesses the legal right to request an affordable broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps (Megabits per second). A connection speed of 10 Mbps will support many small businesses, and will help them make an even greater contribution to our economy.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made by the Financial Conduct Authority in its review of nuisance calls relating to consumer credit.

    Simon Kirby

    The FCA has committed to review its rules on unsolicited marketing calls, emails and text messages from consumer credit firms, including payday lenders. The review includes specifically looking at whether these unsolicited communications should be banned.

    The FCA will publish the results of this review before the end of this year.

  • Lord Blunkett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Blunkett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blunkett on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the 50 mile per hour limit on the M1 between junctions 19 and 15 will be lifted, in the light of the fact that work there has been suspended.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Highways England reports that Junction 15 to 16: traffic management was lifted in September 2015 and Junction 16 to 19: traffic management will be lifted in stages. It will be completely removed by the end of November 2015.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rebecca Pow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the contribution that fully implementing the Somerset Flood Action Plan will have on (a) road and rail transport resilience and (b) the resilience of the Hinckley Point C nuclear construction project.

    Rory Stewart

    Recent computer modelling has been carried out to assess the benefits of some of the works carried out under the Somerset Flood Action Plan. This indicates that, in a repeat of the weather seen in Winter 2013/14, closure of the A361 would be reduced to about three weeks instead of the nine to ten weeks in 2013/14, and the impact on the rail line from Bristol to Taunton across Northmoor would be reduced.

    In terms of Hinkley C site development, licensed nuclear site operators are responsible for undertaking flood risk assessments and providing and maintaining control measures to ensure their sites remain safe from faults and damage arising from flooding. In addition Local Authorities must ensure that their off-site plan for a nuclear emergency is resilient to a range of weather conditions (e.g. those leading to, or involving, flooding or heavy snow).