Category: Speeches

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he has plans to regulate the sale of black spot carbon monoxide detectors.

    Anna Soubry

    We have no plans to further regulate the sale of black spot carbon monoxide detectors.

    Carbon monoxide detectors fall under the General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) 2005 which states any product placed on the market must be safe. Trading Standards will remove products that do not meet the requirements of the GPSR.

    These types of carbon monoxide detectors are obsolete and no longer generally available.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-06-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make funding available for discounted or complimentary travel for apprentices.

    Nick Boles

    Apprenticeships are full time paid jobs which include substantial and sustained training, lasting a minimum of 12 months.

    There is no central public funded support available towards travel costs for apprentices, but some Local Authorities do offer discounts or concessions for young people on apprenticeships, as they do for those in other forms of learning.

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to review safety arrangements on English beaches; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Safety at public beaches is generally the responsibility of the local authority, who carry out risk assessments to determine appropriate safety measures. Generic guidance for the safe use of beaches is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-safe-at-the-coast-beach-safety-advice

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  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on patient safety of the 10 per cent headcount reduction initiative introduced by St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Responsibility for determining appropriate staffing levels rests with hospital trusts. In making their assessment, trusts should focus on the numbers and skill mix needed to deliver quality care, patient safety and efficiency.

    We are advised by NHS Improvement that St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is implementing a financial recovery plan, part of which involves reducing pay costs by 10% by 31 March 2017.

    We are further advised that the Trust plans to achieve financial sustainability by not recruiting to certain posts as and when they become vacant. We understand that the Trust is also reviewing its expenditure on discretionary pay and on employing temporary bank and agency staff.

    We are assured that the Trust will take all necessary steps to ensure staff can continue to deliver services safely and effectively and that any posts judged essential to delivering services safely and effectively will continue to be filled.

  • Kirsty Blackman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Kirsty Blackman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his Answer of 4 November 2015 to Question 14206, for what reason his Department’s quarterly report of transparency information from January to March 2015 was not ready for publication until 15 October 2015.

    David Mundell

    The Government publishes an unprecedented range of Transparency data. This is a significant task across all Departments, and Information is published as quickly as is possible.

  • Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions and consultations they held with the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives and UNISON before deciding that future nursing and midwifery students should fund themselves through student loans.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department did not hold any formal discussions or consultations with the highlighted stakeholders prior to the Spending Review announcement.

    The Government received and considered a broad range of representations from a number of stakeholders during the Spending Review process.

    Following the Spending Review the Department is absolutely commited to working with key stakeholders in implementing these reforms.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has not had any direct employees in Stoke-on-Trent since before 2010.

    I have asked Chief Executives of the Executive Agencies to respond directly to the Hon Member and these are attached. This information is not held by BIS in respect of non-Departmental Public Bodies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she last discussed funding for armed police response with each of the four Welsh police commissioners.

    Mike Penning

    Home Office Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals such as Police and Crime Commissioners, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what metrics she uses in monitoring human rights abuse (a) by governments and (b) in countries in receipt of UK aid.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID works closely with the FCO to assess and monitor the civil and political rights context in the countries where it has programmes. DFID draws on the FCO’s annual Human Rights and Democracy Report, which takes international human rights obligations as its starting point, and assesses FCO country specific updates to that report. It takes into account the views of a range of sources including EU and other development partners, and civil society reports.

    DFID provides aid to governments when it is satisfied that they share Britain’s commitments to reducing poverty and to respecting human rights. Before providing aid to a partner government, DFID assesses their commitment to four Partnership Principles. These include a commitment to poverty reduction; respecting human rights and other international obligations; improving public financial management, promoting good governance and transparency, and fighting corruption; and strengthening domestic accountability.

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of higher education students continued to (a) further study and (b) employment when leaving (i) university and (ii) a further education college in each of the last five years.

    Joseph Johnson

    Research by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) into the destinations of leavers from Higher Education by provider type was published as part of the report ‘Destination of Leavers from Higher Education in Further Education Colleges’. The report includes breakdowns of the activities leavers were engaged in six months after leaving their course and refers to the academic years 2008/09 to 2010/11.

    http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2013/201301/

    More recent data showing combined employment and study rates has been published by HEFCE as part of the series ‘Higher Education Indicators for Further Education Colleges’. The most recent analysis covers the 2011/12 and 2012/13 academic years.

    http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2016/201601/

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