Category: Speeches

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff of the National Probation Service have completed Prevent awareness training.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Working to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP) was developed by the Home Office in 2009. From 2009 to 2014 all probation staff in the former Probation Trusts were to be trained in WRAP.

    As part of the Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme, the National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) were formed on 1 June 2014, and 9,140 staff transferred from Probation Trusts to the National Probation Service.

    Since then, all new NPS staff have been receiving Prevent awareness training, and all existing NPS staff have been receiving refresher training.

    We are fully committed to ensuring that we have a properly trained workforce within the NPS. Prevent Awareness (WRAP) is one of a number of training programmes delivered to staff in the NPS to provide staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively manage offenders and protect the public.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which projects were funded by his Department’s technical assistance budget for Bahrain in each of the last five years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has been providing a range of technical, practical assistance to the Government of Bahrain since 2012, in support of its reform programme. This technical assistance supports the building of effective and accountable institutions, strengthening the rule of law, and police and justice reform. It has included work with the National Institution of Human Rights, the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman, and the Prisoners’ and Detainees’ Rights Commission.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Lancashire Enterprise Partnership in progressing Growth Deal projects.

    James Wharton

    The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal with Government will invest over £250 million across Lancashire.

    Good progress has been made to date, with 15 out of the 39 projects in the programme underway, and a further 13 due to commence shortly.

    Projects under construction will, amongst other outcomes, support the construction of 850 housing units, create over 2,000 jobs and add over £28 million GVA per annum to the local economy.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received on the sophistication of the plug-in grant to promote high safety rated electric and low emission vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    To be eligible for the Plug-In Car and Van Grants, vehicles must meet a range of environmental, safety and performance criteria. These requirements include compliance with recognised international safety standards. Many electric vehicles tested under the Euro NCAP system have received the highest five-star safety rating.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who will represent his Department at the World Health Organisaiton Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in India in November 2016.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Department is still giving consideration to the United Kingdom’s priorities for the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The composition of the UK’s delegation is also still under consideration.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress he has made in transposing the European Non-Financial Reporting Directive into UK law; and whether there will be additional reporting requirements.

    Anna Soubry

    A consultation will be published shortly seeking views on the Governments plans to transpose this directive into UK law. We have no current plans to implement any reporting requirements beyond those required by the Directive.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 2 of the Government response to the Fifth Report from the Transport Committee, Session 2013-14, on Access to transport for disabled people, HC870, whether he plans to review his Department’s Inclusive Mobility guidance in 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    This Government plans to review the Inclusive Mobility Guidance during 2016. We are working with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) to assess what information should go in this publication and how to make it used and useful to a wide audience.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the effectiveness of EU aid to developing countries.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK continues to work hard to ensure EU development aid focuses on the poorest and most fragile countries and that the EU becomes more open and transparent about the challenges it faces in implementing aid projects. The EU has taken important steps to improve gender equality; to communicate better what its aid programmes are achieving; and for its aid to be more closely linked to countries’ own development priorities and more in line with other EU policies including trade, investment and the environment.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 23856, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of pedal cyclist-killed or seriously injured casualties attributable to poorly-maintained local roads since 2010.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department assesses all statistics which relate to pedal cyclist KSIs (killed or seriously injured casualties). The Conservative Manifesto 2015 had a commitment to reduce the number of cyclists and other road users killed or injured on our roads every year. We are working closely with road safety groups to consider what more can be done in the UK and we believe that every death is a tragedy and is one too many.

    We have committed £6.1 billion to tackle the condition of our local road network and, as part of our Road Investment Strategy – the largest upgrade to England’s strategic roads for a generation – we are spending around £100million on cycling safety. We are also working with local councils to provide new guidelines designed to ensure their highways are as safe as possible and free of defects.

    The change in the number of accidents is likely to result from a combination of a number of factors. These factors will include the natural variation in the figures and the subjective nature of contributory factors.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing capacity on the West Coast Mainline after completion of the HS2 and related projects.

    Claire Perry

    Network Rail leads the long term planning process, which works with local authorities and operators to identify and consider future options for capacity improvement across the rail network as a whole. Network Rail studies are underway to consider future capacity on the West Coast Main Line, but no assessment has been made at this stage by the government. In due course, the government will consider the full range of options for capacity improvements on national rail that are identified by the industry processes. These industry options will feed into the Government’s decisions on Rail Investment Strategies for the periods 2019-2024 and beyond, taking into account the recommendations of the Hendy, Bowe and Shaw reports.