Category: Speeches

Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress as regards refugees and migrants they are seeking from the planned France–UK, internal EU, EU–Turkey and UNHCR meetings; and whether they will report to Parliament on the results of those meetings.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government has regular discussions with EU and non-EU partners on refugees and migration. The Government’s consistent focus is on securing a durable and comprehensive solution to the current migration crisis, which tackles the causes of migration as well as the consequences. The UK-France Summit Communiqué contains information on our bilateral cooperation in this area. The Government will report the details of all relevant meetings to Parliament as appropriate.

01/01/2023
Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the financial requirements for tier 1 Entrepreneur visas.

James Brokenshire

In March 2015, the Government commissioned the Independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to assess the economic benefit of the UK’s provisions for non-EEA entrepreneurs. The MAC made a number of recommendations for reform of the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route. On financial requirements they recommended that:

• the Government consider setting the lower investment threshold in the range of £40,000 to £50,000; and

• the higher investment threshold of £200,000 should apply to each applicant (currently, two applicants can share the funding i.e. £100,000 each), and that there may be a case for an inflationary uplift.

The Government is currently considering the MAC’s advice, and will announce its response in due course.

01/01/2023
Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions a Royal Navy submarine was deployed to the Arctic region in each of the last six years.

Penny Mordaunt

The Astute class submarines are the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy, combining world-leading sensors, design and weaponry in a versatile vessel. The Royal Navy maintains world-wide deployability with its submarines, this includes under-ice capability.

We do not discuss the detail of such submarine operations, as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

01/01/2023
John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which EU (a) legislative and (b) other proposals his Department is leading negotiations on for the Government in the Council of the EU.

Matthew Hancock

Cabinet Office Ministers are responsible for four EU proposals being negotiated in the Council of Ministers. They are:

* Proposal for a Council Decision adopting the provisions amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage

* Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of public sector bodies’ websites.

* Proposal for a Regulation of the EP and Council amending Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures.

* Proposal for a Regulation of the EP and Council on the provision and quality of statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances procedure

01/01/2023
Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent meetings she has had with the National Security Adviser on transparency and effectiveness of the cross-government aid funds.

Rory Stewart

The Secretary of State for International Development has regular meetings with the National Security Adviser and discusses a range of issues.

01/01/2023
Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much UK aid was provided to countries on the EU Commission tax haven blacklist or identified as zero tax jurisdictions in the financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID uses a range of criteria to inform how we allocate aid across countries. These criteria include, for example, current and projected poverty levels in the country, the country’s ability to self-finance its development (e.g. through domestic taxation), and the likely effectiveness of UK aid.

A number of EU member states maintain lists of jurisdictions for tax purposes against criteria concerning tax transparency and/or the prevailing tax rate. The EU does not maintain a blacklist; however a list of 30 jurisdictions that featured on 10 or more member state lists was compiled and then superseded by a recent European Commission update.

This update included UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories which had the UK’s signature of the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters extended to them in 2014. The updated individual member state lists can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/gen_info/good_governance_matters/lists_of_countries/.

Of the 30 jurisdictions named in the original list, 14 received UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2013 (the most recent year for which consolidated figures are available). Of these 14, only three (Liberia, Montserrat and Vanuatu) received ODA from DFID for development and humanitarian assistance in that year. Details of funding amounts to these 14 jurisdictions can be found at the Statistics on International Development 2014 page of the gov.uk website.

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by when he plans for his Department to achieve its target strength for the Army Reserve.

Mr Julian Brazier

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013, (Official Report, column 124WS) on Future Reserves 2020, and the accompanying document that was placed in the Library of the House which sets out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years.

I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists by 31 March 2019.

01/01/2023

Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money has been spent on flood defences in each year from 2010.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The amount of capital investment on flood defences in each year from 2010 is shown below:

Financial year	Capital investment on flood defence excluding the exceptional funding provided as a result of the 2013/14 floods (£m)	Exceptional funding provided as a result of the 2013/14 floods (£m)
2010/11	364.9
2011/12	260.7
2012/13	269.1
2013/14	295.3	25.0
2014/15	353.3	125.0

01/01/2023

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the proposed sale of the Green Investment Bank will include all assets of the bank.

Anna Soubry

The Government has made clear that we intend to sell the Green Investment Bank (GIB) as a going concern. The assets are an inherent part of that company.

01/01/2023
Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the implications of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in the case of Costa v ENEL in July 1964 for the Government’s policy on the relative relationship between EU and UK law.

Jeremy Wright

By longstanding convention, the fact that the Law Officers have advised, or have not advised, and the content of their advice is not disclosed outside government.

01/01/2023