Category: Speeches

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which university technical colleges closed in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016.

    Nick Boles

    No University Technical Colleges (UTCs) closed in 2013 or 2014.

    Two UTCs, Black County UTC and Hackney UTC, closed in August 2015 and two UTCs, Central Bedfordshire UTC and UTC Lancashire, are due to close at the end of the 2015/16 academic year.

    Once closed, the change is reflected in our published list of open UTCs which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-open-schools-and-successful-applications

    “

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the estimated value is of maps held by her Department.

    George Eustice

    Core Defra held a full set of hard copy Ordnance Survey Landranger maps. There are 204 maps in a full Landranger set.

    The approximate second-hand sale value of all Core Defra hard copy maps is £1000.

    Most of the mapping data that Defra uses is in electronic format.

    Mapping data created by Defra, such as noise maps or maps of air quality, are made available as open data, without charge. As such, market value is difficult to ascertain.

  • Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many advertisements the Insolvency Service has placed (a) in newspapers, (b) in magazines, (c) on television, (d) on social media, (e) on transport and (f) on radio since November 2014.

    Margot James

    In the period from November 2014 to August 2016, inclusive, the Insolvency Service has placed 3,907 newspaper advertisements and 44,452 notices were placed in the London Gazette. All of these were in the performance of statutory functions by official receivers in relation to the administration of bankruptcies of individuals and the compulsory liquidation of companies. The Insolvency Service has not placed any advertisements through any of the other types of outlet listed in the question.

  • Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, by what process his Department identified the areas of policy within its responsibility proposed for reservation in Annex B of the publication Powers for a Purpose: Towards a lasting devolution settlement for Wales, published on 27 February 2015.

    Joseph Johnson

    Annex B to the Powers for a Purpose Command Paper provided an illustrative list of the main areas in which reservations would be needed in a reserved powers model. The list described the Government’s emerging thinking as the new reserved powers model was being developed. The Government published its full proposals in the draft Wales Bill on 20 October 2015.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the end of the Advice Services Transition Fund in December 2015.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The fund is a Big Lottery Fund programme, to which Government contributed 50% of the budget. As the fund comes to a close, the Big Lottery Fund will be monitoring how organisations have met their agreed outcomes and will be supporting the dissemination of learning amongst the ASTF partnerships and beyond.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West have been helped by Veterans UK since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    I have taken help by Veterans UK to mean assistance provided by the Veterans UK Welfare Service. The Veterans Welfare Service provides Veterans and their families’ with free and confidential advice on a wide range of issues.

    Regrettably, the information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    However, the total number of visits to Veterans from the Veterans UK Welfare Service since 01 January 2010 to 20 January 2016 in the Pendle, Lancashire and North West district, are set out below.

    District

    *Number of Visits

    Pendle

    100

    Lancashire

    1,870

    North West(1)

    7,240

    (1) This figure incorporates the Pendle and Lancashire districts.

    *In line with departmental policy, values have been rounded to the nearest 5.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many firms have been excluded from bidding for Government contracts since the introduction of the procurement policy note, Measures to promote tax compliance published in February 2014.

    Matthew Hancock

    These new measures on tax compliance, introduced in 2013, enable government departments to exercise their power to exclude firms bidding for government contracts where they have been non-compliant in meeting their legal tax obligations.

    The policy is compatible with the existing procurement process and is being updated to clarify the use of mandatory and discretionary exclusion criteria, contained in the new Public Contracts Regulations 2015, concerning tax compliance.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish from the Minister for Local Growth and the Northern Powerhouse of 18 February 2016, on accountability of combined authorities, if he will introduce call-in procedures for individual constituent district councils to scrutinise the decisions of combined authorities.

    James Wharton

    The scrutiny requirements for combined authorities are set out in Schedule 5A to the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, as inserted by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, which provide that overview and scrutiny committees of combined authorities have powers to call in decisions and to involve other persons in their work. Schedule 5A also provides for secondary legislation which must ensure that the majority of members of an overview and scrutiny committee will be members of the combined authority’s constituent councils and that at least one member of an audit committee is an independent person. The scrutiny requirements of the Local Government Act 2000 do not apply to combined authorities.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 23 October 2007 (WA101), by Lord Triesman on 12 November 2007 (WA1–2), by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 8 June 2015 (HL44) and by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5648), how the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has rigorously checked that what is stated in centres’ lay summaries on its website about the purposes and likelihood of success of the research is realistic for both donors and the public, as explicitly recommended under Key actions for HFEA” in the summary of the “Post Hwang Meeting” on 1 March 2006 that was published on the HFEA website; and how the currently stated aim of research licence R0152 “to improve outcomes of ART for the treatment of infertility” relates to any reasonably foreseeable applications of nuclear transfer that accord not only with the statutory tests but also with the originally stated purpose of the proposed research in the initial application for this particular licence.”

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that centres’ lay summaries are checked at inspection by the relevant HFEA inspector and by the HFEA Licence Committee. In the case of licence R0152, the lay summary was last approved on 15 July 2015 when the HFEA Licence Committee agreed to approve updates to the centre’s lay summary and the updates to the research objectives. The minutes note the committee was content that the revised objectives and lay summary were consistent with the activities and purposes for which the project was licensed.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what procedures she will follow in consideration of applications for the disposal for development of the former Two Trees High School in Denton.

    Edward Timpson

    The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new academy or free school.

    School playing fields are also protected by Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Schools and local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval before they can dispose of their land. Applications to dispose of school playing fields are first considered by the school playing fields advisory panel, who make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, before she then makes her final decision.

    At this time I am not aware of an application by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council to seek approval to dispose of the former Two Trees Sports College, including the playing fields.

    Should an application be submitted, the Secretary of State would take into account any groups or organisations with permission to use the playing fields and what suitable alternative provision they may have been offered. Local schools, which are deficient in playing field land, should also be offered the opportunity to use the playing field before any application is presented. She will also take into account local school place needs and any academy requirement.