Category: Speeches

Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-10-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people serving (1) life sentences, and (2) imprisonment for public protection sentences, were authorised by the Parole Board for transfer to open prison conditions in each month since January 2013.

Lord Faulks

The table below gives a breakdown of the number of indeterminate sentence prisoners who were recommended by the Parole Board for transfer to open conditions.

The data covers the period from 1 January 2013 to 31 October 2015, broken down by month, and distinguish between those serving a life sentence and those serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection.

These figures have been drawn from a live administrative IT system which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

		Jan	Feb	Mar	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Totals
2013
Open Recommendations made by PB:	IPP	57	62	66	73	69	78	61	68	67	60	64	54	779
	Lifer	59	48	40	48	51	51	46	43	37	47	41	27	538
Approved for Transfer:	IPP	52	58	59	60	70	65	77	76	63	74	47	80	781
	Lifer	38	63	44	40	53	38	58	48	38	50	33	47	550

2014
Open Recommendations made by PB:	IPP	62	68	41	74	54	49	69	48	35	44	50	48	642
	Lifer	44	31	31	28	36	33	40	28	17	24	38	24	374
Approved for Transfer:	IPP	65	46	74	45	38	26	54	43	41	64	48	46	590
	Lifer	30	34	39	21	15	20	23	23	28	31	20	29	313

2015
Open Recommendations made by PB:	IPP	61	47	49	48	46	56	38	32	33	32	N/A	N/A	442
	Lifer	39	28	28	25	25	38	22	23	24	33	N/A	N/A	285
Approved for Transfer:	IPP	57	41	54	40	42	63	55	34	35	35	N/A	N/A	456
	Lifer	31	16	36	26	16	33	35	24	22	22	N/A	N/A	261

01/01/2023

Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Government will require the parts and equipment used in the construction of the Hinckley Point C nuclear power station to be manufactured in the UK.

Andrea Leadsom

As my rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out to the Energy and Climate Change Committee, EDF predict over 60% of the HPC project’s construction value will go to UK companies. The Government is working with EDF and other developers to maximise the opportunities for UK businesses linked to Hinkley and proposed future new nuclear projects. We have put in place a number of initiatives to help UK suppliers’ bid for new nuclear contracts.

01/01/2023
Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to take account of the whole system costs of different energy technologies when formulating future government policy on delivering renewable support at least cost to consumers.

Andrea Leadsom

DECC recognises the importance of considering the whole system impacts (both costs and benefits) of different electricity technologies when formulating future government policy, since it is a crucial element in delivering secure, clean and affordable energy to consumers.

In order to continue to improve its evidence base in this area and inform future policy developments, DECC has commissioned a project on the Whole System Impacts of Electricity Generation Technologies on the electricity system. This project will improve DECC’s understanding of what these system costs are (for example the impact of electricity technologies on wider system balancing actions and networks requirements), as well as improve DECC’s modelling capability to quantify these system costs and their dynamics.

Once this project is completed, DECC will be able to better quantify these system costs to inform policy decisions. Any future policy development, such as future renewable support, will be informed by the improved evidence base developed through this project.

01/01/2023
Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the relevant per pupil outturn expenditure on Education Services Grant-supported activities for the highest, median and lowest spending local authorities was for the 2014-15 financial year; and if she will publish the same statistics for planned expenditure for the 2015-16 financial year.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Education Services Grant (ESG) is unringfenced and local authorities therefore have complete discretion on how to spend this funding. The Department for Education has previously set out a list of activities that the grant is intended to fund, which can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335723/ESG_AnnexA_reformatted.pdf

Local authorities report their planned expenditure on the related budget lines through their section 251 returns and the data from these returns are published online. The data for 2014-15 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-benchmarking-tables-2014-to-2015 and the data for 2015-16 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/section-251-2015-to-2016

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01/01/2023
Owen Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2016-02-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the findings of the most recent OECD Interim Economic Outlook.

Harriett Baldwin

The OECD forecasts show the cocktail of risks facing the world this year, with expectations for global growth downgraded in 2016 and 2017. This is expected to have an impact on the UK as well, but we are forecast to be the fastest growing G7 economy this year.

We need to keep taking action to restore order to the public finances and deliver economic security for working people.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of reductions in international student numbers on employment.

Mike Penning

Such an assessment has not been made because the Government is delivering a strong labour market which has seen the employment rate for UK nationals grow to 74.6% in Q4 2015 – an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous year and the highest since records began.

The student migration system we inherited was too weak, and open to widespread abuse, damaging the UK’s reputation as a provider of world-class education. The National Audit Office reported that in 2009/10 up to 50,000 students may have come to work, not study.

We have clamped down on immigration abuse from poor quality institutions selling immigration rather than education, and since 2010 we have struck off more than 920 bogus colleges. Visa applications for the further education sector, where abuse has been most prevalent over recent years, are down 75 per cent compared with 2010.

At the same time, we have maintained a highly competitive offer for international students who would like to study at our world-class institutions. This is borne out by the figures: visa applications from international students to study at British universities are up by 16 per cent since 2010, whilst visa applications to our world-leading Russell Group institutions are up by 39 per cent since 2010. There remains no limit on the number of genuine international students who can study in the UK.

We will continue to reform the student visa system to tackle abuse and deliver an effective immigration system that works in the national interest.

01/01/2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Anelay of St Johns to the private notice question from Lord Alton of Liverpool on 21 April, which members of the United Nations Security Council they believe would veto a referral to the International Criminal Court of evidence of genocide against Christian, Yazidi and other minorities in Iraq and Syria.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor set out some of the complicated issues involved in the ICC investigating Daesh in her press statement of 8 April 2015. It is not possible to refer Daesh itself to the ICC. Any referral would cover ALL potential crimes against international humanitarian law within a specified geographic area, rather than a specified organisation or set of actors.

When efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014, it was vetoed by Russia and China. We expect that any Security Council resolution at this time seeking to refer the situations in Iraq or Syria to the ICC would likewise be blocked.

01/01/2023
Sir Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Nicholas Soames on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps are equipped with the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank; and what the allocation is to each such regiment of such tanks.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Challenger 2 is a highly capable Main Battle Tank and sits at the heart of the Army’s war fighting Armoured Infantry Brigades and is a key part of the UK’s capability. The current Challenger 2 fleet consists of 227 main battle tanks all of which would be available for operational use if required.

The following Regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps are equipped with Challenger 2: The King’s Royal Hussars, Tidworth; The Queen’s Royal Hussars, Germany and The Royal Tank Regiment, Tidworth. We do not routinely comment on specific levels of readiness and locations for individual capabilities as to do so would compromise operational security, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

As at May 2016 the Challenger 2 fleet was assessed to meet 100% of the fleet size and deployability requirements as set out in the 2015-16 Army Readiness Order.

01/01/2023
Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Approved Premises have been operational and (b) people have resided in each of those premises in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah

100 Approved Premises have been operational since 2010. Figures on the number of individuals who have resided in each of the Approved Premises are not held centrally.

01/01/2023
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to retain the right of non-British EU citizens to vote in local government elections once the UK has left the EU; and, if so, by what legislative means.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

This issue will be a matter for the EU exit negotiations.

01/01/2023