Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether planting more trees in England is one of their policies and what assessment they have made of whether planting more trees constitutes a public benefit.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government is committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament, primarily through the Rural Development Programme’s Countryside Stewardship scheme.

    In July 2012 the Independent Panel on Forestry reported to the Government that England’s woods and forests provide significant public benefits, including through improving water quality and biodiversity as well as access and recreation.

    The Government recognised these benefits in its Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement of January of 2013 which included the response to the Independent Panel Report.

  • Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the affordability of motor vehicle insurance in the UK.

    Andrew Jones

    The Autumn Statement 2015 announced the government will bring forward measures to reduce the excessive costs arising from unnecessary whiplash claims. As the industry is competitive we expect average savings of £40 to £50 per motor insurance policy to be passed onto customers. Some insurers have already committed to pass on all savings to consumers as a result of the proposed changes.

    The Department for Transport has also held a number of recent meetings with the motor insurance industry, for example to discuss young driver safety and technology measures which can reduce the cost of insurance

    The pricing of individual insurance products is a commercial matter for insurers.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to decide fee waiver applications in the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    The average time taken between January 2015 and December 2015 to consider whether an application meets the fee waiver requirements is 95 calendar days. These results represent the time taken with both asylum and non asylum based fee waiver considerations.

    January 2015 – December 2015 was taken as the 12 month time frame to fall in line with data that is published.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many extended Ministerial offices have been shut down since 13 July 2016.

    Ben Gummer

    There have been a number of Ministerial and government appointments announced recently. Administrative support for those appointments has yet to be concluded.

  • Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Elmore on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote investment in former coalfield communities.

    Andrew Percy

    In England, local investment is mainly determined by Local Enterprise Partnerships based on their local economic growth priorities and funded through programmes such as City Deals, Devolution Deals, the Local Growth Fund and Enterprise Zones.

    My officials continue to work with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust to support former coalfields communities.

    Local growth is a devolved issue in the rest of the UK.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to change how take-away food delivery drivers are regulated.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    This is not a matter for the Department for Communities and Local Government.

  • Paul Farrelly – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Paul Farrelly – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Farrelly on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which sections of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 have not yet been implemented.

    Mike Penning

    Most of the Act has been implemented, but the sections which have not been commenced are listed below.

    Provision Not in Force

    s.26(1), (3)-(8)

    s.40 ss. 41 & 42 (in so far as they are ancillary to section 40)

    S.56 and Sch.22 (commenced in England and Wales only)

    Sch. 8 (11)

    Sch. 9 (62) (Repealed)

    Sch. 13 Part 4

    s.44 (only to the extent it enacts the following provisions in Sch. 16) Sch. 16, Part 4 (11-21)

    Sch. 19 (not commenced in Northern Ireland)

    Sch. 20 (1-15) (not commenced in Scotland)

    Sch.23
  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) her Department, (b) the Disclosure and Barring Service, (c) the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, (d) the Independent Police Complaints Commission, (e) the National Crime Agency, (f) the Security Industry Authority, (g) UK Visas and Immigration and (h) HM Inspectorate of Constabulary; how many of those employees earn more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Mike Penning

    The attached table shows the number of staff employed by the press office at 30 November 2015. It also shows the number of staff that cost the department over £50,000 and £100,000 and the total cost of the press office for 2014/15. The Home Office press office covers a wide remit including police, crime, counter-terrorism, extremism, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, Her Majesty’s Passport Office, serious and organised crime as well as – from those agencies listed in the question – (f) the Security Industry Authority, and (g) UK Visas and Immigration. The department does not employ public relations staff. These costs to the department do not represent salaries earned. The press office operates 24 hours a day 365 days a year and the figures include weekend and on-call allowances, overtime as well as pension and national insurance costs. Across Government the government communications profession saved £330 million for taxpayers last year compared to 2009 to 2010 – by making its campaigns more cost effective.

    This means that we reduced communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what effect the European Commission’s decision to grant the Green Investment Bank scope to operate with aided capital until mid-2017 has had on his Department’s policy on privatising that bank.

    Anna Soubry

    The original European Commission state aid decision on the Green Investment Bank (GIB) gave approval for GIB to operate until October 2016. While we expect to move GIB into private ownership during the course of 2016, the Government has obtained an updated state aid approval that provides the scope for GIB to operate as a state funded enterprise until the end of March 2018. This ensures GIB could continue to operate should the sale process extend beyond October.

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to improve access to parental leave for self-employed people.

    Nick Boles

    In July 2015 my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister appointed Julie Deane OBE to look at what more could be done to support the self-employed. Julie Deane’s report ‘Self-Employment Review’ was published on 14th February and can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/500358/ind-16-2-self-employment-review.pdf

    The Government is reviewing her recommendations in regard to this area carefully.

    “