Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Bangladesh about child marriage, and whether it is their policy that the revised Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 should retain the minimum age of marriage for women at 18 years age without exceptions.

    Baroness Verma

    We welcome the commitments made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Girl Summit last year and in New York in September to end marriage under the age 15 by 2021 and under 18 by 2041. We expect the age of marriage to be maintained at 18.

    Alongside other Donor Partners and NGOs we continue to discuss with the Government of Bangladesh our concerns regarding the legislation, including the possibility of an exception clause that might allow marriage below 18 in certain circumstances, with the aim of ensuring that the public commitments at the UK Girl Summit are maintained. Meanwhile, we are working with other parts of HMG and donor partners to press for improved implementation of policies that protect and promote the status of women and girls. Activities to tackle inequality and promote empowerment are embedded across all of our wider programmes.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of banks closing accounts of money service businesses on grounds relating to adherence to money-laundering regulations since July 2013.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The FCA have recently published a report on the nature and scale of de-risking in the UK. The report reinforces the view that de-risking is driven by a variety of factors, not just anti money-laundering compliance or a fear of regulatory action. From a data set of 23 banks the report noted that “tracking the proportionately tiny number of closures linked to financial crime concerns within this immense dataset is thus inherently challenging, especially if the reason for closure is primarily commercial, with a small component of the equation relating to ‘increased compliance costs’.”

    However the report does indicate that the rate of customer exits has accelerated over the last 2-3 years.

    Data from HM Revenue and Customs (the supervisor of Money Service Businesses outside the banking sector) shows that there are about 2000 MSB’s principals registered to trade with approximately 45,000 agents around the UK. It is a large and diverse sector. HMRC does hold data on the number of de-registered MSB’s, however given that MSB’s are not required to provide HMRC with information on when they have had their bank accounts closed, data on MSB’s effected by de-risking is not available.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department provides specialist care for victims of hate crime; and if she will provide additional resources to deal with the rise in hate crime since the referendum on UK membership of the EU.

    Sarah Newton

    The Government condemns all hate crimes and is committed to tackling these crimes in partnership with the communities affected.

    We have in place some of the strongest legislation to tackle hate crime in the world – this includes specific offences for racially and religiously aggravated activity and offences of the stirring up of hatred on the grounds of race, religion and sexual orientation.

    We also have stronger sentences for hate crime. We continue to carefully consider the recommendations from the Law Commission review into hate crime legislation. The Government has committed to taking action to improve our response to hate crime.

    This includes joint training between the police and Crown Prosecution staff to improve the way the police identify and investigate hate crime; building on the improvements to police recording of hate crime by working with the police to break down religious-based hate crime by religion; and working with victims and advocacy groups to improve victims confidence to come forward and report such crimes.

    The police are also improving their operational practices and recording. Last year, the College of Policing published Operational Guidance for officers responding to hate crime which comprehensively covers how to address all forms of hate crime.

    Hate crime statistics show number of crimes recorded by the police by force area. The decision as to how hate crime is resourced in individual forces is an operational matter for the Police and Crime Commissioner for that area. The latest police funding settlement represents a fair deal for the police and reinforces this Government’s commitment to protect the public. No Police and Crime Commissioner who maximised precept income is facing a reduction in cash funding this year.

    Police and Crime Commissioners are also responsible for commissioning local support services for victims of crime. The Ministry of Justice provides the Commissioner with a grant to enable services which best meet the needs of local victims of crime to be funded.

    The Home Office published a new hate crime action plan on 26 July 2016, which sets out Government action over the next four years to tackle hate crime. It includes:

    ● new steps to boost reporting of hate crime and support victims;

    ● new CPS guidance to prosecutors on racially aggravated crime;

    ● a new £2.4 million fund for protective security measures at potentially vulnerable places of worship;

    ● and additional funding to community organisations tackling hate crime.

    Nobody in this country should live in fear because of who they are and anyone who experiences hate crime should report it to the police, either in person at a police station, online through the True Vision website, or by phoning 101.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to consider extending the transitional funding for maintained nurseries to include children’s centres providing early years education as part of the Early Years National Funding Formula review.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The £55 million additional funding for maintained nursery schools for at least two years will provide them with stability while they explore how to become more sustainable in the longer term. We plan to consult the sector on the future of nursery schools in further detail, including what happens after this two year period, in due course.

    Children’s centres are funded through the Business Rates Retention Scheme and local authorities have the freedom to decide what services are appropriate to meet local needs. Our early years funding proposals, on which we recently consulted, are designed to maximise the funding that goes to the front-line, including children’s centres where they provide early education. We will issue our response later in the autumn.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his oral Answer of 22 October 2015, Official Report, column 444WH, what steps he has taken to assess whether British-manufactured arms have been used in a responsible manner in Yemen.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. A licence will not be issued, for any country, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen by all sides to the conflict and keep these under regular review. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Government and have received repeated assurances of IHL compliance. We continue to engage with them on those assurances and urge all sides to investigate such incidents fully.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants in his Department are in the redeployment pool.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There are currently 14 people in the Departmental redeployment pool.

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions have been made in connection with gun-related crime in the West Midlands metropolitan area in each quarter of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    Offences involving firearms recorded by the police at the force area level are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on a financial year basis. The most recently published figures for the West Midlands and England are 2013/14. These are given in the table and show that between 2009/10 and 2013/14, offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons) fell by 40% in both the West Midlands and in England.

    Figures for 2014/15 are due to be published on 11 February 2016 in the ONS publication Focus on: Violent Crime and Sexual Offences 2014/15.

    The ONS publish provisional data for England and Wales on the number of offences involving firearms in their quarterly crime statistics releases. The most recently available figures are for the year ending June 2015 and these can be found here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/year-ending-june-2015/stb-crime–ye-june-2015.html

    The Home Office does not collect data on the number of people arrested in connection with offences involving firearms. The Home Office collects data on arrests by groups of crimes (for example, violence against the person, robbery) but cannot separately identify those that involved a firearm from those that did not.

    Convictions data are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice has informed the Home Office that they do not hold data on the number of convictions for offences where a firearm was involved.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received from Calderdale Council since 2010 on the level of the Revenue Support Grant.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Calderdale Council have submitted a representation each year since 2010 as part of the annual consultation on the local government finance settlement.

    The annual local government finance settlement sets out details of central government funding for local authorities, including Revenue Support Grant, as well as considering councils’ locally raised funds, and represents the main funding source for local authorities.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Written Statement of 10 February 2016, HCWS520, when he expects the Review of the Homes and Communities Agency to be published.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Spending Review underlined the priority this Government attaches to our ambition to build a million homes this Parliament and to double the number of new homeowners. Building on the successful contribution the Homes and Communities Agency made in the last Parliament, the Review will ensure that they are well-placed to deliver the Government’s objectives.

    In line with Cabinet Office guidance, the Review will consider a range of options in looking at how the Agency can operate in the most effective and efficient way.

    We will be seeking evidence from a wide range of sources, including the Agency itself, and will provide an opportunity for interested stakeholders to contribute views. Once this evidence has been collected and conclusions drawn, the Review will report as soon as possible.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    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 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Hugo Swire, on 25 February (HC27824), how many joint UK-China projects to counter the human trafficking of North Koreans have taken place in the past three years; what the objectives were of those projects; and what their outcomes were.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have not supported any joint UK-China projects to counter the trafficking of North Koreans in the past three years. Our Embassy in China continues to fund projects to prevent trafficking in general, and we are currently funding a project involving an international non-governmental organisation to address the issue of child trafficking. We also continue to work with the Chinese authorities to prevent Chinese nationals being trafficked to the UK.

    As the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), said in his reply of 25 February, we regularly discuss the range of issues on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with China, and we will seek to include this issue in the next round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.