Category: Speeches

  • Paul Scully – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Scully – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Scully on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to wait until the EU Commission has confirmed acceptance of the UK Air Quality Plan before making a decision on airport expansion.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Government submitted a revised air quality plan to the European Commission on 17 December last year. There is no formal timetable under the Air Quality Directive for the Commission to assess the plan. We are working with the Commission to ensure compliance with the nitrogen dioxide limits in the Directive in the shortest possible time.

    The Government is fully committed to delivering the infrastructure this country needs, including delivering runway capacity to the timetable set out by the Airports Commission.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by her Department are non-UK nationals.

    Matt Hancock

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost to the public purse of their appeal against the High Court’s ruling in R v The Secretary of State for Justice [2014] EWHC 2365 (Admin).

    Lord Faulks

    As a matter of principle this Government believes that individuals should have a strong connection with the UK in order to benefit from the civil legal aid scheme. We believe that the residence test we have proposed is a fair and appropriate way to demonstrate that strong connection. We have therefore pursued an appeal against the High Court’s judgment in this case.

    The total costs to the public purse of pursuing this appeal can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic benefits to local communities on the reopening of the Todmorden Curve rail link.

    Andrew Jones

    The reinstatement of this rail link was promoted by Lancashire County Council with support from the Regional Growth Fund. It has enabled the reintroduction of direct rail services between Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley to Manchester Victoria after 40 years, reducing journey times by 20 per cent, and delivering much needed economic benefits to East Lancashire.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding was allocated to raising awareness of diabetes by Public Health England in each of the last three years.

    Jane Ellison

    There is no specific budget for diabetes awareness marketing within Public Health England.

    However, Change4Life is Public Health England’s (PHE) social marketing programme which aims to inspire families with children aged five to 11 to eat well and move more in order to lower the risks of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, some cancers and heart disease. More than 2.7 million people have engaged with the campaign.

    Table: Costs for the delivery of the Change4Life campaign

    Year

    Cost

    2012/13

    £8,933,000

    2013/14

    £12,582,000

    2014/15

    £10,041,000

    Note: These costs are total campaign costs and only exclude staffing costs.

    PHE is also developing an integrated social marketing campaign to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health. The programme will encourage people to make a number of lifestyle changes including taking up more exercise, improving diet, stopping smoking and reducing alcohol consumption.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway stations in Great Britain were equipped with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers on the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many ITSO-compliant smartcards had been issued by (a) South Eastern, (b) Govia Thameslink Railway, (c) c2c, (d) Greater Anglia, (e) London Midland, (f) East Midland Trains and (g) Great Western Railway on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    There are currently 718 railway stations in England that are equipped with at least one ITSO-compliant smartcard reader. The devolved administrations are responsible for Scotland and Wales respectively.

    The Government does not hold figures for how many ITSO-compliant smartcards have been issued by train operating companies as this is a commercial matter for them.

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25652, whether EU nationals are able to apply for apprenticeships in England.

    Nick Boles

    An EU national can be employed in an apprenticeship in England, and will be eligible for funding for their apprenticeship provided they meet set eligibility criteria.

    These criteria are set out in the Skills Funding Agency: common funding rules for the 2016 to 2017 funding year.

    “

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what powers the EU has to freeze the assets of suspected terrorist groups or individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism; and what assessment he has made of the benefits to the UK of those powers.

    Mr David Lidington

    The EU has two mechanisms for freezing the assets of individuals and groups suspected of involvement in terrorism. The UN’s ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida sanctions regime is implemented in the United Kingdom by way of EU Council Regulation (EC) No. 881/2002 and subsequent EU regulations adding new individuals and entities to the regime. The EU also has its own autonomous counter-terrorism regime under Common Position 931, for listing individuals and groups based on national competent authority decisions by a Member State or third country.

    HM Treasury reports quarterly to Parliament on the implementation of these measures. The Treasury’s latest report [http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-02-24/HCWS548/], published on 24 February 2016, sets out that in Q4 of 2015 a total of 43 UK accounts were frozen under either EU or UN counter-terrorism measures. A further 36 accounts were frozen under the UK’s domestic Terrorist Asset Freezing etc. Act 2010 regime.

    The EU’s autonomous regime lends a multiplying effect to the reach of a number of the UK’s domestic asset freezes and proscriptions of terrorist organisations, and facilitates the sharing of information on designated persons between Member States. The UK also benefits from the consistent application across EU territory of the UN’s ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida asset freezes.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) male and (b) female employees (i) his Department, (ii) Network Rail, (iii) Highways England, (iv) HS2 Ltd, (v) the Office of Rail and Road, (vi) the DVLA, (vii) the Drive Vehicle Standards Agency and (viii) the VCA has.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The numbers of male and female employees as at 31st March 2016 are as follows:

    (a)

    (b)

    Organisation

    Male

    Female

    I. DfT(c)

    1,267

    798

    II. Network Rail

    31,658

    5,696

    III. Highways England

    2,574

    1,297

    IV. HS2 Ltd

    446

    307

    V. Office of Rail and Road

    192

    120

    VI. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)

    2,403

    3,803

    VII. Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)

    3,199

    1,305

    VIII. Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)

    114

    42

  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had regarding the creation of a legal status for those participating in full-time, long-term volunteering programmes, such as those run by City Year UK, vInspired and Volunteering Matters, under the proposed National Citizen Service Bill.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The National Citizen Service Bill will place the NCS programme on permanent statutory footing. It is estimated that NCS participants have dedicated over 8 million hours of volunteering to their local communities to date. Other opportunities for young people to participate in social action, such as those run by City Year UK, vInspired and Volunteering Matters, have contributed to the success of NCS and made sure that young people have opportunities to develop new skills that extend and transform their life chances. The government is committed to increasing volunteering and social action, and to providing support for different opportunities and programmes that encourage volunteering.