Category: Speeches

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to extend occupational pensions to include widows from same sex married couples in the same way as widows from other married couples are currently included.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government is considering the findings of the statutory review into survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes that was required by section 16 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. The Review provided important information on the benefits, costs and other effects of eliminating or reducing differences in survivor benefit provision.

    The Government will respond to the Review in due course.

  • Vernon Coaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Vernon Coaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans she has for pre-legislative scrutiny of proposals to implement new bodies to deal with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The UK Government remains committed to establishing the new bodies contained in the Stormont House Agreement and I will continue to work with the political parties, Northern Ireland Executive and victims groups to achieve the consensus needed for legislation. I will give consideration as to whether further drafting or documentation should be published as part of engagement on how to move forward on this issue.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessments he has made of the effect of the level of the current account deficit on the future strength of the pound sterling.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The widening in the UK current account deficit in recent years has been driven by a deterioration in the UK’s net investment income from abroad, while the trade deficit has continued to improve. The Office for Budget Responsibility expect factors that have depressed the returns on the UK’s net assets, such as the relative weakness in economic activity in the UK’s trading partners, to recede. The current account deficit is forecast to narrow to -2.1 per cent by 2020, limiting any impact on the exchange rate. Furthermore, the government’s plan to complete the repair of the public finances will support a gradual narrowing of the current account deficit.

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

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase opportunities for prisoners to acquire skills that could lead to earned release.

    Andrew Selous

    The Secretary of State for Justice last September asked Dame Sally Coates to chair a review of the quality of education in prisons. It is examining how we can better equip prisoners with the skills to find employment on release and will report in due course.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates they have made of the likely benefits of providing the quadrivalent HPV vaccine to all adolescents in the UK on a gender-neutral basis.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In 2008 when forming its recommendation for vaccination against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in the United Kingdom, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) did not recommend vaccination of boys because the evidence indicated vaccinating boys was unlikely to be cost-effective.

    The JCVI keeps the eligibility criteria of all vaccination programmes under review. In October 2013 the JCVI recommended a HPV sub-committee be formed to consider a number of issues including the potential extension of the programme to include adolescent boys, because of new and emerging evidence on the association of HPV vaccine types with non-cervical cancers.

    The JCVI subsequently requested that modelling be undertaken by Public Health England (PHE) to re-examine the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending the HPV vaccination programme to adolescent boys. It is anticipated that PHE will submit this work to the JCVI by early 2017 which will include an assessment of the likely benefits of providing the quadrivalent HPV vaccine to all adolescents.

  • Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mancroft on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether patients who meet the eligibility criteria for NICE-approved medicines for hepatitis C will have access to treatment in line with their rights under the NHS Constitution in 2016–17, even if more than 10,000 patients have already been treated.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England’s approach paces the roll-out of hepatitis C treatment in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendation for prioritisation and the modelling assumptions which informed the NICE recommendations. These are in line with patients’ rights under the NHS Constitution.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 20 April 2016 to Question 32851, on Asylum housing, how many and what proportion of properties were deemed compliant with contractual obligations following an inspection by (a) her Department and (b) providers in each (i) COMPASS region and (ii) contractual pay period in (A) 2014-15 and (B) 2015-16; and how many people were affected by faults identified from COMPASS inspections not being repaired within the contract timescales in each of those regions in each of those periods.

    James Brokenshire

    The performance standards defined in the COMPASS contract are managed using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which include measure of whether an individual property is compliant with contractual obligations following an inspection and also the number of service users affected if a fault is not repaired within the contract timescales.

    The Home Office contract management reporting regime does not retain information in a format that readily allows for data extraction on the number of individual property inspection or faults in the format requested without incurring disproportionate cost.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether external consultants were involved in the design of the (a) Remedial Plan or (b) emergency timetable for Govia Thameslink Railway services.

    Claire Perry

    The Department did not design either the Remedial Plan, or the revised timetable being introduced on 11 July. Emergency timetables are introduced by the rail industry in reaction to specific circumstances as they are responsible for operating the railway and do not need the prior approval of the Secretary of State.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on the use of citizens’ juries to define the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

    Mr David Jones

    There are currently no plans to use citizens’ juries to define the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

  • Andy McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andy McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress the Government has made on its proposed plans to introduce a degree apprenticeship in Leadership and Management as announced in Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more Prosperous Nation, Cm 9098, published in July 2015.

    Nick Boles

    I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Salford and Eccles (Rebecca Long Bailey) to question UIN 16937.

    “