Category: Speeches

Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the reduction in staff numbers in his Department needed to meet the efficiency and reform savings announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 for the 2015-16 financial year and in each of the next five years.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Chancellor announced on 25 November that DCMS core administration funding will reduce by 20% in real terms over this spending period. This reflects the planned reduction in Broadband Delivery UK administration funding as projects deliver their targets on time, as well as further efficiency savings which will be made across the Department over the Spending Review period.

01/01/2023
Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what investment his Department has made in video-conferencing facilities in each of the last five years.

Joseph Johnson

My Department has a total of 45 extant video conferencing facilities in place in 12 of its locations in England, Scotland and Wales. The investment costs of those facilities are as detailed below:

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Total for 5 years

Investment costs

£599,144

£213,752

£82,887

£85,821

£981,604

01/01/2023
Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on employers offering higher salaries to employees who opt of occupational pension schemes.

Justin Tomlinson

Section 54 of the Pensions Act 2008 prohibits employers from taking any action for the sole or main purpose of inducing a worker to leave a workplace pension scheme.

The Government takes potential inducement by employers very seriously. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for all matters relating to employers’ compliance with their enrolment duties, including investigations into individual cases of potential inducement by employers.

Through automatic enrolment we are delivering a fundamental shift in workplace pension saving that is changing the way that people are enabled to save for retirement. Already 100,668 employers have completed their declaration of compliance with the Regulator, resulting in more than 6 million eligible jobholders being automatically enrolled into a qualifying pension scheme.

The law relating to inducements is an important safeguard for workers and the Regulator has statutory powers of investigation and enforcement it can use in appropriate circumstances. We are working with the Regulator to monitor the number and nature of possible inducement cases as the roll-out of automatic enrolment continues. That will enable us to judge whether the current legislation covering inducement, and the guidance and messaging provided by the Regulator, are operating effectively to protect employees, and whether change may be appropriate.

01/01/2023
Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much he estimates will be spent on research into brain tumours in children and young people (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the total spend on cancer research in each of the next three years.

George Freeman

Total spend by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in each of the next three years on cancer research, and on research relating specifically to brain tumours in children and young people, will depend on the number and scale of successful applications to NIHR programmes and fellowship schemes and on the volume of research supported by NIHR infrastructure including biomedical research centres and the NIHR Clinical Research Network.

More brain tumour research is needed and, as I announced on 18 April, Official Report, columns 258-59WH, I will be convening a working group of clinicians, charities and officials to discuss how working together with our research funding partners, we can address this.

01/01/2023
Lord Teverson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to reconsider their decision to withdraw financial support for the Cornish language, and if not, under what circumstances they next intend to do so.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Cornwall Council has a core spending power of £1.7 billion over the next four years, from which they can allocate the necessary resources to sustain and grow the use of the Cornish Language, if that is what local people want to see.

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37468, if she will inform the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish when any application is received from Tameside Council for the disposal of the Two Trees High School site in Denton; if she will discuss any such applications with that Member; and if she will report her decision on any such application to that Member.

Edward Timpson

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council has not yet presented an application seeking consent to dispose of the site. The Secretary of State is content to discuss an application should one be received. She does, however, rely on her officials to process such applications, and would also consider any recommendation from the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel when making her final decision. She has, therefore, asked her officials responsible for processing such applications to make initial contact with the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish to discuss any such application on her behalf.

01/01/2023

Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff of his Department’s resigned in each half of each year since 2010.

Sir Alan Duncan

The following table contains the numbers of UK-based staff that have resigned from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in each six month period since 2010:

FY	Six month period	Resignations	FY Total
2010/11	April – September 2010	22	61
	October 2010 – March 2011	39
2011/12	April – September 2011	43	70
	October 2011 – March 2012	27
2012/13	April – September 2012	35	53
	October 2012 – March 2013	18
2013/14	April – September 2013	29	46
	October 2013 – March 2014	17
2014/15	April – September 2014	17	48
	October 2014 – March 2015	31
2015/16	April – September 2015	23	47
	October 2015 – March 2016	24
2016	April – September 2016	34	34

Details are not held centrally for local staff.

01/01/2023

Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Saudi Arabian counterpart calling for the release of Mr Ashraf Fayadh who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on 17 November 2015 on charges of apostasy.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are aware of, and concerned about, the case of Mr Ashraf Fayadh (who is Palestinian). We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and strongly support freedom of expression in every country. We regularly make the Saudi Arabian authorities aware of our views, and will consider suitable opportunities for raising our concerns over this case.

01/01/2023
Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she has reviewed the fitness-for-purpose of the UK Nuclear Industry Malicious Capability Planning Assessment to deal with attacks similar to those carried out recently in Paris and San Bernadino.

Andrea Leadsom

The security of the UK’s civil nuclear sector is of paramount importance to the Government. The Nuclear Industry Malicious Capability Planning Assumptions (NIMCA) provide a common basis for determining the sector’s required protective security posture. It is reviewed by DECC, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), and industry representatives on an annual basis. To ensure that the NIMCA assumptions remain appropriate, these annual reviews are supplemented with assessments of threat information provided by the police and the intelligence agencies on an ongoing basis. Additionally, the ONR maintains a permanent presence within the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which guarantees the fastest possible identification and notification of intelligence that might indicate changes to present and foreseeable threats to civil nuclear sites.

01/01/2023
Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) AWE personnel and (b) contractors are working on legacy decommissioning projects at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

Mr Philip Dunne

There are 209 contractors and 78 AWE personnel working on decommissioning projects, including demolition, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment

01/01/2023

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total for 5 years
Investment costs		£599,144	£213,752	£82,887	£85,821	£981,604