Category: Speeches

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment to Senior Civil Service posts in her Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    George Eustice

    In financial years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 this data was not held centrally. Providing an estimate would be at a disproportionate cost. In 2013-14 Defra and its Executive Agencies spent £199,639 and in 2014-15 £103,977 on external agencies for recruitment to Senior Civil Service posts.

  • Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2734, what progress her Department has made on restoring physical habitats on chalk rivers in North East Hertfordshire constituency.

    Rory Stewart

    Through its Restoring Sustainable Abstraction (RSA) Programme, the Environment Agency (EA) is working with local water companies and the Catchment partnerships to significantly improve the condition, flow and habitats of chalk streams Beane, Mimram and Lee.

    As part of the Programme, Affinity Water and the EA have committed to investing £3 million by 2020 in habitat improvement projects for these chalk streams. These are currently in the planning and design stage. Delivery will accelerate as the Programme progresses over the next five years.

    In order to achieve the greatest benefit from these works, Affinity Water has agreed to reduce abstraction from local chalk streams by over 40 million litres per day by 2024. It will significantly reduce abstraction at the Whitehall pumping station on the River Beane by 2018 by building a pipeline, currently under construction, to supply customers with water from alternative sources.

    The EA partnership project at Waterford Marsh, also on the River Beane, has seen improvements for both wildlife and people through chalk stream restoration, pond creation, access repair, and the provision of new information boards.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department work on air quality.

    George Eustice

    As at 18 January 2016 there were 37 staff working on air quality in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Additional staff are available to work on this policy area as and when needed.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the county of origin of manufacture is of the PCS clothing solution.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold a list of countries used by our prime contractors to manufacture Personal Clothing Solution garments. The MOD is required to comply with all legislation and relevant Government policy, and, subject to these conditions, the MOD does not restrict the geographical location of manufacture.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government’s memorandum submitted to the Lords Secondary Legislation Committee on 28 January, how many of the 800,000 tax credit claimants with a reduced award to an income rise above the new level of disregard are women.

    Damian Hinds

    From April 2016, the income rise disregard – the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within a year before their tax credit award is adjusted – will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500.

    The only people who will be affected by this will be those who see an increase in their in-year income by more than £2,500. There will be no net cash losers because their income will have increased.

    In the subsequent tax year, a claimant’s tax credits award will be calculated in the usual way, using their full annual income for the previous year to determine their tax credit entitlement. This means that after the change in the tax year, whether the claimant’s increase in income was above or below the disregard level, their tax credit award for the following year will be adjusted to what it would have been had no disregard existed.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent any person convicted of animal abuse from owning an animal.

    George Eustice

    The Animal Welfare Act 2006 already allows courts to make a disqualification order in respect of someone who has been found guilty of causing any unnecessary suffering to an animal. It is for the courts to decide whether to make such an order and, if so, for how long based on the individual circumstances of the case. If a court decides not to impose such an order, it must give its reasons in open court. I consider, therefore, that the courts have the necessary powers to impose appropriate penalties in relation to acts of animal cruelty

  • 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 2016-05-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the detention and expulsion of BBC journalists from North Korea.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The detention and expulsion of a BBC journalist in Pyongyang is of concern. This is yet another example of the North Korean regime’s attempts to restrict and control the free flow of information and limit freedom of speech. We will continue to raise human rights issues, such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression, directly with the regime and in international fora as part of our policy of critical engagement.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been invested in facilities at Barrow-in-Furness to support the Trident renewal programme in 2015-16.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The infrastructure and facilities investments being made at the Barrow-in-Furness and Faslane sites are for all our submarines not just the Successor programme. I am withholding internal Ministry of Defence forecasts on future programme expenditure as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice on-going commercial negotiations.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote animal welfare in the Government’s foreign policy.

    Alok Sharma

    The Government has a manifesto commitment “to push for high animal welfare standards to be incorporated into international trade agreements” and we are working with colleagues across Whitehall and with the European Commission, who represents EU Member States in the associated negotiations, to deliver this.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to monitor sustained employment through the Work Based Sector Employment scheme beyond 13 week follow-up enquiries to employers.

    Priti Patel

    Official statistics record starts to sector-based work academy pre-employment training only. The Department does not collate information on outcomes, nor the number of benefit claimants finding work through a sector-based work academy placement. There are no current plans to do so.

    Official statistics are available on GOV.UK at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-contract-april-2012-to-may-2015

    “