Category: Speeches

  • Lord Warner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Warner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what amount they plan to make available to local authorities to add to the Better Care Fund in each year from 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive, in the light of the commitment to make £1.5 billion available by 2019–20 set out in paragraph 2.124 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The annual breakdown of the £1.5 billion that will be made available to local authorities by 2019-20 to add to the Better Care Fund, as announced by the Chancellor in the 2015 Spending Review, has not yet been finalised. More detailed figures will be announced in due course.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proposal the Government plans to put to the second UN open-ended working group on nuclear disarmament.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK and the four other Non-Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Weapons States voted against the Resolution “Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations” in the UN General Assembly First Committee which established an Open Ended Working Group. The Government believes that productive results can only be ensured through a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment.

  • Baroness Hussein-Ece – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hussein-Ece – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hussein-Ece on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support the Manchester-based charity Broken Rainbow.

    Lord Bates

    The Government is committed to tackling domestic violence and abuse. Broken Rainbow plays an important role in supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of domestic abuse, and the Home Office has informed Broken Rainbow that it will be renewing funding to support its helpline for 2016/17.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the proportion of the working population in Southampton which was working in small retail outlets over the last three years.

    Anna Soubry

    Official statistics are not sufficiently detailed to answer this question directly. However a rough estimate may be possible by combining sources.

    The ONS Business Registers and Employment Survey shows that the retail sector accounted for 10 – 11% of employment in Southampton in each year between 2012 and 2014.

    Furthermore BIS Business Population Estimates suggest that across the UK as a whole small firms (those below 50 employees) account for around 29% of employment in the retail sector.

    Applying this assumption we could estimate that small retailers accounted for around 3% of employment in Southampton in 2012-2014.

  • 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 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many MSI-DSL 30mm guns will be mounted on HMS Queen Elizabeth.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    In December 2003 a competition was launched to provide the Royal Navy with an improved defensive anti-surface warfare capability with the preference being for an automated 30mm gun system. A number of companies entered the competition, and the MSI ‘Seahawk’ system was eventually chosen on the basis of cost, capability and through life support. The MSI weapon system, now referred to as the Automated Small Calibre Gun (ASCG) System, was subsequently selected for fitting to HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH.

    Four ASCGs will be fitted on QUEEN ELIZABETH.

  • Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding the uprating of pensions that are frozen for people living overseas.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Secretary of State is in regular contact with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on pensions issues. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and are uprated overseas where we have a legal requirement to do so – for example in the European Economic Area or in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement in place which allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this policy.

  • Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which companies are currently participating in the Work Programme in Fife; and what kind of work experience does each such company to offer to benefit claimants placed with them.

    Damian Hinds

    The Work Programme prime providers that cover Fife are Ingeus and Working Links. They have complete freedom to innovate and design support based on individual and local need. That support can take many forms, including learning new skills, work experience and developing job hunting techniques. As prime providers they have the freedom to use a network of local specialist organisations to deliver tailored support to the individual.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to address the change in Britain’s self-sufficiency rating.

    George Eustice

    The government has a manifesto commitment to introduce a 25 year plan to grow and produce more food, both to increase consumption of British food in the domestic market and to export more.

    The UK Food Production to Supply ratio in 2015 was 61% for all food and 76% for indigenous-type food. This compares with 62% and 76% respectively in 2014. This has remained steady over the last decade.

    Global food security is dependent on a number of factors including increasing production sustainably, reducing waste and ensuring open markets around the world to facilitate trade.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the arrest and interrogation by Israeli police of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem, in particular regarding reports that children aged between six and 12 have been arrested and interrogated without a parent present.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We consistently raise the issue of detention of minors with the Israel government. On 27 August our Ambassador in Tel Aviv lobbied the Israeli Military Advocate General on Children in Detention where the issue of child detention was discussed. We are aware of cases when the Israeli police have detained children under 12, and subsequently released them once their age has been verified. When officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this with the police, they were told that the police do not hold children under the age of 12 but are not always aware that a particular child is below age.

    According to the law, the police may hold a child over the age of 12 suspected of involvement in a security offence without allowing his/her parents to be present at the time of his/her arrest and interrogation. This is true for both Israeli and Palestinian minors held on security offences. We continue to lobby for the Israeli authorities to consider changing the law for the sake of the well-being of the child.

  • Jo Stevens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jo Stevens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which trades unions will be represented in the proposed Institute for Apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    The independent Chair and Board members of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be appointed in accordance with the public appointments process.