Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about allowing visits of parliamentarians to Gaza.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We do not make representations on behalf of British nationals, including parliamentarians, wishing to travel to Gaza. Parliamentarians should be aware that at this time the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all travel to Gaza. Entry and exit from Gaza is difficult and can, at times, be impossible. Entry is through either Israel, with permission from the Israeli authorities, or Egypt, with permission from the Egyptian authorities (although this border has been closed almost entirely since October 2014).

  • Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the role of betting shop staff and their recognition of excluded customers in the betting shop multi-operator self-exclusion scheme.

    David Evennett

    The Betting Shop multi-operator self-exclusion scheme came into force across the whole betting sector on 6 April following successful pilots in Chatham, Glasgow and London. Self-exclusion is an important harm minimisation tool designed to provide greater protection to players who require assistance to manage their gambling. The Gambling Commission will continue to assess how well self exclusion schemes are being delivered.

  • Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from the A2 countries of the EU were arrested in each of the last five years for which records are available.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of arrests of people from A2 countries of the EU.

    The Home Office collect and publish data on the number of arrests broken down by offence group, gender, age group and ethnicity. The Home Office does not collect data on the nationality of those arrested.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2016 to Question 39339, on his Department’s reorganisation, whether the projected £7.5 million saving includes the transitional costs arising from centralising policy functions in London.

    Joseph Johnson

    The saving projection of at least £7.5m per year by 2019-20 refers to the reduction in on-going operating costs. This on-going operating cost reduction does not include one-off, transitional costs incurred before 2019-20 which are estimated at between £9-£13m in total.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of calls for food manufacturers to be forced to put traffic-light nutrition labels on the front of packs.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The United Kingdom’s voluntary scheme for colour coded front of pack nutrition labelling has been developed in compliance with Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, but the regulation does not permit national mandatory front of pack labelling.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the operation of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland.

    Mike Penning

    Since 20 May 2015, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has been operating with full powers in Northern Ireland. As the NCA reported to the Northern Ireland Policing Board on 01 October 2015, the scope of NCA’s crime-fighting capability within the jurisdiction has increased. During the period April-June 2015, the NCA recorded 26 disruptions against organised crime groups and high priority threats operating in Northern Ireland. The NCA has worked in partnership with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the support that the NCA provides law enforcement partners, particularly the PSNI has been enhanced.

    The NCA is committed to playing its role in tackling serious and organised crime in Northern Ireland. The NCA will be fully engaged in delivering the commitment outlined in ‘A Fresh Start: The Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’ to undertake a concerted and enhanced effort to combat serious and organised and cross border crime.

  • Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made for the electrification of the South TransPennine route between Sheffield and Manchester.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Network Rail is currently updating its national electrification strategy taking into account Sir Peter Hendy’s Report on Network Rail’s 2014-2019 rail enhancements portfolio and the recommendations of the North of England Electrification Task Force. The Task Force placed the South TransPennine route in the second tier of lines it recommended for future electrification. The updated strategy will be subject to public consultation during 2016 and inform the Government’s Rail Investment Strategy for 2019-2024.

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

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of how many cancer patients could receive a molecular test on Genomics England’s cancer sequencing budget for 2016 if Genomics England (1) continued to use whole genome sequencing on tumour and normal tissue pairs, and (2) switched to deep sequenced panel tests.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The information requested is not yet available. The 100,000 Genomes Project is a research project which is investigating the benefits of whole genome sequencing for patients with cancer and rare diseases. One of the objectives of the Project is to establish the evidence to inform future decisions on National Health Service testing.

    The cancer part of the 100,000 Genomes Project has only recently completed the pilot phase and is incorporating those lessons into routine recruitment of cancer patients. To date, 1,286 tumour and normal genomes have been sequenced and are being interpreted by Genomics England. The pilot phase has involved research participants who have given informed consent, including details about whether there will be feedback of results during the pilot phase. The pilot phase has proved invaluable in understanding the technical requirements for sample preparation and data collection which will be incorporated into the main phase of recruitment in early 2016. As this phase is just starting there is no data on the average turn-around-time or on patient survival.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what budgets and programmes have been established since 2014 to help the regeneration of council housing estates.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    A total of £290 million of loan funding has been allocated by the Government to help the regeneration of local authority housing estates. The first tranche of this funding was announced jointly between the Greater London Authority and the Department for Communities and Local Government on 13 June 2014, and the second was announced by the my rt. hon. Friend, the Prime Minister on 11 January 2016.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cases of (1) corporate, and (2) individual, tax evasion in each of the last five years have involved a British Overseas Territory or a Crown Dependency.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The information requested is not available in this format.

    HM Revenue and Customs publishes estimates of the tax gap each year. The latest edition was published on 22 October 2015 and is available on the gov.uk website.

    Estimates are made for all major taxes, including corporation tax and income tax. However, this information is not broken down in such a way that can be used to identify the loss of tax receipts due to the tax regimes requested.