Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps to ensure that Turkey does not repatriate any genuine refugees, following the recent EU–Turkey financial agreement.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK cooperates closely with Turkey on migration and Turkey has consistently confirmed that their borders remain open to genuine refugees. We commend Turkey’s generosity in hosting over 2.2 million refugees from the crisis in Syria and Iraq. Enhanced cooperation between the EU and Turkey is critical to resolving the current migration crisis. At the EU-Turkey summit on 29 November, the EU agreed €3billion of additional support to Turkey to help ease its refugee burden and prevent further irregular migration to the EU. Turkey and the EU also agreed to activate the migration action plan. As part of this action plan, Turkey committed to accelerate procedures in order to readmit smoothly irregular migrants who are not in need of international protection, whilst ensuring that vulnerable people continue to be identified and taken care of.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the case of the Hares Boys; what discussions he has had with the Israeli authorities on that case; and what information he holds on the current situation.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received a number of parliamentary questions from Members of the House of Commons, letters from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents and letters and emails from members of the public on the case of the Hares Boys.

    An official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv met Chief Military Prosecutor, Maurice Hirsch, on 23 November to raise our concerns over this case in addition to our broader concerns about Israel’s child detention policy. We were informed by the Chief Military Prosecutor that the Hares boys agreed to a plea bargain resulting in their imprisonment for 15 years. We continue to monitor developments in the case of the Hares boys and raise the issue with the Israeli authorities.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures are in place to ensure that no school is asked to admit a disproportionate number of children who have been excluded from other schools.

    Nick Gibb

    Each local authority is required to have a Fair Access Protocol in place, to ensure that unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible. The protocol also ensures that no school is asked to take a disproportionate number of children with challenging behaviour or who have been excluded from other schools.

    All admission authorities, including those of academies and free schools, are required to participate in the Fair Access Protocol for their area.

  • 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 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many apprenticeship starts in the food and farming sector her Department estimates there will be in each of the next five academic years.

    George Eustice

    We aim to treble the number of apprenticeships started annually in food and farming from about 6,000 now to 18,000 by 2020. Defra will work closely with the Apprenticeship Delivery Board and the National Apprenticeship Service to support employers in the sector to engage successfully with apprenticeships. The introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017 is expected to provide an opportunity for growth in apprenticeships.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much compensation her Department paid for the unlawful detention of individuals under immigration powers in each of the last three financial years; for what categories of reason compensation was so paid; and how many such payments were made for each such category of reason.

    James Brokenshire

    Our records indicate that over the past 3 financial years (covering 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15), that a total of £13.8 million has been paid out to 573 claimants, as per the below table. All of whom were paid compensation following a period of unlawful detention.

    Total Unlawful Detention Compensation payments (£ million)

    Number of claimants for the last 3 financial years

    FY 2012-13

    £ 5.0

    195

    FY 2013-14

    £ 4.8

    199

    FY 2014-15

    £ 4.0

    179

    Caveat to provided data: This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to extend the terms of reference of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to investigate the abuse of children in mainstream schools.

    Karen Bradley

    The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse already has wide-ranging terms of reference to examine the extent to which public and other bodies in England and Wales have failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. Decisions around what it investigates, and the specific terms and scope of the investigations, are a matter for the Independent Inquiry. There are no plans to extend the terms of reference further.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policies are in place to ensure that newly arrived asylum seekers placed in Home Office initial accommodation have immediate access to the education system.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The issue of education provision for children seeking asylum is an important one and the Home Office makes every effort to ensure that families with children who claim asylum support have access to education at the earliest opportunity.

    To enable access to education, internal checks are in place to triage applications involving children of school age for priority dispersal from initial accommodation facilities into permanent accommodation.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure the Mandarin Excellence Programme is delivered to all local authorities in the UK; and how many (a) schools and (b) pupils in Birmingham are planned to start the programme this year.

    Nick Gibb

    The Mandarin Excellence Programme offers intensive study in the language. The programme is expected to result in at least 5,000 young people heading towards a high level of fluency in Mandarin Chinese by 2020.

    Secondary school pupils in an initial 14 secondary schools will study Mandarin for eight hours a week – a significant increase on the time pupils currently spend on the subject.

    Currently two schools in the Midlands, one in Coventry and one in Walsall, have joined the programme. Around 300 pupils are expected to join the programme this year. There will be further opportunity for schools to apply to join the programme in subsequent years.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Govia Thameslink Railway about whether it still intends to activate the Oyster card reader installed at Epsom station, and if so, when it intends to do so.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There has been numerous discussions between my officials and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) on the franchise obligation to extend Oyster pay as you go and Contactless payment to Epsom. GTR is currently working with TfL closely to deliver this as soon as is practical and we are applying lessons learned from extending Oyster to Gatwick to extending Oyster to Epsom.

  • Lord Mawson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Mawson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to connect the building developments in East London Tech City with the developments in the Lower Lea Valley.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    The Mayor of London is responsible for economic development in London, as well as housing policy and delivery and strategic planning. These responsibilities come together through the statutory London Plan. Thus it is for the Mayor and the Greater London Authority, working with the relevant London boroughs, to make the most of the important opportunities provided by the developments in East London Tech City and the Lower Lea Valley.