Category: Speeches

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will guarantee to fund the remaining period of Peace IV in the event that the UK leaves the EU before the conclusion of that fund in 2020.

    Lord Dunlop

    The Government has set out that all European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs) projects with signed contracts or funding agreements in place with government, and projects signed before the Autumn Statement, including the PEACE programme will be fully funded, even when these projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.

    For qualifying projects under the PEACE programme signed after the Autumn Statement, we will work with the devolved administrations on funding arrangements to allow them to prioritise projects within their devolved responsibilities. As we make the transition to longer-term arrangements, we will ensure the devolved administrations are treated fairly and that their circumstances are taken into account.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of tax credits referred to Concentrix by HM Revenue and Customs as high risk renewals were streamed out by Concentrix from further investigation for fraud or error.

    Jane Ellison

    Between 1 August 2016 and 31 August 2016 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) automatically stopped 365,483 tax credit claims as a direct result of customers failing to comply with the requirements of the annual renewal process.

    Alongside the annual renewal process, HMRC records the number of awards that have been amended, which could be stopped, reduced or increased. Therefore, data showing the total number of claims stopped following a compliance intervention is unavailable.

    During the course of the contract, HMRC delegated a total caseload of 2,209,500 cases for high risk renewal checks by Concentrix. Of these 1,635,676 cases were not the subject of further investigation for fraud or error by Concentrix. This amounts to 74% of the total caseload.

    The volume of high risk renewals referred to Concentrix are broken down into the three risk categories as follows:

    • Undeclared Partner: 1,398,908

    • Work & Hours: 564,983

    • Child Care: 245,609

  • Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Kurdistan and the effect this situation has on the threat from Islamic State; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK Government is following the political situation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq closely. Her Majesty’s Ambassador in Baghdad and Consul General in Erbil are encouraging Kurdish political leaders to resolve their differences peacefully, in the spirit of compromise and respecting democratic principles. We welcome the major contribution made by the Kurdistan Regional Government and Kurdish people to counter ISIL, and encourage them to continue to unite against this threat.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners with mental health problems; how many and what proportion of such prisoners are (a) men and (b) women; and how many and what proportion of such prisoners identify as LGBT.

    Andrew Selous

    The Government has carried out a survey of prisoners assessing levels of mental health problems within the male and female estate. A link to that report can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220060/gender-substance-misuse-mental-health-prisoners.pdf

    We do not hold data on the proportion of the prison population who suffer from mental health problems and identify as LGBT.

    “

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department (a) identified and (b) supported children of parents with mental illness.

    Alistair Burt

    We have changed the law to improve how young carers and their families including those of parents with mental illness are identified and supported. These new duties came into effect in April 2015. Changes introduced through the Children and Families Act 2014 consolidate and simplify the legislation relating to young carers’ assessments, make rights and duties clearer to both young people and practitioners, extend the right to an assessment of needs of all young carers regardless of who they care for or what type of care they provide and make it clear to local authorities that they must carry out an assessment of a young carer’s needs for support on request or on the appearance of need.

    These new provisions work alongside those in the Care Act 2014 for assessing adults to enable ‘whole family approaches’ to assessment and support. This means that when a child is identified as a young carer, the needs of everyone in the family will be considered in the first place.

    The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Report CR164 Parents as patients: Supporting the needs of patients who are parents and their children published in January 2011 and available at

    http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/usefulresources/publications/collegereports/cr/cr164.aspx

    sets out the College’s position on how the needs of parents and children can be managed and dealt with sensitively in the case of parental mental illness.

    “

  • Corri Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Corri Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Corri Wilson on 2016-02-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the incidence of members of the public receiving multiple letters from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) conveying conflicting information; and what steps HMRC is taking to reduce such occurrences.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold this data. However, they regularly publish general performance reports at Gov.uk.

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he made of the flag flying policies adopted by other European states in respect of national monuments in developing his policy on that matter.

    David Evennett

    No specific assessment has been made of the policy adopted by other European states in respect of national monuments. The decision as and when to fly flags is largely a decision for individual organisations.

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

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 March (HL6926), whether the issue of the sugar tax to be introduced by NHS England in their own premises by 2020 was raised as part of their conversations with NHS England, and if so, by whom and which ministers were consequently informed.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We have a range of conversations about key issues at Ministerial and official level with NHS England. NHS England is independent and the decision on a sugar levy on the National Health Service estate is a matter for them operationally. We are interested to see the results of their consultation on a sugar levy.

    The announcement of a soft drinks industry levy by the Chancellor in the Budget is the first step in our comprehensive Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, and gives companies strong incentives to reformulate their products.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35960, on universal credit, what the exclusion criteria are.

    Priti Patel

    In some cases, where a claimant would be excluded from work related requirements they will be excluded from the pool of “qualifying claimants”. They will also cease to be part of the scheme if the same circumstances apply after they have been selected. These are:

    • recent victims of domestic violence;
    • claimants who provide medical evidence of unfitness for work pending a work capability assessment;
    • prisoners;
    • claimants absent from GB for medical treatment etc;
    • claimants suffering a bereavement;
    • claimants undergoing treatment for drug or alcohol addiction.
  • Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Law Society’s online survey of individuals’ handling of legal issues in England and Wales 2015, published in May 2016.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The legal profession in England and Wales is independent from government. We want to see an innovative and competitive market that provides people with affordable legal services that they want and need, with regulation that supports the public and consumer interest.

    We welcome the Law Society’s survey and will take account of the findings as part of the development of legal services policy.

    The legal services regulators have a duty to promote the regulatory objectives set out in the Legal Services Act 2007, including improving access to justice and increasing public understanding of the citizen’s legal rights and duties. The regulators have established the “Legal Choices” website, which provides people with information to help them in deciding whether and how to seek legal advice and the available services they might choose from. The Advicenow website, established by Law for Life, provides information on rights and the law.