Category: Speeches

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive on the ability in future of Members of the House of Lords to continue to serve on the board of the BBC; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The BBC is not a relevant person under the Money Laundering Regulations and as such appointees to the BBC Board would not be affected.

  • Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2016 to Question 35297, which officials from which departments attended the meetings of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Child Sexual Abuse; and whether the minutes from previous meetings of that group are made available to hon. Members.

    Karen Bradley

    Officials from the Home Office, Department for Education, Department for Communities and Local Government, Ministry of Justice, Department of Health, Department for Culture Media and Sport, and the Attorney General’s Office have attended meetings of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Child Sexual Abuse. Minutes of the meetings are made available to hon. Members who sit on the Inter-Ministerial Group.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Europe of 8 June 2016, Official Report, column 136WH, whether his Department has made representations to Saudi Arabia requesting that the death sentences issued to Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, Abdullah al-Zaher and Dawood al-Marhoon be commuted.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The British Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country. We remain concerned about the cases of Ali al-Nimr, Abdullah al-Zaher and Dawood al-Marhoon. I can assure you that we continue to raise their cases with the Saudi authorities at every opportunity, most recently during the Foreign Secretary’s visit on 29 May. Our expectation remains that they will not be executed.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of alternative mechanisms to appraise the use of Orkambi in the NHS.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published final technology appraisal guidance on 27 July 2016 which does not recommend Orkambi (lumacaftor-ivacaftor) for treating cystic fibrosis homozygous for the F508del mutation.

    In the absence of positive NICE technology appraisal guidance, any funding decisions should be made by National Health Service commissioners, based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient’s clinical circumstances.

  • Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to review the law on use of complainants’ previous sexual history as evidence in rape cases; and if she will make a statement.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    This Government is committed to making sure that victims of sexual abuse and rape get the support they need and have the confidence to come forward. The Justice Secretary will be meeting rape support groups later this month to discuss what more we can do to support victims.

    Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 is intended to protect complainants of rape and other serious sexual offences by making clear that evidence of previous sexual history is inadmissible in court unless a strict set of criteria is met. It is right that applications to admit such evidence are determined by the independent judiciary on a case-by-case basis to protect complainants whilst maintaining a defendant’s right to a fair trial.

    The Justice Secretary and Attorney General will be looking at how the law is working in practice.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which regulations his Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations his Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

    Priti Patel

    All regulations implementing EU legislation that have been introduced since 2013 and their associated impacts can be found on www.legislation.gov.uk. The impact of future regulations that implement EU legislation will also be available on this site in due course.

  • Richard Graham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Richard Graham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Graham on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the White Paper on supporting people with health conditions and disabilities to get into work.

    Priti Patel

    As announced in the Spending Review, the Government will publish a White Paper in 2016 that will set out reforms to improve support for people with health conditions and disabilities.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether invitations to the event at which he spoke on 7 January 2016 at St David’s Hotel were issued by his Department.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Consistent with all official events, the Chancellor was supported by a small number of officials from his private office and the Treasury press office when speaking at the St David’s hotel and at the two associated visits.

    Costs associated with the major economy speech at the St David’s hotel in Cardiff were met within the existing events budget at HM Treasury. Invitations were not issued by the department.

    The event at the Salt Bar was not a Government event and so no costs were met by the Treasury and no civil servants attended.

  • Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Lord on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that season ticket holders are fairly compensated for delays in rail services.

    Claire Perry

    Delay/Repay is already one of the most generous compensation schemes in Europe and we are committed to improving compensation for delayed rail passengers even further. As the Chancellor stated in his Autumn Statement, we are committed to reducing the time threshold for which passengers can claim from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.

    We have already changed the system to get compensation paid in cash, not travel vouchers, and we are putting new compensation obligations like automatic Delay/Repay into future franchise specifications.

    We will negotiate hard with rail operators to get even better compensation arrangements for passengers but also focus on ensuring that the trains run on time.

  • James Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    James Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Davies on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to encourage BT to improve (a) the information it provides online about broadband roll-out, (b) the accuracy of its communications to residents about when cabinets will come on stream and (c) information about support residents can access in the event of delays in roll-out.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    On 25 February Ofcom published their initial conclusions for the Strategic Review of Digital Communications including a range of measures to improve the quality of service delivered by the whole of the telecoms industry, including Openreach, BT’s access network division.

    Ofcom will work with industry to improve providers’ coordination and communication to benefit consumers, including detailed information about engineer visits for installation and fault repairs. Ofcom also plans to introduce tougher minimum standards of customer service for Openreach with rigorous enforcement and fines for underperformance. In addition, the regulator plans to publish annual performance data on all operators and will look to introduce automatic compensation for consumers and small businesses when service levels fall below minimum standards.

    BT recently launched a new website providing more detailed and accurate information to the public on broadband service in any given area – http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/

    “