Category: Speeches

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made in his review of the effects of the one per cent rent reduction on small almshouse charities.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Social Housing Rents (Exceptions and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2016 provided a one year exception for almshouses from the one per cent rent reduction. We are carefully considering the approach for the second year of the reduction onwards, and my officials recently met the Almshouse Association to discuss this. Our aim is to ensure there is a workable and sustainable solution for almshouses, their residents and for taxpayers.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions on people who have been granted refugee status in the UK being eligible to access disability living allowance.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There have been no recent discussions between the Home Office and Department of Work and Pensions Ministers about people who have been granted refugee status in the UK being eligible for disability living allowance.

  • Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing life skills into secondary education.

    Edward Timpson

    We are clear that as part of schools’ duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, all young people should be provided with a curriculum that prepares them for success in adult life. High quality personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) teaching has a vital role to play in this, helping young people understand the world around them, building resilience and helping them to make good choices and stay safe. We have made it clear in the introduction to the national curriculum that all schools should make provision for high quality, age appropriate PSHE, drawing on examples of good practice.

    During the Education Select Committee hearing in September 2016, the Secretary of State agreed that we need to look again at how schools deliver high quality PSHE. We are considering all the options and will come to a view in due course..

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of in-work households in receipt of tax credits with an underlying entitlement to Working Tax Credit in each of the last five tax years did not have a claim with an underlying entitlement to Working Tax Credit in the following tax year.

    Damian Hinds

    The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve schools in rural areas.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government is committed to achieving educational excellence everywhere so that children in all areas of the country benefit from a high-quality education. We made substantial progress in the last Parliament, and a million more pupils are in good or outstanding schools compared to 2010. But there are still too many areas where educational standards are not high enough.

    Pupils in rural areas are more likely to achieve 5 or more GCSEs including English and mathematics at grades A*-C. Considering local area deprivation, however, pupils living in rural areas are less likely to achieve the same standards as pupils living in similarly deprived urban areas of the country.

    We have already designated over 690 teaching schools and 1,050 national leaders of education (NLEs) in our drive to ensure that educational excellence is a reality in all areas of the country, particularly those that need most support. The new National Teaching Service (NTS) will place 1,500 outstanding teachers and middle leaders in underperforming schools by 2020, particularly in rural and other areas of the country that find it hardest to attract, retain and recruit good teachers.

    Regional Schools Commissioners are ensuring the availability of strong academy sponsors for schools in all areas of the country including rural areas. The Department recently announced that five sponsors will receive funding from the Northern Fund to set up seven new hubs across three RSC regions.

    We will introduce National Funding Formulas (NFF) for schools, high needs and early years so that funding is transparently and fairly matched to need rather than purely historic calculations.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many sexual assaults and rapes have taken place at UK universities in each of the last three years.

    Joseph Johnson

    This information is not held centrally by Government, although polices forces will record cases of sexual assault and rape. At the request of the Government, Universities UK has set up a task force that will bring together relevant stakeholders to explore what more can be done to support the higher education sector to prevent, and respond effectively, to incidents of violence and sexual harassment against women, hate crimes and other forms of harassment. The task force is considering a range of potential measures, and its work includes an analysis of the nature and scale of the problem.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on (a) the number and type of wheelchair access and accompanying person spaces at sports stadiums and (b) ticketing prices and arrangements for those spaces; and what support his Department advises such stadiums to extend to those who use wheelchairs and those who accompany them.

    David Evennett

    We believe that all people should be able to enjoy and participate in sports – and that disability should not be a barrier to that. Approved accessibility audits should be undertaken by individual clubs and stadia to determine the number and type of wheelchair access and accompanying person spaces which are available at those venues. The Accessible Stadia guide also sets out the minimum guidelines for such accommodation. Ticketing prices and arrangements for those spaces are a matter for the individual club or stadium to determine. My Department advises that such stadiums and clubs make the reasonable adjustments necessary to accommodate those who use wheelchairs and for those who accompany them in line with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase the supply of wheelchair accessible homes in the social and affordable housing sector.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government provides direct funding for specialised housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme, making available up to £800 million for specialised housing for older, disabled, and vulnerable people over the next five years, which will deliver over 15,000 specialised homes.

    The Government is also putting more money into the Disabled Facilities Grant to enable older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes for longer. On top of the £1 billion the Government has invested in the grant since 2010, the grant will increase year on year for the next five years rising to over £500 million by 2020. In 2016-17 the Disabled Facilities Grant will grow to £394 million, a 79% increase on the current year.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 24 February (HL6091) and paragraph 13 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270, whether they are considering the expulsion of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s diplomatic personnel in London in respect of their submission of vessel registration changes to the International Maritime Organisation in 2014.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are not considering the expulsion of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea diplomats in respect of their submission of vessel registration changes to the International Maritime Organisation in 2014.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether children in schools are taught about the national flag, its history and development, and which way up to fly it.

    Lord Nash

    The Government believes that all young people should, as part of a broad and balanced education, acquire a firm grasp of the history of the country in which they live. That is why the history curriculum for key stages 1 to 3, which has been taught in maintained schools from September 2014, sets out the core knowledge that will enable pupils to know and understand the history of Britain from its first settlers to the development of the institutions that help to define our national life today.

    Schools have the freedom to teach subjects beyond the content of the national curriculum, which may include teaching about the national flag.