Category: Speeches

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which humanitarian aid operations the Government has been involved in that (a) have involved other EU member states and (b) have been EU-led.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    To increase transparency and accountability, EU Member States are required to input details of all humanitarian aid allocations on to the European Emergency and Disaster Response Information System (EDRIS). Information on all humanitarian assistance provided by EU Member States globally can be found on EDRIS.

    Response to Humanitarian Emergency is led and co-ordinated by the affected country. This is the case for humanitarian emergencies that occur in EU Member States and globally. We would not expect any humanitarian response to be EU-led.

    Individual EU Member States lead on humanitarian operations within their sovereign territories but can seek EU assistance through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism and international assistance through the UN.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the claim by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that the proposal to stop collecting data on the wealthiest 1 per cent in the UK would lead to their wealth being underestimated.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government is not proposing to stop collecting data on the wealthiest 1 per cent in the UK.

    HM Revenue and Customs consulted on a proposal to cease producing statistics on personal wealth based on Inheritance Tax returns. The consultation suggested that the Office for National Statistics’ estimates of personal wealth, based on the household Wealth and Assets Survey, give a better indication of the overall distribution of wealth.

    The Government has not yet published a formal response to the consultation, which has now closed.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what coastguard personnel responded to the incident off Portobello beach in Edinburgh in the early hours of 15 May 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) from Fisherrow and Queensferry were tasked to respond to the incident off Portobello beach in Edinburgh in the early hours of 15 May 2016.

  • Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many additional employees he plans to hire from outside the civil service for the purposes of negotiating or renegotiating trade deals as a result of the decision to leave the EU; in what roles such employees will be deployed; over what timescale their deployment will take place; and what the cost to the public purse will be of their deployment.

    Greg Hands

    The Department for International Trade has already established a strong and capable trade policy team with significant negotiating experience. The team has more than doubled in size since 23 June and is still growing. On 8th of September, my rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced an open and fair competition to recruit a new Permanent Secretary to lead the Department. We will continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and from elsewhere in order to deliver the best outcomes for the UK.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the NHS has made on piloting the recommendations of the National Maternity Review since that review was published in February 2016.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    In its report, Better Births, the National Maternity Review set out a vision for future maternity services which provide safe, personalised, kind, professional and family friendly care. The Maternity Transformation programme was established in July to take forward the recommendations of the Review. It brings together partners from across the system and is independently chaired by Sarah-Jane Marsh, chief executive of Birmingham Children’s Hospital. A comprehensive programme of work is being developed to implement the vision set out in Better Births, early progress includes:

    – The formation of Local Maternity Systems (LMS) to bring commissioners and providers together and develop a local shared vision for improved maternity services and outcomes;

    – The creation of Early Adopters where NHS England is considering applications from LMS to implement key elements of Better Births including personalised care planning, continuity of carer, better postnatal and perinatal mental health care, innovations to the payment system and delivering safer care; and

    – The selection of seven Maternity Choice Pioneers who are working to test ways of improving choice and personalisation for women accessing maternity services and roll out Personalised Maternity Care Budgets.

    On 17 October my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced a series of initiatives to help us meet our ambition to halve by 2030 the rate of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth, with the

    publication of the Safer Maternity Care action plan. Further detail of the plan can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safer-maternity-care

    “

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which Diwali celebrations he, his predecessor or Ministers in his Department attended in 2014 and 2015.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Government ministers were in attendance at the Prime Minister’s Diwali reception at No 10 Downing Street to celebrate the biggest festival in the Hindu calendar. Due to prior diary commitments, DCMS ministers were unable to attend Diwali celebrations this year in their official capacity.

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

    Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 September (HL1574), whether they have completed their review of the Lessons Learned workshop; and if so, whether they intend to publish the results of the review of the 83 per cent escalation of costs for the recent improvements to the A1 highway near Gamston Airport.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Lessons Learned review was completed on 8 June 2016 and there are some outstanding issues regarding the possible requirement for permanent speed cameras. The agreement of alterations to a private access and the road safety audit works recommended must be completed before the full review can be published. Highways England intends to publish the findings on its website in due course.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his contribution of 20 June 2011, Official Report, column 52, on the Pensions Bill [Lords], that the Government would consider transitional arrangements, what transitional arrangements the Government considered.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government considered retaining the original timetable for increasing the qualifying age for Pension Credit minimum guarantee to 65 by 2020 for a temporary period, in addition to alternative timetabling options for increasing the State Pension age to lessen the impact on women facing the largest increases relative to the original timetable. The transitional arrangements brought forward by the Government capped the maximum delay at 18 months rather than two years, at a cost of £1.1 billion.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Turkey about the number of children killed by military and police action in Turkey since June 2015.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As I said in my answer to Lord Patten’s question on 1 February (HL5288), the ongoing violence in south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians, including children, who have been caught up in the violence.

    We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised the need to respect human rights and the importance of avoiding civilian casualties to the Government of Turkey.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are funding training for the Tunisian tourism industry in order to improve their security arrangements, and if so, by how much.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Following the terrorist attacks in Sousse the British Government made a commitment to help the Tunisian government improve its security arrangements. This includes helping them improve their counter-terrorism capacity and ability to protect tourists, including British nationals. The UK continues to lead on providing expertise and mentoring for protective security with support from international partners. We do not release details of specific counter-terrorism activities for operational and security reasons.