Category: Speeches

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Attorney General, when he last discussed the UK’s membership of the European Convention on Human Rights with the Home Secretary.

    Jeremy Wright

    I meet regularly with Ministerial colleagues, including the Home Secretary, to discuss important issues of common interest, including domestic and international human rights law. I am not able to provide information about any legal content of those discussions because, by longstanding convention, the fact that the Law Officers have advised, or have not advised, and the content of their advice is not disclosed outside government.

  • Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action, if any, they plan to take to save and preserve the Kensington Odeon, maintain its classic art deco design, and reverse the impact of its closure upon the neighbourhood and community.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Kensington Odeon is subject to a Certificate of Immunity (COI) which precludes the building being listed until 2018. The Odeon has been considered for listing twice before. It was rejected because it does not possess the special architectural or historic interest features required.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the concluding observations and recommendations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK’s sixth periodic report in relation to social housing supply and homelessness; and if he will make a statement.

    Gavin Barwell

    In paragraph 73 of the UN recommendations, the UN requested that the UK submits its next period report under the Covenant (inclusive of a response to all the recommendations from this year’s examination) by 30 June 2021; it would therefore not be appropriate for me to pre-empt this report by anticipating what we, or indeed a future UK government in 2021, might say.

    This government remains committed to tackling homelessness. That is why we have increased central government funding for homelessness programmes to £139 million over the Spending Review period. We have also maintained and protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities through the local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20. In the Budget we announced further commitments to prevent homelessness including £100 million to provide at least 2,000 places for vulnerable people to enable independent living; £10 million to support initiatives to prevent and reduce rough sleeping; and an increase from £5 million to £10 million to launch a Social Impact Bond to support the most entrenched rough sleepers off the streets.

    This will be supported by the government’s broader commitments to increase the overall supply of housing. We remain committed to building more affordable housing, including shared ownership. More than 277,000 affordable homes have been delivered since April 2010, and the housing budget has been doubled to more than £20 billion to support the largest housing programme by any government since the 1970s, which includes £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable homes.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on changing the apportionment of business rate income between district and county local authorities once business rate income is fully devolved; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    We recently conducted a consultation on our approach to the implementation of 100% Business Rates Retention. This consultation included questions on how to take account of changes in need over time, how to manage volatility in business rates income and how to distribute funding between different tiers of government. My officials are currently considering the 454 responses we have received to this consultation and we will publish a summary of the responses and our proposed way forward in due course. In the meantime, we will continue close collaboration with the Local Government Association, other groups representative of local government, and individual local authorities, in taking this work forward.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation will take place with MPs and Peers on the proposals to increase fees set out in the consultation paper published by the Care Quality Commission on 2 November.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Care Quality Commission(CQC) has no plan to hold a separate consultation with Members and Peers. The CQC encourages anyone who wishes to contribute to the consultation, including Members of Parliament, to do so through the public consultation process.

    The consultation sets out the CQC’s proposals in relation to fees for the 2016-17 fee scheme, and the pace at which it intends to achieve full cost recovery.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support his Department has provided to building construction firms to ensure their bills are paid on time.

    Nick Boles

    Late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK. The Government is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts.

    Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to help small business resolve disputes with large companies, tackling, in particular, late payment. The Commissioner will act as a disincentive to unfavourable payment practices, and build the confidence and capabilities of small businesses to help them to assert themselves in contractual disputes and negotiate more effectively with larger businesses.

    This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.

    We have also strengthened the Prompt Payment Code to ensure it is a recognised and demonstrated beacon of best practice, and we recently consulted on proposals to give representative bodies wider powers to challenge grossly unfair payment practices.

    Government promotes fair payment practices in construction through legislation (the “Construction Act”), the use of public procurement (promoting prompt payment to Tier 3 and the use of Project Bank Accounts), and by working with the industry through voluntary measures (such as the Prompt Payment Code and the Construction Leadership Council’s Payment Charter).

    The Payment Charter includes a commitment of zero retentions by 2025. To support this work, the Government recently announced a review of the practice of cash retentions under construction contracts.

    Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour. Once implemented, the Government is confident that these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK’s payment culture.

  • Catherine West – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.

    Karen Bradley

    The average time taken to process an enhanced disclosure and barring service check over the last 12 months for which figures are available (November 2014 – October 2015) is 14.92 calendar days.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Henley on 21 March 2012 (HL Deb, cols 914–6), and in the light of the fact that the number of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks in 2014–15 was the highest since 2010–11, what plans they have to reduce the number of DBS checks, and in particular to limit the DBS checking of groups such as parent volunteers.

    Lord Bates

    The Government has introduced an Update Service to enable existing criminal record certificates to be kept up to date whilst reducing the need for repeat checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS is driving greater uptake of the Update Service which will continue to reduce the need for repeat checks.

    The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 reduced the scope of “regulated activity” from which unsuitable people can be barred. It is for schools to decide whether or not to carry out disclosure checks on parent volunteers who work under supervision.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the planned increase in stamp duty on the ability of people to purchase a retirement property in advance of selling their primary home.

    Mr David Gauke

    From 1 April 2016 higher rates of SDLT will be charged on purchases of additional residential properties, such as second homes and buy-to-let properties. The higher rates will be 3 percentage points above the current SDLT rates. This is part of the Government’s commitment to supporting home ownership and first-time buyers.

    The Government has carefully considered the case where a purchaser buys a new main home in advance of selling an old one. Where there is a temporary overlap between replacing and selling a main residence, the Government intends that higher rates will apply but the purchaser will be entitled to a refund of the higher amounts when they dispose of their previous main residence within 18 months.

    The Government has consulted on the changes to ensure they are introduced in a fair way. The final policy design will be confirmed at Budget on 16 March 2016.

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the provision for inflation is in the cost estimate for the Successor submarine programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, our latest cost estimate for manufacturing the four Successor submarine programme is £31 billion, plus a contingency of £10 billion. This includes an assessment of the likely inflation over the lifetime of the programme and the risks appropriate for a project at this stage.

    I am withholding the specific estimate for inflation and risk, as to do so would prejudice the Department’s commercial interests.