Category: Speeches

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 91 of the Budget 2016, what steps he is taking to respond to planned changes to his Resource DEL in 2019-20.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Budget sets out that the government will find a further £3.5 billion of savings from public spending in 2019-20, building on the plans set out at Spending Review 2015. To inform future spending decisions and the delivery of these savings, the government is launching an efficiency review. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, with the support of the Paymaster General, will lead this efficiency review, which will report in 2018. The Department for Culture Media and Sport will actively support this review.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing competition into the Disclosure and Barring Service; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service is a non-departmental public body which provides access to appropriate criminal record information for employers through its disclosure service for England and Wales. It also makes independent barring decisions about people who have harmed, or where there is considered to be a risk of harm to, a child or vulnerable person within the workplace. Given the sensitive nature of this work and the reliance on police forces to provide locally held intelligence, it would not be appropriate to introduce competition.

    Whilst no assessment has been made of the affect of timeliness on the number of job opportunities which may have been lost, the impact which delays may have on applicants is recognised. The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner and is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. In very exceptional cases, where it is apparent that a delay is likely to cause undue hardship to an applicant, the DBS will do all it can to expedite the process by raising an escalation with the relevant police force.

    The average end to end time taken to complete a DBS check, including the time taken by police forces, is listed in following table.

    Financial Year

    Average calendar days for a disclosure to be processed

    13/14

    11.5

    14/15

    14.4

    15/16

    14.5

    The proportion of checks which took longer than (a) eight weeks (b) 12 weeks and (c) six months is listed in the following table.

    Financial Year

    Disclosures which took longer than 8 weeks

    Disclosures which took longer than 12 weeks

    Disclosures which took longer than 6 Months

    % of Disclosures

    % of Disclosures

    % of Disclosures

    13/14

    2.6%

    0.8%

    0.0%

    14/15

    4.9%

    2.1%

    0.1%

    15/16

    5.2%

    3.5%

    0.3%

    “

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36275, if he will make it his policy to ensure that disbursements from the Coastal Communities Fund are allocated to the regions of England on the basis of population share.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Our policy is that every coastal community should have the chance to bid for a share of the Coastal Communities Fund to help them with projects that will have a real and lasting impact on their local economy. The 118 Coastal Community Teams (CCTs) in England now provide an important new local context for considering these bids, so that the Fund helps to deliver community-led Economic Plans. Each bid is considered on its merits and allocating the Fund to regions on the basis of their population share would not necessarily ensure best value for money.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of hate crime were reported in each region in the last 12 months.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office collects information on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police on an annual basis. The most recently published data are for 2014/15 and are shown in the attached table.

    Data for 2015/16 are due to be published in October 2016.

    This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many platform train interface incidents that were reported on the national rail network in each year since 2010 involved driver-only operated passenger services.

    Paul Maynard

    Currently, the method of train dispatch for incidents at the platform train interface is not recorded so the data requested is not available. However, a new Safety Management Information System is being introduced in December 2016, which is designed to enable the industry to dig deeper into the trends behind incidents.

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

    Lord Dear – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dear on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the British tourism and airline industries of the ban on air flights between the UK and Sharm el Sheikh.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    UK aviation security experts have worked closely with their Egyptian counterparts on the ground, sharing their expertise in establishing effective security arrangements. We continue to work in partnership in a spirit of cooperation, and are grateful for Egypt’s close engagement and partnership. We look forward to achieving the return of flights once we can be assured that the necessary security environment can be sustained.

  • Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average duration of a claim for tax credits was in Salford in the most recent (a) 12 and (b) 24 months for which figures are available.

    Damian Hinds

    The answers are only available at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Burnett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Burnett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Burnett on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many complaints have been raised, and disciplinary proceedings brought, in each of the last 10 years involving the interaction between men and women serving in the Royal Air Force.

    Earl Howe

    This information is not held in the format requested.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of political prisoners in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We do not hold such details. However, we regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain – including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting which was most recently held in November 2015. If we have specific concerns around specific cases, we raise these with the Government of Bahrain.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has plans to adjust the eligibility criteria for claiming free childcare so that it can be claimed from the child’s third birthday rather than from the next term date after the child turns three.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Three year old children become eligible for a government funded early education place from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April following their third birthday or the beginning of the autumn, spring or summer school term if this is later. These dates mirror those for compulsory school age, which is the beginning of the term following a child’s fifth birthday. This is intended to ensure that all three year old children can access two years of funded early education and/or maintained school reception provision before they reach compulsory school age.

    The most disadvantaged two year olds are eligible for a government funded early education place from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April following their third birthday or the beginning of the autumn, spring or summer school term if this is later.