Category: Speeches

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, entitled Voices of the hungry, published in April 2016, whether tackling dietary inequality will be a focus of the forthcoming childhood obesity strategy.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Food insecurity is a global problem which the United Nations (UN) agreed to confront at the World Food Summit in 1996 and has framed subsequent sustainable development goals. Getting accurate and informative data was the motivation for the ‘Voices of the Hungry’ project. This project has established an annual universal metric to measure lack of access to food and the severity of this in over 150 countries, and help inform UN policy. The Department for International Development has provided financial support to enable the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to take this forward.

    The United Kingdom is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and to the data the FAO commissions and manages. There are therefore no plans for the Department of Health to independently monitor food insecurity going forward, or determine a precise estimate on which to base action to reduce food poverty.

    The Government is committed to tackling childhood obesity and launched Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action on 18 August. A copy of the plan is attached and is also available at:

    www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is on offer to apprentices who need help covering childcare costs and if she will take steps to extend such support to match that available to other workers.

    Robert Halfon

    Apprentices are employed from day one. They acquire skills much valued in the labour market without having to contribute to the costs of their learning. The benefits system treats an apprentice in the same way as any other employee.

    As an employee aged 18 or over, an apprentice may be entitled to the usual in-work benefits, such as Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credits.

    If an apprentice has children, or is aged 16 or over and does paid work of at least 16 hours a week, they could qualify for tax credits, unless they are already earning £25,000 or more per year. Further information can be found on the tax credit section of the HMRC website. Universal Credit will make it easier and less worrying for claimants to try out a job or work more hours because their benefits will not automatically stop if they do so.

  • Maggie Throup – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maggie Throup – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will assess the (a) potential effect on the number of antibiotic and (b) potential change in annual prescription and dispensing costs prescriptions of using C-reactive protein testing for patients presenting with respiratory tract infections in primary care.

    George Freeman

    We have no plans to do so.

    The UK Government is committed to tackling antimicrobial resistance. The UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, published in September 2013, proposed strong, cross-government action to manage this problem. The UK strategy recognises the central part diagnostics, like C-reactive protein tests, play in getting the right antibiotic drug to the right patient at the right time. A working group is actively looking at what can be done to improve diagnostic services.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the proposed in-service date for the Successor class of submarines has been postponed.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry has ever undertaken. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines reflects greater maturity of the design and understanding of the supply chain, amounts to £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-01-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-British EEA nationals with a National Insurance number who arrived in each of the last four years (a) paid National Insurance contributions, (b) paid PAYE income tax and (c) claimed benefits or tax credits in the last year.

    Mr David Gauke

    Calculating the number of individuals who were paying PAYE income tax and National Insurance contributions who were citizens of the EEA when they first registered for a National Insurance Number is complex and cannot be done quickly. However, HM Revenue and Customs are planning to produce further information early in 2016 on this issue, once it has been properly collated.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any of the devolved administrations have refused to consent to the provisions dealing with public sector exit payments contained within the Enterprise Bill.

    Greg Hands

    The public sector exit payment cap will come into effect at a date after the Enterprise Bill has received Royal Assent. The Enterprise Bill is currently expected to receive Royal Assent by May 2016. A set of secondary regulations which will give effect to the public sector exit payment cap are currently expected to come into force during autumn 2016.

    In the response to the consultation the Government stated that ‘the government would request Legislative Consent Motions from the Devolved Administrations where appropriate, however it would be for the Devolved Administrations to decide the approach they wish to take to this measure.’

    On 7 December 2015 the Northern Ireland Assembly declined to agree a Legislative Consent Motion. Subsequently, no provisions relating to Northern Ireland are included in the clauses relating to exit payments.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials of his Department undertook language classes at (a) his Department and (b) post in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2010.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I refer my rt hon. Friend to my answer of 10 February 2016 set out in PQ 25525.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of calls for an investigation into what action should be taken against those in Burma who are responsible for the crackdown by police at the Letpaden meeting of student protesters.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We publicly expressed our concerns at the violence that occurred in Letpadan in March 2015 and supported the EU’s call for a formal investigation to be initiated. The right to peaceful demonstration is a fundamental democratic freedom. Officials from our Embassy and those of other international partners have been attending the protesters’ trials. We look forward to working with the new government in Burma to make improvements across the spectrum of civil and political liberties.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many infraction proceedings the EU has initiated against her Department in each of the last 10 years; what the reasons were for each such proceeding being undertaken; and what the outcome was of each such proceeding.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each Member State can be found. This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be found here:

    http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016 on BIS consultation, HCWS30, what difficulties his Department experienced with split-site working in response to the steel crisis and Eurozone contingency planning.

    Joseph Johnson

    HCWS30 cites the steel crisis as an example of where the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has recently needed to redeploy large numbers of staff to address an urgent priority. As our policy function becomes more focused over the course of the Parliament, we expect to have to redeploy staff in this way more frequently than has so far been the case. Operating across split sites, in the context of a smaller workforce overall, would make it harder to quickly redeploy people to a different team or policy area, or for someone to be able to respond to an unpredictable or unusual demand for more intensive engagement with Ministers or Parliament.