Category: Speeches

  • Amanda Milling – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Amanda Milling – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Milling on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of women taking up apprenticeships.

    Joseph Johnson

    Women made up over 50% of apprenticeship starts in England over the past 4 years, just as they make up more than half of people entering higher education.

    We want to make apprenticeships accessible to the widest possible range of people, as part of meeting our commitment to reach 3 million starts by 2020.

    To increase apprenticeship starts, the Enterprise Bill will set targets for public bodies to employ apprentices. We have amended procurement rules to demonstrate a clear commitment to apprenticeships.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of sponsored academies that were rated inadequate by Ofsted on conversion remained inadequate at their next inspection, and what percentage of maintained schools that were rated inadequate by Ofsted at their previous inspection, but remained maintained, remained inadequate at their latest inspection.

    Earl of Courtown

    This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many rough sleepers have been helped by the No Second Night Out Across England programme; and what proportion of those people were successfully kept off the streets.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Rapid intervention is vital to identifying new rough sleepers and ensuring that the support is in place to help them off the streets quickly. The longer someone sleeps rough, the greater the risk that they will become entrenched on the streets. That is why we invested in rolling out No Second Night Out across England through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund. Over two-thirds of rough sleepers in 20 key areas outside London did not spend a second night on the streets.

    The Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. But one person without a home is one too many, which is why we will increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We have also protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement, totalling £315 million by 2019-20.

    Data on the number of people helped through the Fund is in an independent evaluation, published by Homeless Link: http://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-attachments/Three%20Years%20of%20Transition%20-%20summary%20evaluation%20report.pdf.

  • Graham Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Graham Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the level of the threat of terrorism in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The threat level in Northern Ireland is SEVERE meaning an attack is highly likely. Threat levels are kept under constant review.

    There were 16 national security attacks in 2015 and there has been one so far this year. Many more attacks and murders by violent dissident republicans have been foiled.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to develop a strategy to support BAME specialist domestic violence charities.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government published a new Violence Against Women and Girls strategy on 8 March committing £80 million between 2016 and 2020 to protect women and girls from violence and abuse. The strategy sets out how we will support local areas in implementing tailored services for victims who experience different forms of discrimination or additional barriers to accessing support. This includes the launch of a Service Transformation Fund from 2017 which will help to meet the needs of women and girls experiencing multiple disadvantage including victims from black and minority ethnic communities.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress has been made on the inquiry into alleged child abuse at the Kincora boys home.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    This is a matter for the independent Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry. I can confirm that there will be the fullest possible degree of co-operation by the UK Government and its agencies.

  • Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were refused entry to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not hold data on those refused entry to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant. Border Force officers have the power to detain an individual subject to an EAW, pending the arrival of the police. Statistics are not kept on EAW arrests made at the border.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

    Karen Bradley

    The previous Government signed the Istanbul Convention to show the strong commitment it placed on tackling violence against women and girls and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.

    The UK already complies with the vast majority of the Convention’s articles but further amendments to domestic law, to take extra-territorial jurisdiction over a range of offences (as required by Article 44), are necessary before the Convention can be ratified.

    We are currently considering the approach to implementing the extra-territorial jurisdiction requirements in England and Wales and will seek to legislate when the approach is agreed and Parliamentary time allows.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the conclusions and recommendations in the Hutton review of forensic pathology in England and Wales, submitted to the Minister of State for Crime and Prevention in March 2015.

    Brandon Lewis

    Since the completion of Professor Hutton’s review the Home Office Forensic Pathology Unit has been consulting with stakeholders on a range of options for implementing the Review’s recommendations. This includes an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of various options to take forward the main recommendation of establishing a ‘National Death Investigation Service’.

    Recommendations on the preferred option will be presented to Home Office Ministers in October 2016. In parallel, the Pathology Delivery Board, chaired by the Home Office, assessed all the recommendations and established a programme of work to address them individually. This programme has progressed to completion and is set to be formally signed-off at the next meeting of the Pathology Delivery Board, chaired by the Home Office, in November 2016.

  • Alex Chalk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Chalk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of the average electricity bill was attributable to the levy imposed by the Levy Control Framework to meet the cost of feed-in tariffs in 2014-15.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The costs of the small scale Feed-in Tariffs scheme in 2014/15 are estimated to have accounted for around 2 percent, on average, of the household electricity bill.