Category: Speeches

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National pupil projections statistics release, published on 22 July 2015, how many people defined as migrants are included in the principal population projections in each (a) local education authority and (b) region in each year between 2015 and 2024.

    Nick Gibb

    The national pupil projections are only produced for the whole of England and do not break down projected pupil numbers by local education authority or region. They are derived from the 2012-based national population projections for England produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)[1] who used assumptions which were considered to best reflect demographic patterns at that time.

    The ONS uses assumptions on the levels of future fertility, net migration and life expectancy in the production of their population projections. They use central assumptions for the principal projections and alternative high and low assumptions to produce variant projections.

    New national pupil projections, based on the ONS’s mid-2014 national population projections[2], are scheduled to be published on 14 July 2016. The timing and content of National Statistics releases are a matter for the Head of Profession for statistics. The month of publication was pre-announced in 2015 and the specific date of publication was pre-announced on 26 February 2016.

    [1] Mid-2012 ONS national population projections available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2013-11-06

    [2] Mid-2014 ONS national population projections available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2015-10-29

    “

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what monitoring her Department has carried out to ensure that no one is denied access to justice, regardless of ability to pay for legal representation.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    We have made sure that legal aid continues to be available in the most serious cases, for example where people’s life, liberty, or housing is at stake or where their children may be taken into care. The operation of, and expenditure on, the legal aid scheme is continually monitored by the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Aid Agency.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what process they propose for deciding which EU legal instruments on food and farming are maintained, amended or repealed after the UK leaves the EU.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government is considering the impacts of the decision to leave the EU, including future arrangements for existing legislation. We look forward to working with the industry, rural communities and the wider public to shape our plans for a future outside the EU.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the proportion of aid funding which is channelled to large international agencies compared to that channelled to local non-governmental organisations.

    Baroness Verma

    UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) channelled through non-governmental organisations is set out in the table below. DFID is currently conducting the Civil Society Partnership Review, which is considering future funding arrangements.

    2014 data will be published on the DFID website as National Statistics on Thursday 3rd December 2015.

    Channel Code Description

    2013 ODA (£ millions)

    % of Total UK ODA

    NGO (where country base is undefined)

    £150,895

    1%

    Internationally-based (non-UK) NGO*

    £362,696

    3%

    UK-based NGO*

    £662,307

    6%

    Developing country-based NGO

    £178,313

    2%

    *Many international and UK-based NGOs have significant local developing country footprints.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate the Government has made of the number of training places for nurses required by the NHS in each of the next five years.

    Ben Gummer

    Health Education England (HEE) was established and has been mandated by the Government to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service. As one of the arm’s length bodies to help improve the quality of care delivered to patients, it ensures that the future workforce is available in the right numbers with the right skills, values and competencies to meet patient needs today and tomorrow.

    HEE operate an annual comprehensive planning process to ensure their investments meet the future needs of the population. This process determines the education commissioning volumes for the following financial year and are published in the Workforce Plan for England.

    The current workforce plan for England for 2015-16 published in December 2014 can be found at the following link:

    http://hee.nhs.uk/work-programmes/workforce-planning/

    HEE will publish its next annual National Workforce Plan for England by the end of December 2015.

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, paragraph 3.54, whether the Debt Market Integrator will take over the services currently contracted out to Concentrix; whether Concentrix is permitted to bid for the new contract; and what the timetable is for tendering.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Debt Market Integrator (DMI)will not be taking over the tax credit related services currently contracted out to Concentrix.Concentrix currently provides services through the "Error & Fraud Adding Capacity" (EFAC) contract, which does not include debt collection services. There are no current plans to re-procure these services. Tax credit debt collection services will be provided through the DMI contract from July 2016. The DMI contract was awarded to TDX / Equifax in March 2015.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 16355, how his Department monitors the situation of detainees in Sri Lanka held under its Prevention of Terrorism Act 1978.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The British High Commission in Colombo is in regular contact with government officials, Tamil National Alliance MPs, and civil society representatives about the situation of detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. We also work on this issue with other diplomatic missions, the EU and UN bodies.

  • Iain Wright – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Iain Wright – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department intends to cease any existing or planned business support mechanisms in order to implement the apprenticeship levy.

    Nick Boles

    We are not cutting business support mechanisms to implement the levy. We are improving our business services by developing the Digital Apprenticeship Service.

    Through this online mechanism employers will have access to a number of services to help them choose and pay for apprenticeship training in a simple way.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential for driverless cars to increase energy efficiency.

    Andrew Jones

    Connected and autonomous vehicles could potentially have significant impacts on factors that affect the overall energy consumption and energy efficiency of road transport. The Department for Transport is currently conducting research to explore the energy impacts of connected and autonomous vehicles. This work is ongoing, and forms part of a much wider programme of research and development that the Government is supporting to examine the issues associated with these technologies. The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles also plans to do further research in this area.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to his oral contribution of 18 April 2016, Official Report, column 712, on the national minimum wage, what correspondence his Department has received from employers asking not to be named and shamed for breach of the legislation in each year since that approach was implemented.

    Nick Boles

    Since the naming scheme began we have received 107 representations from employers asking not to be named: 1 in 2013, 35 in 2014 and 71 in 2015.