Category: Speeches

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of the UK leaving the EU for quarantine measures for pests and diseases of plant material.

    George Eustice

    We recognise that the UK’s exit from the EU may have implications for the way in which current UK plant health services operate, including phytosanitary certification on imports, quarantine measures to mitigate the highest risk pests and diseases, and plant passporting.

    We are considering the implications and possible options as part of our planning for, and negotiations on, the UK’s exit.

    Continuing to deliver a risk-based, proportionate plant health regime that effectively protects the UK from plant pests and diseases, whilst maximising the free movement of goods, remains of the highest priority.

  • Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to close the feed-in tariff scheme in January 2016; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The FIT review consultation was published on 27 August and closed on 23 October. The review proposed changes to generation tariffs and tariff bands and included proposals on cost control measures, such as capping deployment, in order to put the scheme onto an affordable and sustainable footing. An option to close the scheme, should cost control measures not be sufficient to achieve this, was also set out in the consultation.

    We have received nearly 55,000 responses to the consultation. We are currently analysing these responses and will do so as quickly as possible. We will publish a Government response in due course.

  • Lord Grocott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Grocott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grocott on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 3 December (HL3732), when were the three occasions on which the House withheld its agreement to an affirmative instrument between World War II and 2010, and which instrument was not agreed to on each occasion.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    The three occasions on which the House withheld its agreement to an affirmative instrument prior to 2010 were on 18 June 1968; 22 February 2000; and 28 March 2007. The instruments not agreed to were the Southern Rhodesia (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1968; the Greater London Authority (Election Expenses) Order 2000; and the Gambling (Geographical Distribution of Casino Premises Licences) Order 2007, respectively.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent by Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) on external management consultancies since they were established; and how much of that was specifically related to contracts CSUs had with the NHS Commissioning Board.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) were formally established in April 2013. As at December 2015, CSUs paid out £81 million on consultancy support. Total spend has been reducing year on year as CSUs develop their own internal capacity, with 2015/16 to date spend at £8.4 million.

    It is not possible to accurately apportion this to specific contracts with NHS England.

  • Glyn Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Glyn Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Glyn Davies on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to publish further details of the next Contract for Difference auction; and which technologies she plans will be eligible for inclusion in that auction.

    Andrea Leadsom

    As announced by the Secretary of State in her speech in November, the current intention is to hold the next CFD allocation round for ‘less established’ technologies (pot 2) in late 2016.

    We will set out details around future rounds in due course.

  • and whether in future such fixed sterling amounts will not be subject to amendment according to exchange rate movements.” – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    and whether in future such fixed sterling amounts will not be subject to amendment according to exchange rate movements.” – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by and whether in future such fixed sterling amounts will not be subject to amendment according to exchange rate movements.” on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the decision of the European Council concerning a new settlement for the UK within the EU, which states that not all member states have the euro as their currency”

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government has made representations to the European Commission to suggest that the reviews of the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Directive coverage level in non-euro states should occur after the Commission completes its review of suitability of the coverage level as a whole and also that changes for non-euro states reflect genuine, very large and lasting changes in exchange rates.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to require companies registered in the British Virgin Islands to publish details of all significant and beneficial owners and to place all such information on an online searchable register.

    James Duddridge

    Our priority for all the Overseas Territories that function with financial centres such as the British Virgin Islands has been for them to hold accurate and current beneficial ownership information on island in central registers or the equivalent, where they do not already do so, and to allow for UK law enforcement to access that information. The arrangement signed with the British Virgin Islands achieves this and represents a significant step forward in our ability to counter criminal activity and should be welcomed.

    As the Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in the House on 11 April, only about three countries in the world, including Britain, are implementing publically accessible central registers of company beneficial ownership information. If we had tried to push that on to the British Virgin Islands and other Overseas Territories straightaway, we would not have got nearly as far as we have. The actions taken by the British Virgin Islands and the other Overseas Territories puts them well ahead of many of our international partners.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr David Lidington

    I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my Rt Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office today to UIN: 36288.

  • Judith Cummins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Judith Cummins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Judith Cummins on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to place incentives into NHS dentistry contracts to encourage NHS dentists to practice in areas with significantly above average numbers of oral and dental health issues.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has a duty to commission services to improve the health of the population and reduce inequalities, and also a statutory duty to commission primary dental services in order to meet local need.

    While some local access difficulties remain overall access continues to increase with the latest access data showing 30 million patients were seen by a dentist for National Health Service care in the 24 month period ending 31 March 2016. This is 1.8 million more patients than May 2010.

    The Government is determined to increase the focus on improving oral health particularly in high needs groups. The Department is working with NHS England to test a new NHS dental contract focusing on improving oral health. 82 prototypes are testing the best balance of incentives to prevent disease and treat disease where present. In addition, NHS England will test new ways to improve children’s oral health in 10 high need areas.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Government plans to publish the pre-consultation report on proposals to introduce fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The pre-consultation process was a limited and informal exercise to inform the consultation, and therefore the Government does not plan to publish a report. The formal consultation on proposals to introduce fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims is due to commence shortly. It will be followed by a Government response before the introduction of fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims.