Category: Speeches

  • 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.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of private agency supply teacher services in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    Schools, academiesand local authorities are responsible for recruiting and managing their supply teachers and whether or not they use private supply agencies.Supply agency costs are a private commercial arrangement between schools, or local authorities, and individual supply agencies.

    Agency supply teacher spend data at national and local authority level is available in the following publications:

    For maintained schools – ‘Expenditure by Local Authorities and Schools on Education, Children and Young People’s Services: 2013-14’ (Table 3), at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-education-and-childrens-services-spending-2013-to-2014.

    For academy schools – ‘Income and expenditure in academies in England: 2013 to 2014’ (Raw data SATS table) at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-and-expenditure-in-academies-in-england-2013-to-2014.

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  • 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.

  • 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 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Security Industry Authority’s processing of license applications.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Home Department receives regular performance updates from the SIA, including information around the processing of licence applications. In the last financial year the SIA met its performance target for processing licence applications. We are however aware of some delays in the issuing of SIA licences following the launch of its new IT system in July 2016. The SIA have introduced a series of measures to address the issues and we will continue to monitor its performance in this area.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which agreed EU directives have not yet been transposed directly into UK law; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Jones

    Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation.

    There are no outstanding directives waiting to be transposed that fall under the jurisdiction of the Department for Exiting the European Union.