Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that its humanitarian response in Mosul minimises child protection risks.

    Rory Stewart

    On 21 September, the UK announced an extra £40 million of humanitarian funding to Iraq, taking our total commitment to £169.5 million since June 2014. This new support will be targeted specifically to enable a scale up of humanitarian assistance ahead of Mosul operations. An element of this support will aim to help protect civilians displaced as a result of the operations – including children.

    The UK is the largest donor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund, which has supported specialist protection and rehabilitation for people escaping from Daesh, including women and children. The UK regularly lobbies the Iraqi authorities to ensure the protection of its people as they flee Mosul and other areas.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 11 March 2015 to Question 226385, how many local authorities supported by PHE are developing withdrawal services for people affected by addiction to prescription benzodiazepine and drug tranquilisers.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England is currently working with two local authorities and one other area which is part of a Clinical Commissioning Group who want to improve their responses to addiction to medicines. These improvements are wide-ranging and do not necessarily involve developing bespoke services for people affected by specific medicines. There are also other areas which are looking at how they respond to addiction to medicines locally.

    Local authorities are responsible for commissioning effective services to meet the need of their local populations which experience dependence on any medicines or drugs, including treatment for people dependent on prescription benzodiazepines and tranquillisers.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information the Financial Conduct Authority holds on (a) the reasons for which Mourant Fund Services Ltd did not complete its transaction to take over the operation of the Connaught Income Fund in 2009 and (b) whether at the time Mourant Fund Services Ltd was in possession of information about the Connaught Income Fund which should have been reported to the regulatory authorities.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

    This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honorable Member Helen Jones by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Attorney General, what his policy is on use of the charge of treason; and what is his Department’s guidance on sentencing those charged and convicted of that offence.

    Robert Buckland

    In all cases referred for a charging decision, the Crown Prosecution Service uses whichever offence is appropriate to the facts of the case. Modern criminal offences, including terrorism offences, usually offer a better chance of a successful conviction than a prosecution for treason would. Prosecutions for treason are therefore extremely rare and there is no applicable guidance from the Sentencing Council. The maximum sentence for treason is life imprisonment and it would be for the Courts to determine the appropriate sentence in an individual case, having regard to any analogous case law.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with epilepsy have been offered a personalised care plan since 2013 in accordance with the Department of Health’s mandate to NHS England; and what steps he is taking to increase the number of such people.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not available in the format requested. The GP Patient Survey measures the number of patients with a long term condition (LTC) who say they have care and support plans.

    NHS England advises that information from the patient survey for 2013/14 shows that of the 9,540 people with epilepsy that responded, 15% (1,463) reported they had a care plan, whilst 79% said no and 6% did not know. This survey does not record the number of people who were offered a care plan but did not feel they needed or wanted one.

    As set out in our Mandate to NHS England, all patients with a LTC should be offered a personalised care plan.

    To deliver this, NHS England is implementing the House of Care model for care planning, which takes into account the expertise and resources of the people with LTCs and their communities to provide a holistic approach to their lives and help them achieve the best outcomes possible.

    NHS England has developed tools and guidance on personalised care planning and provided examples of delivery for the local National Health Service. They have also provided a LTC dashboard providing a wealth of data about LTCs in each local area, helping clinical commissioning groups to plan services for local people.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Turkish government on the security screening and monitoring processes for refugees entering from Syria; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of those processes during the last six months.

    Mr David Lidington

    We regularly discuss these and other issues with the Turkish government. Turkey is a key partner for the EU in the migration crisis borne out of the situation in Syria. The UK recognises Turkey’s extraordinary generosity in hosting over 2.7 million refugees from Syria. In 2016 Turkey has taken steps to improve its screening of incoming refugees. It has also amended its visa regime for Syrians and Iraqis who, bar those crossing the land border, are now required to obtain a Turkish visa prior to arrival.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to recommendations 12 and 22 of the Financial Action Taskforce guidance, entitled Potentially Exposed Persons, what steps the Government has taken to provide guidance to financial institutions and Designated Non-financial Businesses and Professions on what constitutes a prominent public function for domestic and foreign politically exposed persons; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    In line with the Financial Action Task Force’s international standards, the Government believes that institutions should take reasonable measures to determine whether an individual qualifies as a Politically Exposed Person. The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 set out a non-exhaustive list of individuals who could be politically exposed. The FCA and the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group have published further guidance to assist the industry in identifying and banking Politically Exposed Persons.

  • Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 11 May (HL8096), how many bat bridges over roads are (1) currently under construction, and (2) planned for construction; and what is the (a) location, and (b) budgeted cost, of each.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Highways England has no bat bridges currently on schemes under construction and none currently planned for schemes to be constructed.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 30 June (HL758) about the recognition of genocide, which judicial bodies could take such a decision.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We continue to believe that recognition of genocide should be a matter for competent courts, decided by judges after consideration of all the evidence available in the context of a credible judicial process.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on rail companies charging taxi drivers to use taxi ranks at train stations.

    Paul Maynard

    Decisions to charge taxi operators for accessing taxi ranks at railway stations are a commercial matter for the train company operating the station.