Category: Speeches

  • Peter Lilley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Lilley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Lilley on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his letter of 15 December 2015 setting out Skills Funding Agency priorities and funding for 2016-17, whether it is his policy that an area can only have its adult education budget devolved once it has fully implemented the recommendations of its area review.

    Nick Boles

    The Area Review process has been designed to bring about a more resilient and sustainable post-16 sector in the given locality, better able to exploit the opportunities made available through the recent SR and better placed to meet local skills needs. As such the completion of an area review, leading to an agreed plan for implementation, is an essential pre-cursor to the full devolution of the adult education budget.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who claim to be under the age of 18 have undergone independent testing to determine their age in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    We publish statistics on cases where the claimant’s age has been disputed and a formal age assessment has been carried out. The table below shows the number of cases in each of the last 3 years.

    Asylum Claims by Year with a disputed age

    Year of Claim

    Totals

    2012

    337

    2013

    323

    2014

    318

    Data is taken from published statistics

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2015/asylum

    “

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to reinstate the bilateral aid programme with Burundi.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    There are no plans for DFID to re-open the office in Burundi. DFID’s bilateral programme in Burundi closed in 2012 following the 2010 Bilateral Aid Review. We have provided support to Burundi through Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), an independent agency promoting trade and regional economic integration, given that this is central to Burundi’s growth and prosperity. DFID has provided £10 million for TMEA work in Burundi since 2012.

    DFID will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with counterparts across Whitehall, the international financial institutions (IFIs) and humanitarian partners in Burundi. DFID is working with the IFIs to identify options to support the provision of basic services, where there is none. DFID has prepared a response plan in the event of significant unmet humanitarian needs emerging.

    DFID has also provided technical support, in the form of secondment of experts, to support UN agencies working in Burundi. This includes support to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) to strengthen humanitarian coordination in Burundi.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to publish the Local Safeguarding Children Board review.

    Edward Timpson

    The independent review of the role and functions of Local Safeguarding Children Boards, undertaken by Alan Wood, has been submitted to the Secretary of State for Education, and will be published in due course.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK’s naval contribution to EU anti-people trafficking operations in the Mediterranean.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The UK is contributing HMS ENTERPRISE to Operation SOPHIA and eight staff to the Operational Headquarters. HMS ENTERPRISE has been valuable in developing a picture of the maritime environment and smuggling routes. UK assets have destroyed 27 vessels to prevent re-use and identified nine smugglers to the Italian authorities. Furthermore, UK ships have rescued over a quarter of the total number of migrants saved by the entire operation – 3,700 out of 13,700. More broadly, we assess that Operation SOPHIA has left the smugglers unable to operate with impunity in international waters. This is progress on which we can build. We remain committed to working with the Libyan Government of National Accord to move to the later phases of the operation once the right conditions are in place and prevent the smugglers from putting people to sea.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will provide support to employers to encourage people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes to attend a diabetes education course soon after they are diagnosed.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Promoting the best possible care for all people with diabetes is a key priority for this Government.

    Patient education will play a crucial part in empowering all people with diabetes to manage their condition more effectively and help avoid complications in the future. We know there is much further to go in the proportion of people with diabetes attending structured education programmes. The Department, NHS England and Diabetes UK are currently looking at a number of ways to improve take up.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what arms and security-related sales and services the UK is (a) contracted to provide and (b) planning to provide in (i) 2017, (ii) 2018 and (iii) 2019.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The UK does not have commercial contracts with other countries for arms and security related sales and services. Through bilateral government-to-government arrangements the UK works closely with its international partners and allies to support the development of their defence and security capabilities across a broad range of areas.

    To produce the information would involve collecting data from all branches and services involved in international defence engagement activity which could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of redundancies in the UK steel industry on the proportion of defence procurement that arises from UK businesses.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Steel is sourced by our contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers, reflecting the need to ensure competitive cost, time and quality. The Ministry of Defence has not directly made an assessment of the likely effect of redundancies in the UK steel industry but, is represented on the cross-Government steel procurement working group led by the Cabinet Office, and new Government guidelines, which include the need for effective pre-procurement engagement, will help UK suppliers compete for contracts and continue to support future defence requirements for steel.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy for people with support dogs of their rights physically to access businesses and services.

    Justin Tomlinson

    This government is working to ensure that employers and businesses realise the value of disabled people as employees and as customers.

    Under the Equality Act 2010 businesses that do not normally allow dogs to access to their premises must make reasonable adjustments to allow access for disabled people with assistance dogs. However, it is in the best interests of business to maximise access for all disabled people, including those supported by assistance dogs, to harness a share of the £212 billion spending power of disabled households.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what value of freight was imported by sea into the UK in each of the last five years.

    Anna Soubry

    Data on the value of freight that was imported by sea into the UK in each of the last five years is available from Eurostat’s Comext database (“EXTRA-EU Trade since 1999 by mode of transport”). This data covers only UK imports by sea from the Non-EU countries. Data by mode of transport for intra-EU trade is not available in value terms.