Category: Speeches

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that they meet their target of halving the disability employment gap.

    Lord Freud

    In the last three years, the number of disabled people in work has increased by almost half a million. But we recognise that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people remains too large. That is why we are committed to halving it.

    Last year the Work and Health Unit was established to lead the drive for improving work and health outcomes for people with health conditions and disabilities, as well as improving support for people absent from work through ill health and those at risk of leaving workforce.

    The Unit has begun work to build the evidence base of what works to support disabled people and people with health conditions to obtain and remain in work. We are increasing the reach of Access to Work which provide support to an additional 25,000 people per year by 2021, and we have recently launched the Access to Work Digital Service which as so far received an average of 500 claims per week. We are more than doubling Disability Employment Advisors in job centres to help disabled people into employment and embedding employment advisers in IAPT, so that individuals with mental health conditions can receive timely and tailored employment advice.

    We will soon publish a Green Paper that will explore a range of options for long-term reform across different sectors enabling everyone to realise their aspirations, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will engage with disabled people, their representative organisations and a wide range of other stakeholders, who all have an important part to play in making the transformative changes required for long-term reform on supporting disabled people into work.

  • Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are considering to allow flight training organisations based in the United Kingdom to train overseas student pilots for a professional pilot’s licence.

    Lord Bates

    Flight training organisations can teach courses lasting up to six months to international students, under the short-term study visa route.

    Alternatively, they may use the Tier 4 visa route where the course lasts longer than six months and they hold a Tier 4 sponsor licence. To qualify for a Tier 4 sponsor licence, an institution must have a track record of teaching UK or EEA students, and be teaching courses which meet Tier 4 requirements. To meet Tier 4 requirements, a course must lead to an approved qualification, as defined in the Tier 4 Guidance for Sponsors.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support children and young people who are referred to NHS Mental Health services but do not receive treatment as they did not meet the clinical threshold to quality for treatment at a Child and Mental Health Services centre.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is committed to transforming the support for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing as set out by the vision in Future in mind. This includes both clinical services commissioned by the NHS, and the wider support on offer in a range of settings.

    One of the first stages in achieving this vision is the implementation of Local Transformation Plans for children’s mental health and wellbeing developed by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), together with their local partners. These Plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues: from prevention and resilience building, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable.

    This means that by 2020, local offers will be transformed so that the emotional welfare and mental health of children will be supported whether or not their mental health issues are clinically diagnosable. In many cases, by building resilience in schools or by early intervention, we hope to prevent the emergence of mental disorders.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the implications are for the provisions of the Public Order Act 1986 of her Department’s Counter-Extremism Strategy, Cm 9148, published in October 2015 and its definition of extremism.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government definition of extremism is ‘vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.’ We have been consistent on this since 2011 and have reaffirmed this definition in the Counter-Extremism Strategy.

    Vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, in particular mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs within the Counter-Extremism Strategy definition of extremism is consistent with the incitement provisions within the Public Order Act 1986, in particular Part 3 aimed at those who stir up racial or religious hatred.

    We are clear that Government should not restrict anyone’s freedom of speech or right to practise a faith. These are core values. But we shouldn’t allow the extremist voice to go unchallenged, causing harm to our society and promoting hatred and division.

    Government has engaged widely on the Counter-Extremism Strategy, and continues to engage with partners – including faith groups and communities on the implementation of the Strategy’s measures.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22031, whether he has received any reports from UK personnel working with the Saudi military of (a) negligent and (b) inadvertent potential breaks of international humanitarian law.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The UK is not a member of the Saudi-led Coalition. British personnel are not involved in carrying out strikes, directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets. They are also not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process. British liaison officers have provided information as part of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) monitoring of incidents of alleged International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations. Looking at the information available to us, we have assessed that there has not been a breach of IHL by the coalition, but continue to monitor the situation closely, seeking further information where appropriate.

  • 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 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether employers named and shamed by his Department on 5 February 2016 for non-payment of the national minimum wage and found to be owing arrears to a select number of employees subsequently had their whole workforce investigated by HM Revenue and Customs to ascertain if the same practice applied to all other workers employed.

    Nick Boles

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fully investigate all worker complaints and where they identify arrears of pay, issue a Notice of Underpayment to recover arrears for the complainant. Since 2015, HMRC have also instructed the employer to "self-correct" for all other workers and report the details to HMRC. An assurance process is in place to make sure employers have fully self-corrected. If they do not, and HMRC believes other workers are likely to have been underpaid, the employer will be investigated again.

    HMRC are unable to provide an exact figure for how many of the 92 employers have been investigated beyond the original complaint. The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Prime Minister, whether representatives of the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories will be invited to the anti-corruption summit in May.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Illford South (Mr Gapes) during my Oral Statement today.

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 17 March (HL7132), whether they expect any new database of innovative medicines to be constructed outside the normal information governance channels.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Act 2016 will create a database of innovative treatments, when the Secretary of State directs the Health and Social Care Information Centre to establish such a database. The Centre will implement the database in accordance with the common law duty of confidence, data protection law and the information governance rules to which the Centre is subject.

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Civil Nuclear Constabulary conducts an annual survey of its staff.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Civil Nuclear Constabulary has undertaken surveys of its staff in previous years but these have not been on a regular annual basis.

    The last survey undertaken was a Wellbeing Survey conducted in May 2015 and a general all staff survey is planned for 2017/18.

    It is the Civil Nuclear Constabulary’s intention to run all staff surveys bi-annually in the future.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Prime Minister, whether she plans to attend the UN General Assembly meetings on refugees and migrants on 19 and 20 September 2016.

    Mrs Theresa May

    I refer the hon. Member to the Oral Statement I gave to the House on 7 September 2016, Official Report, column 336.