Category: Speeches

  • Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many telephone masts have been erected under the Government’s mobile infrastructure project.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    This Government has committed to ensuring that 90 per cent of the UK landmass will have voice and SMS coverage by 2017.14 telephone masts have been completed and are providing mobile coverage in areas of Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Lincolnshire, Somerset, Suffolk and Northern Ireland. Over 50 other ​potential mast sites are currentlybeing progressed by our supplier with the aim of delivering as many of these as possible by the project end date of 31 March 2016.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the end of the Advice Services Transition Fund in December 2015.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The fund is a Big Lottery Fund programme, to which Government contributed 50% of the budget. As the fund comes to a close, the Big Lottery Fund will be monitoring how organisations have met their agreed outcomes and will be supporting the dissemination of learning amongst the ASTF partnerships and beyond.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West have been helped by Veterans UK since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    I have taken help by Veterans UK to mean assistance provided by the Veterans UK Welfare Service. The Veterans Welfare Service provides Veterans and their families’ with free and confidential advice on a wide range of issues.

    Regrettably, the information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    However, the total number of visits to Veterans from the Veterans UK Welfare Service since 01 January 2010 to 20 January 2016 in the Pendle, Lancashire and North West district, are set out below.

    District

    *Number of Visits

    Pendle

    100

    Lancashire

    1,870

    North West(1)

    7,240

    (1) This figure incorporates the Pendle and Lancashire districts.

    *In line with departmental policy, values have been rounded to the nearest 5.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many firms have been excluded from bidding for Government contracts since the introduction of the procurement policy note, Measures to promote tax compliance published in February 2014.

    Matthew Hancock

    These new measures on tax compliance, introduced in 2013, enable government departments to exercise their power to exclude firms bidding for government contracts where they have been non-compliant in meeting their legal tax obligations.

    The policy is compatible with the existing procurement process and is being updated to clarify the use of mandatory and discretionary exclusion criteria, contained in the new Public Contracts Regulations 2015, concerning tax compliance.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish from the Minister for Local Growth and the Northern Powerhouse of 18 February 2016, on accountability of combined authorities, if he will introduce call-in procedures for individual constituent district councils to scrutinise the decisions of combined authorities.

    James Wharton

    The scrutiny requirements for combined authorities are set out in Schedule 5A to the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, as inserted by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, which provide that overview and scrutiny committees of combined authorities have powers to call in decisions and to involve other persons in their work. Schedule 5A also provides for secondary legislation which must ensure that the majority of members of an overview and scrutiny committee will be members of the combined authority’s constituent councils and that at least one member of an audit committee is an independent person. The scrutiny requirements of the Local Government Act 2000 do not apply to combined authorities.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 23 October 2007 (WA101), by Lord Triesman on 12 November 2007 (WA1–2), by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 8 June 2015 (HL44) and by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5648), how the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has rigorously checked that what is stated in centres’ lay summaries on its website about the purposes and likelihood of success of the research is realistic for both donors and the public, as explicitly recommended under Key actions for HFEA” in the summary of the “Post Hwang Meeting” on 1 March 2006 that was published on the HFEA website; and how the currently stated aim of research licence R0152 “to improve outcomes of ART for the treatment of infertility” relates to any reasonably foreseeable applications of nuclear transfer that accord not only with the statutory tests but also with the originally stated purpose of the proposed research in the initial application for this particular licence.”

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that centres’ lay summaries are checked at inspection by the relevant HFEA inspector and by the HFEA Licence Committee. In the case of licence R0152, the lay summary was last approved on 15 July 2015 when the HFEA Licence Committee agreed to approve updates to the centre’s lay summary and the updates to the research objectives. The minutes note the committee was content that the revised objectives and lay summary were consistent with the activities and purposes for which the project was licensed.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what procedures she will follow in consideration of applications for the disposal for development of the former Two Trees High School in Denton.

    Edward Timpson

    The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new academy or free school.

    School playing fields are also protected by Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Schools and local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval before they can dispose of their land. Applications to dispose of school playing fields are first considered by the school playing fields advisory panel, who make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, before she then makes her final decision.

    At this time I am not aware of an application by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council to seek approval to dispose of the former Two Trees Sports College, including the playing fields.

    Should an application be submitted, the Secretary of State would take into account any groups or organisations with permission to use the playing fields and what suitable alternative provision they may have been offered. Local schools, which are deficient in playing field land, should also be offered the opportunity to use the playing field before any application is presented. She will also take into account local school place needs and any academy requirement.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will take steps to mitigate the environmental and congestion concerns of residents arising from the building of new houses in Whalley.

    Brandon Lewis

    Local authorities and their communities are best placed to decide, through their Local and Neighbourhood Plans, which land is most suitable for development and what infrastructure is needed to support it. The National Planning Policy Framework, which must be taken into account in plan-making and is a material consideration in individual planning decisions, makes it clear that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. It:

    • states that Green Belt should be given the highest protection and its boundaries only adjusted in exceptional circumstances through the Local Plan process;

    • requires local authorities to support a pattern of development that, where reasonable to do so, facilitates the use of public transport, walking and cycling, and focus significant development in locations which are or can be made sustainable

    • enables local communities to identify for special protection green or open areas of particular importance to them as Local Green Space;

    • is clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk.

    Individual decisions are made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much his Department has spent on overnight accommodation since it was created.

    Greg Hands

    Following her appointment on 13 July 2016 the Prime Minister established the Department for International Trade (DIT). The DIT aggregates UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), UK Export and Finance (UKEF), Trade Policy Units from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

    Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes the Secretary of State as a corporation sole, DIT remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes.

    As DIT is currently being formed, accurate data for overnight accommodation spend is unavailable.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the likely effect on house building of the Office of National Statistics reclassifying housing associations as public sector bodies.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Office of National Statistics has concluded that housing associations should have been classified as public rather than private since 2008, due to several of the regulatory requirements imposed by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 introduced by the last Labour Government. This decision is purely a statistical change. Reclassification makes no material changes to the operation of housing associations. The Government is committed to developing deregulatory measures to help housing associations build more homes and help more people into home ownership.