Category: Speeches

  • Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has for funding from the EU Solidarity Fund for relief payments for recent flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    We will consider all forms of support for those affected by the recent floods.

    However, the EU Solidarity Fund would not compensate for private losses. It would take several months to receive the majority of the funds, and only provides for a fraction of the total costs of assessed damage. The Government’s priority has been to act quickly and deal with the urgent needs of those affected.

    This is why the Government is providing nearly £200 million of additional aid to support those affected by the floods in England.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in England and Wales were admitted to accident and emergency departments as a consequence of the use of psychoactive substances in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.

    Andrew Selous

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Justices (MoJ) Wellbeing strategy seeks to help foster a culture that promotes physical and mental wellbeing for all staff and to make the management of health and wellbeing part of our daily routine.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.63 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 and paragraph 2.16 of the Budget 2016, for what reasons the funding to support women’s charities equivalent to the annual VAT raised on sanitary products has changed from £15 million to £12 million.

    Mr David Gauke

    As announced at Autumn Statement 2015, the Tampon Tax Fund is a £15 million annual fund to support women’s charities, equivalent to the amount of VAT raised on sanitary products. The Chancellor announced initial donations at Autumn Statement totalling £5m. Further grants totalling £12 million have been announced at this Budget.

    The Government has introduced legislation in the Finance Bill to enable the zero rate of VAT for women’s sanitary products.

  • Oliver Heald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Oliver Heald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to maintain the ability of London taxi drivers exclusively to ply for hire.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government is responsible for the legislative structure within which local licensing authorities deliver the licensing regime for taxis and private hire vehicles. Enforcement of the licensing regime, including ensuring that private hire vehicles do not illegally ply for hire, is therefore a matter for local licensing authorities and the police.

  • Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-05-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations in the recent report The Digital Powerhouse: The innovation potential of tech clusters in the North.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    We are considering these recommendations and will respond in due course.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the patient said to have been discharged unsafely by Mr Agrawal, who the responsible consultant was; and on what grounds did East Lancashire Hospitals Trust believe that Mr Agrawal had discharged that patient when he had himself been excluded from the hospital in question.

    Mr Jeremy Hunt

    This is an employer and employee matter between the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Mr Aditya Agrawal respectively. The Department cannot comment on individual employment matters that are the responsibility of independent organisations, and that are subject to ongoing legal proceedings or on matters relating to individual clinical cases or other personal information. We understand that the cost to East Lancashire Trust of legal proceedings concerning Mr Agrawal is £296,848.42 to date, and that the Trust does not have insurance costs for legal awards in the event of the Trust or one of its employees being subject to legal action for defamation.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils with special educational needs in schools in England (a) have an education, health and care plan and (b) are educated in a special school.

    Edward Timpson

    As of January 2016, the number of pupils with special educational needs in schools for whom local authorities maintain an education, health and care (EHC) plan in England was 59,270; of which, 26,229 were in special schools.

    The latest statistics providing the number of children and young people with special educational needs for whom local authorities maintain an EHC plan broken down by establishment type can be found in Table 1 of the ‘Statements of SEN and EHC plans: England, 2016’ statistical first release, which is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2016

    “

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the announcement by BAE Systems on jobs, related to production of the Eurofighter Typhoon on 12 November 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be lost which are related to the production of that aircraft.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    BAE Systems issued a statement on 12 November 2015 confirming that the company was taking action to reduce the Eurofighter Typhoon production rate; it also confirmed its intention to reduce the workforce within its Military Air and Information business by up to 371 roles. The majority of the affected posts are based at the company’s Samlesbury site, with the remainder at its Warton facility.

    Decisions on the capacity and capability of any company, including the division of work between sites, primarily rests with the company concerned.

  • 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 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made in reducing red tape for British business during his Department’s renegotiation of the UK relationship with the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. That includes cutting red tape to make Europe more competitive, so we create jobs and make British families more financially secure. We have made progress; legislative proposals under the new Commission fell by 80 percent in 2015, and more regulations were repealed in 2015 than in the whole of the previous Commission. But the burden from existing regulation is still too high and so we are working to secure a target to cut the total burden on business.