Category: Speeches

Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he received representations from the US military based at USAF Lakenheath before the recent use of USAF F-15s to kill an individual in Libya allegedly involved in the planning of terrorist acts; and whether he gave authorisation for such an act.

Penny Mordaunt

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 29 February 2016 to Question 903769.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds do not express a corporate opinion on the forthcoming EU referendum.

John Penrose

The rules on campaigning at the referendum are set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. There is no general restriction on institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds expressing a corporate opinion on the European Union Referendum. However, there are restrictions on organisations whose expenses are met wholly or mainly from public funds publishing certain material relating to the referendum in the final 28 days.

As the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission published guidance for charities on 7 March 2016 regarding the forthcoming EU referendum. This clearly sets out the threshold necessary to justify any charitable activity on this specific issue.

01/01/2023
Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, of the 1,103 claims to the Flood Recovery Fund made by farmers in Cumbria, Northumberland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, County Durham and Greater Manchester, (1) who is responsible for approving those claims, (2) how many have been paid, and (3) what is the total value of those claims.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Whilst the Farming Recovery Fund is not competitive, farmers wishing to apply to the Fund have to submit a formal application with evidence to support their need for a grant to contribute to the restoration of farmland badly affected by Storms Desmond or Eva. Payments are made to farmers once the work has been carried out and a claim has been submitted.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is responsible for determining the eligibility of Farming Recovery Fund applications, issuing grant funding agreements to eligible applicants, and receiving, processing and paying claims for costs incurred under those grant funding agreements.

The RPA received 1,103 applications for a total value of grant of £11,429,194 by the closing dates for the scheme. As of 5 May 2016, 209 applications have been approved with a total value of £1,947,738. A further 20 applications, with a value of £265,440, have been either rejected as ineligible or withdrawn by the applicant.

Of the projects approved, 29 have been completed and have submitted claims with a value of £202,268. 13 of these claims have been paid with a total value of £78,504.

01/01/2023
John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what EU directives related to his Department’s responsibilities are awaiting transposition into UK law.

Alun Cairns

None.

01/01/2023

Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Attorney General, how many people have applied for sentences to be reviewed under the unduly lenient sentence scheme in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright

The Government has committed to extending the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and is carefully considering its approach.

The number of offenders who have had their sentence increased under the unduly lenient sentence scheme in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Offenders who have had their sentence increased by the Court of Appeal	95	62	61	106	102

Some cases attract multiple referrals from various sources and we do not record how many referrals each case has received. The total number of cases where requests were received by the Attorney General’s Office for sentences to be reviewed in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total number of referrals received by the Attorney General’s Office for sentences to be reviewed under the scheme	377	435	498	674	713

The number of sentences referred to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme that were (a) increased and (b) kept the same in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total number of sentences referred to the Court of Appeal	117	82	70	122	136
Total number of sentences that were increased	95	62	61	106	102
Total number of sentences that remained unchanged	22	20	9	16	34

The number of referrals under the unduly lenient sentence scheme that have been rejected due to falling outside the remit of the scheme in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Number of referrals that have been rejected due to the offence falling outside the remit of the scheme	62	75	131	194	228
Number of referrals received out of time	3	12	9	10	16

01/01/2023

Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what consultation took place between the Government and hon. Members prior to the UK disarmament ambassador to the UN speaking against the UN resolution to start negotiations in 2017 on a treaty banning nuclear weapons.

Sir Alan Duncan

There have been no consultations between the Government and Parliament specifically on the UN General Assembly resolution on the nuclear weapons ban treaty. However on 18 July 2016, Parliament debated the successor submarine programme to maintain the UK’s independent, minimum, credible nuclear deterrent, during which the issue of the ban treaty was raised.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to promote his Department’s strategies to prevent cancer.

Jane Ellison

One of the independent Cancer Taskforce report’s six strategic priorities is to “spearhead a radical upgrade in prevention and public health”. NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the report.

As part of putting in place a governance structure for delivery of the strategy, NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead the implementation of the strategy, as well as new cancer vanguards using outcomes-based commissioning to redesign care and patient experience. Ms Palmer is Chief Executive of the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Public Health England (PHE) runs a number of successful campaigns relating to cancer prevention.

The tobacco marketing programme runs a range of activity to highlight the health harms of smoking. This includes demonstrating the link between smoking and cancer, as well as encouraging smokers to make quit attempts and signposting them to proven NHS tools and services to help. These programmes have been shown to have a positive impact on reducing adult smoking prevalence.

PHE’s flagship social marketing campaign, Change4Life, aims to help families and children in England to eat well, move more, and live longer. Some cancers are highlighted as a health consequence within the campaign messaging. The campaign has enjoyed considerable success and unparalleled levels of engagement. Since its launch in 2009, more than 2.7 million people have signed up to Change4Life and it now has more than 200 national partners. Its tools and resources incentivise and encourage behaviour change.

These complement the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns (BCoC) that encourage symptom recognition and earlier general practitioner presentation. BCoC campaigns have been running since early 2011 and have covered a number of cancers nationally and regionally.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of grassroots sports funding; and if he will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch

DCMS have recently gone through a detailed spending review process which has recognised the enormous value of investing in sport, resulting in an excellent settlement for Sport England. Earlier this year we consulted on plans for a new strategy for sport which will be published shortly and which sets a clear direction for future grassroots sport funding

01/01/2023
Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the insurance industry provided to his Department an estimate of by how much motor insurance premiums would reduce before they took effect as a consequence of the changes introduced by the Jackson reforms of the civil justice system and the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab

The civil litigation funding and costs reforms, which came into effect in April 2013, were intended to control the costs of civil litigation which had risen unsustainably. The insurance industry confirmed that motor insurance premiums would fall as a consequence but did not provide an estimate of the likely reduction.

01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25105, when he expects the new resource for businesses on addressing mental health issues to be available.

Alistair Burt

It is anticipated that the guidance will be published in spring 2016.

01/01/2023