Category: Speeches

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the report entitled, Self-employment review – An independent report by Julie Deane, published in February 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending entitlement to statutory adoption pay to self-employed people.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government is considering all the recommendations made in Julie Deane’s independent review of self-employment and will respond in due course.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who were not granted entry clearance or temporary admission and were permitted to live in private accommodation absconded in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not record the number of persons who have been deported or who have absconded having been permitted to live in private accommodation.

    The Right to Rent scheme denies illegal migrants access to the private rented sector. It has been in operation in parts of the West Midlands since 1st December 2014, and across England since 1st February 2016. The scheme requires landlords to carry out checks on prospective tenants before they rent property to them, and to refuse a tenancy to anyone who cannot show that they have the right to rent. The scheme is not retrospective, and does not apply to tenancies which were in place before the scheme came into effect in the relevant area.

    Therefore, in order to keep the scheme light touch and in line with the Right to Work scheme, landlords (like employers) are not required to tell the Home Office when they have completed right to rent checks.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on anti-terrorism measures in the UK of a period of uncertainty as to the extent to which the Schengen Agreement will apply to the UK after it leaves the EU.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Cooperation with our European partners on counter-terrorism has not ceased since the result of the referendum was announced and we continue to work with other Member States, including continuing to participate in those parts of the Schengen Agreement that relate to law enforcement cooperation. Our key partners have confirmed their commitment to continue to work closely in an area where the UK has played a key role in advancing European capability. We are considering the full range of options to ensure effective counter-terrorism cooperation continues after the UK leaves the EU.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2016 to Question 43443, when his Department plans to publish its Quarterly Transparency Returns providing details of Ministerial meetings.

    Mr David Jones

    Details of Ministers’ meetings, gifts, hospitality and travel will be published on a quarterly basis as is standard practice.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to help home owners in negative equity.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    If homeowners are in negative equity, or worried about meeting payments in the future, it is vital to make early contact with their lender.

    There are a number of organisations available that provide free, impartial advice on money and debt management, including the Money Advice Service, which Government has set up to promote understanding of Financial Systems.

    The Government is working to mitigate the impact of Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) activity on those in negative equity and following consultation government released a response document on the 29th October, which is available on the gov.uk website.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what costs have been incurred by the NHS Commissioning Board, Commissioning Support Units and Clinical Commissioning Groups in conducting the Lead Provider Framework procurement process to date, including those spent on external advisers and employed staff time.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The total costs incurred by the NHS Commissioning Board in conducting the Lead Provider Framework procurement process amount to £551,000, which includes staff costs, external legal costs and costs associated with the sizable evaluation panel.

    The NHS Commissioning Board provides expert procurement and legal support to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in order to run their procurement through the Lead Provider Framework. Any costs incurred providing this support are covered by a management fee that the NHS Commissioning Board collects from any successful provider.

    This helps minimise the costs incurred by CCGs when running competitions from the framework. As of December 2015, total Commissioning Support Units spend was £8.4 million with a further £1.4 million identified as future known commitments to year end.

  • Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Lord on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students are taught in schools rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding in (a) Woking constituency, (b) Surrey and (c) the South East.

    Nick Gibb

    In the South East, 81% of pupils were taught in good or outstanding school as of 31 August 2015.

    Within the Local Authority area of Surrey, 89% of pupils were taught in good or outstanding schools.

    In the Woking constituency, 87% of pupils were taught in good or outstanding schools.

    This data is based on the most recent section five Ofsted inspection of all open schools as at 31 August 2015. The data includes the most recent judgements for predecessor schools of academy converters which have not yet been inspected as an academy. The data can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exploring-ofsted-inspection-data-with-data-view

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  • Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the review of the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Privately Kept Non-Human Primates will commence, and what is the proposed timetable for that review.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The review of the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Privately Kept Non-Human Primates is expected to commence this year with a view to recommendations being made within a year.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners at each establishment have risk indicators which have been identified after completion of a cell sharing risk assessment.

    Andrew Selous

    The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 373, Applying Results of Experiments on Animals to Human Patients.

    George Freeman

    The Government considers that the carefully regulated use of animals in scientific research remains a vital tool in improving the understanding of how biological systems work and in the development of safe new medicines, treatments and technologies.

    At the same time, the Government believes that animals should only be used when there is no practicable alternative and it actively supports and funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs), in particular through funding for the National Centre for the Replacement Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), and also through ongoing UK-led efforts to encourage greater global uptake of the 3Rs.

    Advances in biomedical science and technologies – including stem cell research, in vitro systems that mimic the function of human organs, imaging and new computer modelling techniques – are all providing new opportunities to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research. As part of this Innovate UK, the NC3Rs, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council have produced a Non-animal Technologies Road map for the UK, which offers an approach for the UK to develop, exploit and deploy new non-animal technologies for long-term economic and societal benefit. Integral to this strategy have been two Innovate UK industry-led competitions which have awarded approximately £7m in grant funding; “Developing non-animal technologies” and “Advancing the development and application of non-animal technologies”.

    EU and UK law requires safety testing on animals before human trials for new medicines can begin and animal research still plays an important role in providing vital safety information for potential new medicines.

    The Early Day Motion (EDM 373) rightly draws attention to the UK life science sector’s Concordat on openness in animal research which was launched last year, and provides new opportunities for transparency and debate in this area.