Category: Speeches

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests were made to her Department for a change of conditions of leave were approved in lifting the no recourse to public funds condition to the applicants conditions of leave in financial years (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13, (c) 2013-14 and (d) 2014-15.

    James Brokenshire

    The data requested is not available for each of the years requested and can only be provided from December 2014. The number of granted applications for a change of conditions to allow recourse to public funds between December 2014 and 30 September 2015 is as follows:

    Period

    Number of Granted Applications

    December 2014 – March 2015

    235

    April 2015 – September 2015

    680

    This response represents the closest reply that can be provided within the constraints of our data reporting system.

    The data provided is considered Management Information and is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of National Statistics.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how much and (b) what proportion of the funding allocated to domestic violence services is specifically allocated to support children living in refuges.

    Karen Bradley

    The previous Government provided £40 million of dedicated funding for domestic and sexual violence services between 2011 and 2015 equating to £10 million per year. This funding was extended until April 2016, supplemented by an additional £10 million for refuges, and a £3.5 million fund to boost the provision of domestic violence services including refuges. We do not hold figures for the amount of funding which is spent on supporting children in refuges. It is for local areas to make decisions on the provision of safe accommodation, including refuges, and the support for victims of domestic abuse and their families. On 8 March, as part of our new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, we announced £80 million of dedicated funding from 2016 to 2020 which includes support for refuges and other accommodation-based services, helping local areas ensure that victims of domestic violence and their children have the support they need.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Indian government on recent protests and clashes in the Handwara and Kupwara districts in Kashmir.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 April to PQ 34371 and 34380.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent house demolitions in the West Bank; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are concerned by reports that there has been a large increase in demolitions since the start of 2016, compared with the monthly average in 2015. Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv has raised our concerns on demolitions with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 May, and urged them to provide a legal route for Palestinians to obtain building permits.

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

    Lord Lingfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lingfield on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which local authority performance targets for special educational needs teams, or individual staff within those teams, align with current legislation and guidance, in particular in relation to (1) the production of education, health and care plans, and (2) the number of placements in special schools; and what actions they propose to take in response to that assessment.

    Lord Nash

    Local authorities are responsible for fulfilling the statutory duties on special educational needs (SEN) and disability placed upon them by the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice. This legal framework sets out clearly the process and timescales for producing Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans; and the process for determining the school placement of children and young people with EHC plans.

    Local authorities must issue final EHC plans within 20 weeks of commencing an assessment. Data published in May showed that 59.2% of EHC plans were issued on-time, excluding exception cases. Some areas are managing 100%. We have emphasised to local authorities that, where there are delays, they need to communicate clearly about them with families.

    The SEND Code of Practice is clear that EHC plans must be issued in sufficient time prior to a child or young person moving between key phases of education, to allow for planning and, where necessary, commissioning of support and provision at the new institution. The Children and Familes Act 2014 (Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Amendment) (No.2) Order 2014, as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014 (Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Amendment) Order 2015, require local authorities to prioritise the review of statements of SEN or Learning Difficulty Assessments (LDAs) for children and young people approaching the end of an educational phase.

    Young people aged 19-25 are only able to draw on high needs funding from the Education Funding Agency where they have an EHC plan. Because some local authorities may not complete all the necessary transfers from LDAs to EHC plans by 1 September, EFA-funded institutions can continue to deliver programmes to 19-25 year olds where the young person has a Learning Difficulty Assessment and is receiving high needs funding, and where the local authority is in the process of an EHC assessment but has not finalised the EHC plan.

    The Department does not set targets for the performance of individual local authorities. The Department monitors very closely nationally-published data on local authority performance on SEN and disability and provides support and challenge as appropriate.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Cheshire Patient Transport Service in the last 12 months.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No assessment has been made. Assessment of the performance of patient transport services in Cheshire is the responsibility of its commissioners and the Care Quality Commission as the regulator of health services in England.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 13434, on Cabinet Committees: Airports, under what circumstances (a) full minutes, (b) dates of and (c) other information about such meetings would be published.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    Information relating to the proceedings of recent Cabinet Committee meetings is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion. Cabinet Committee minutes and other papers, which are not subject to national security or other restrictions, will be released to The National Archives after 20 years once the transition from the 30 to the 20-year rule has been complete. A detailed list of the Cabinet Committees, including their membership and remit, can be found on Gov.uk.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of disability hate crime offences committed in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office has collected disability hate crime data from the police since 2011/12.

    In 2011/12, the police recorded 1,748 disability hate crime offences, 1,911 in 2012/13, 2,006 in 2013/14, and 2,508 in 2014/15.

    As stated by the Office for National Statistics, action taken by police forces to improve their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard has led to improved recording of crime over the last year, especially for violence against the person offences. Together with a greater awareness of disability hate crime, and improved willingness of victims to come forward, this is likely to be a factor in the increase in disability hate crimes recorded by the police.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.144 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how women’s charities can apply for some of the £15 million annual fund.

    Greg Hands

    Bids and nominations for donations from the sanitary products VAT women’s charities fund can be submitted to HM Treasury by letter. The letter should set out the amount being sought and detail what it would fund. All representations will be given full consideration ahead of Budget 2016, and further rounds of donations will follow at future fiscal events. The fund will continue to run over the course of this Parliament or until the UK can apply a zero rate of VAT on sanitary products.

  • Lord Touhig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Touhig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Touhig on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much is spent annually on training reservists in (1) the army, (2) the Royal Navy, and (3) the Royal Air Force.

    Earl Howe

    The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.