Category: Speeches

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking ensure that UK overseas aid is spent effectively and transparently.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    As set out in the aid strategy, UK aid: tackling global challenges in the national interest, the government will ensure that every penny of money spent delivers value for taxpayers, and projects that do not will be cancelled. Departments follow good financial management principles set out in HM Treasury guidance in ‘Managing Public Money’ for all their expenditure. In addition, ODA spend is subject to scrutiny by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact. The UK Aid Strategy also commits all departments to achieving greater levels of transparency in aid spend.

    DFID has robust internal processes such as strong ministerial oversight, mandatory reviews on all programmes, detailed management information for use at all levels of the organisation including on project performance and quality. Other departments will have their own arrangements and DFID will continue to share good practice advice with them.

  • The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to better inform small businesses about all aspects of intellectual property rights, including action that such businesses can take to protect such rights.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) undertakes a wide range of activities to promote understanding of Intellectual Property (IP) amongst Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in order that they can make an informed decision on whether and how to protect, commercialise and enforce their IP.

    IPO products and priority activities focus on:

    a) Raising awareness of the importance of IP;

    b) Improving the IP skills of business advisors and intermediaries;

    c) Emphasising that IP is an essential element of an overall business strategy.

    The offerings include online tools, face to face business and adviser training, and partnership delivery.

    The numerous online resources are designed to help businesses to recognise their IP assets, to manage those assets effectively and to help businesses communicate the value of their IP portfolio to lenders or investors when seeking finance.

    The IPO has a small team that runs UK seminars and workshops on IP for businesses and advisors and it also provides an intensive, commercially run training course to improve their understanding of IP.

    It also works with partners within and outside government to ensure that businesses in every part of the UK can access good quality IP advice and understand the importance of managing their IP. Key partnerships include the UK PatLib Network and UK Business & IP Centre Network as well as Business Growth Hubs

    All these support activities provide guidance and information on how businesses may resolve IP disputes or take effective enforcement action. In addition, the UK overseas IP attachés work with local UK Trade and Investment and Foreign and Commonwealth Office leads to provide support for UK businesses seeking advice on local IP matters abroad.

    I will place further information on these resources in the Libraries of the House.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of (a) Airbus EC225 and (b) AS332 helicopters have been withdrawn from commercial service in the UK North Sea oil and gas sector since the fatal incident off the coast of Bergen, Norway on 29 April 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been working very closely with the Norwegian CAA following the Airbus EC225LP incident on the 29th April.

    Shortly after the accident, the CAA introduced restrictions to Airbus Helicopters EC225LP to prevent operations for commercial flights by UK operators. On 11th of May, these restrictions were extended to include the AS332L2 Super Puma helicopter.

    Following a report by Norwegian Air Accident Investigators on 1st June, the CAA further extended these restrictions to prohibit all flights by these helicopters until further information is available.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the UK to leave the EU since 23 June 2016; and what further such steps his Department plans to take in the remainder of 2016.

    Chris Skidmore

    The Department for Exiting the European Union has responsibility for overseeing preparations for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and conducting these withdrawal negotiations in support of the Prime Minister. In doing this it is working very closely with other government departments, including a wide range of other interested parties.

    I also refer my Hon. Friend to my answers of 7 September 2016, Official Report, Cols. 317-318, on cross-government departmental resourcing.

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the illegal dumping of steel by China will form part of the discussions at the UK-China economic and financial dialogue meeting in November 2016.

    Simon Kirby

    The Chancellor, alongside other Government Ministers, will discuss a range of issues during the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue in November 2016.

    The steel industry is currently dealing with very challenging global economic conditions, and the Government has been working hard to address the sector’s concerns. This includes successfully pressing the European Commission for higher import duties on several types of steel. The UK also worked with international partners to secure agreement at the G20 Leader’s Summit in China in September 2016 to create a Global Forum on excess steel capacity. Domestically, the Government is compensating firms for energy costs, ensuring social and economic factors are taken into account when procuring steel, and has set up the Steel Council to look at the long term future of the sector.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the World Health Organization research showing that eating processed meat increases the risk of cancer.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The World Health Organization published its conclusions on the carcinogenicity of eating red and processed meat on 26 October. The detailed evaluations will be published in the future; until these are available, we cannot assess them in detail.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has received from the government of Argentina on the status of the Falkland Islands.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I have received no such recent representations from the Argentine government.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with sleep apnoea in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The full figures are not held in the format requested. However, the attached table gives a count of finished hospital admission episodes in England with a primary diagnosis of sleep apnoea, for the years 2010-11 to 2014-15.

  • Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent future Honours Lists being prematurely disclosed.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Cabinet Office will continue to reiterate clear instructions for handling embargoed material.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has regulations in place to limit top-sliced management fees for European Social Fund funding by lead contractors to sub-contractors.

    Anna Soubry

    Management fees are a matter between lead contractors and sub-contractors. For European Social Fund (ESF) contracts procured by the Skills Funding Agency, the ESF and 2015/2016 match funding rules state that “You must publish your supply-chain fees and charges policy on your website before entering into any subcontracting agreements for the 2015 to 2016 funding year.” This must include the typical percentage range of fees a contractor retains to manage subcontractors, and how this range is calculated.