Category: Speeches

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many times his Department has used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Department has used the services of (a) PwC, once in the last three financial years. This was for the provision of VAT advice. The cost to the public purse was £1,350. My department has not used the services of any other consultant firms in the last three financial years.

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the protection of children in care and children in need of delays in the work undertaken by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    Data collected by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) shows that, since April 2012, the average time to complete care and supervision applications has reduced from 48 weeks to 30 weeks. These are the proceedings most commonly initiated by a local authority and Cafcass has played a key role in working with other parts of the family justice system to achieve that reduction.

    Since April 2012, Cafcass has also exceeded its targets to allocate at least 97% of the open public law care workload to an appointed Children’s Guardian, and to allocate care applications to an appointed Children’s Guardian in no more than 3 working days.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage retailers to reduce the amount of food waste they produce; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    Through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Government is working with food manufacturers and retailers to meet targets to reduce food and packaging waste from the grocery supply chain under the Courtauld Commitment.

    Signatories reported a reduction of 7.4% in supply chain waste between 2009 and 2012 under Courtauld 2. Interim results for Courtauld 3 show signatories reported a further 3.2% reduction by 2014 against the overall target of a 3% reduction by the end of 2015.

    WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which will build on this progress and is expected to start in 2016.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17025, what plans he has to increase the borrowing and investing powers of clinical commissioning groups to ensure that employment terms and conditions for GPs encourage employment in areas with (a) an elderly demographic and (b) a high workload.

    Alistair Burt

    There are no current plans to increase the borrowing and investing powers of clinical commissioning groups. Responsibility for ensuring all patients have access to NHS primary medical services rests with NHS England.

    Those providing services under a contract with NHS England, or clinical commissioning groups acting on their behalf, are independent contractors and not employees of the NHS.

    Practices may employ general practitioners to assist them in the provision of services under the contract. Where they do so, they are required to apply, as a minimum, model terms and conditions of service as agreed between NHS Employers and the General Practitioners’ Committee of the British Medical Association.

  • Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many medical negligence cases with a value of damages less than £25,000 there have been in each of the last five years in which (a) costs exceeded damages and (b) costs were challenged.

    Ben Gummer

    The question has been interpreted that by medical negligence they mean clinical negligence. The Department does not hold the requested data; it has been sourced from the NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA).

    The table below shows the number of clinical negligence claims closed in each of the last five years with a value of damages less than £25,000 in which costs exceeded damages.

    Year of Closure

    Total Number Clinical Negligence Claims

    2010/11

    1,588

    2011/12

    1,785

    2012/13

    1,925

    2013/14

    2,185

    2014/15

    2,417

    Source: NHS LA

    Date: 13 January 2016

    In all cases claimant costs were challenged.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications of the announcement by Sri Lanka’s President Sirisena that he will not allow foreign judges to participate in the inquiry into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Her Majesty’s Government has always been clear that any accountability mechanism needs to be credible and meet international standards. I therefore welcomed the resolution on Sri Lanka adopted at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in October 2015, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, which called for the participation of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers, and authorised prosecutors and investigators, in Sri Lanka’s judicial accountability process. During my visit to Sri Lanka on 14 to 17 January I discussed the importance of an international element in Sri Lanka’s accountability process with both Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Samaraweera. I also wrote to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 28 January to reiterate the UK Government’s commitment to working with the UN, Sri Lanka and our other international partners to ensure full implementation of the UNHRC resolution.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 25610, how many national minimum wage enquiries relating to non-payment or deductions were made to (a) the Pay and Work Rights Helpline and (b) Acas by people working in (i) domiciliary and (ii) residential care between 2009-10 and 2014-15.

    Nick Boles

    Information on the number of enquiries to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline or Acas by workers from the ‘domiciliary care’ and ‘residential care’ sector is not available. The answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 25610 represents the most detailed breakdown of trade sector information available.

    “

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer to Question 31603, from which funding stream the additional £130 million funding for repair of roads and bridges damaged by Storms Desmond and Eva will be taken.

    Andrew Jones

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 16 March 2016 as part of the Budget 2016 that the Government will be allocating a further £130 million to those authorities affected by this winter’s Storms. This funding is on top of the £49 million already committed to repair transport infrastructure damaged by Storms Desmond and Eva. This funding is being met by savings made by the Department for Transport in other transport programmes during the 2015/16 financial year.

    This funding is in addition to the £6.1 billion we are providing to local highway authorities in England for local highways maintenance between now and 2021.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many adult learners participated in government-funded (a) mathematics and (b) English courses in each of the last three years.

    Nick Boles

    Information on the number of adult learners participating in government-funded further education, and specifically English and maths, in each of the last three years is published as part of a Statistical First Release.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held

    Information on Skills Funding Agency spending on the Adult Skills Budget is outlined in their Annual Report and Accounts which can be found at the following links:

    2014-15: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-funding-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015

    2013-14: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-funding-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014

    2012-13: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-skills-funding-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-for-2012-to-2013

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of staff in his Department were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The proportion of Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff who were a) payroll and b) non-payroll in each financial year (taken on 31 March each year) from 2012-13 to 2015-16 is listed below. We are unable to provide the requested information for 2010 – 11 and 2011 – 12 because non-payroll data is not available for those years. We are unable to confirm the figures for 2015-16 until the 2015-16 Accounts have been signed off and the National Audit Office has completed its audit.

    March 2013

    Payroll:

    98.4%

    Non-payroll:

    1.6%

    March 2014

    Payroll:

    98.3%

    Non-payroll:

    1.7%

    March 2015

    Payroll:

    97.8%

    Non-payroll:

    2.2%