Category: Speeches

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2016 to Question 41004, what the cost to the NHS was of financing free prescriptions in 2015-16.

    David Mowat

    Assuming that for each prescription item a prescription charge would have been paid, the revenue foregone from providing free prescriptions during 2015-16 was £8 billion. However, as many people could limit their total prescription costs by purchasing a Prescription Prepayment Certificate in the event that they were no longer exempt, we estimate that the actual revenue foregone was in the region of £2 billion.

  • Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has for the future military capacity of Wattisham Airbase.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The estate optimisation strategy aims to provide a more efficient and better quality Defence estate to support our Armed Forces, which will be fit for purpose for future generations.

    This long-term, detailed work seeks to identify a rationalised Defence estate which more appropriately meets the needs of our Armed Forces by being of better quality, more cost effective and more efficient, as well as 30% smaller overall, by 2040.

    No decision about the future of individual sites has been made at this point, other than those that have been previously announced

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the construction of four commercial nuclear power reactors for the United Arab Emirates by a South Korean consortium with a total capacity of 5.6 GWe at cost of £14 billion, in the light of their plans for nuclear generation at Hinkley Point.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Government does not make direct comparisons between projects in different circumstances that have different contracts and are situated in different markets.

    There has been a thorough review of the costs of the Hinkley Point C project to ensure that the contract represents value for money. Hinkley will provide reliable low carbon energy for around 60 years and offer 25,000 jobs during construction. My rt. hon Friend the Secretary of State expects to be in a position to take her final decision on the Contract for Difference and associated agreements for Hinkley Point C once the documentation relating to equity investment into the project is finalised.

  • Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding will be provided to assist with the delivery of their commitment to double the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education by 2020.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    We will be issuing a grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England early in the New Year outlining the Government’s priorities for expenditure through the teaching grant, including on widening access. This will take account of the announcements made in the Spending Review on. The Director of Fair Access has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 containing an estimated £745m to support the access and success of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, up from £404m in 2009/10.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to prepare for the outcome of the EU referendum.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our European Union membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU.

  • Stephen Tim – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Tim – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Tim on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what circumstances the housing element of advance payments of universal credit can be paid directly to a landlord.

    Priti Patel

    Universal Credit is paid as a single monthly amount. The advance payment provision is for the total UC payment, not for any particular portion of it.

    A payment of Universal Credit in respect of housing costs can be paid directly to the landlord, or in certain circumstances, via an Alternative Payment Arrangement.

  • Iain Wright – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Iain Wright – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish his Department’s impact assessment of the apprenticeship levy.

    Nick Boles

    HM Treasury published a Tax Information and Impact Note on 4 February 2016 at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy/apprenticeship-levy.

    “

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has held with his counterparts in the devolved administrations on proposals to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998.

    Dominic Raab

    The Government has discussed human rights reform with a range of stakeholders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including ministers in the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.

    We will continue to engage fully with the devolved administrations as we develop our proposals.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what future plans she has for the role of parents in the running of their children’s school.

    Nick Gibb

    There is a long standing tradition of parents’ involvement in the running of their child’s school, including a valuable role in governance, and we want that to continue. Academy boards will always be free to appoint parents for their skills and knowledge to govern in the best interests of all pupils. Academies will be required to engage with all parents to listen to their views and feedback particularly on key decisions about the school.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 5 April (HL7189), and further to the findings of the United Nations Panel of Experts and paragraph 13 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270, what assessment they have made of the role of personnel from the North Korean Embassy in London in nuclear proliferation activity and sanctions evasion; and whether any representations on this matter have been made to the North Korean Ambassador to the UK.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are concerned by the evidence in the Panel of Experts’ report that officials of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continue to play key roles in facilitating trade of prohibited items. We regularly raise our concerns about the DPRK’s nuclear weapons programme and nuclear proliferation with the North Korean Embassy in London. We remind all foreign diplomatic missions in the UK to operate in accordance with their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.