Category: Speeches

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the environmental assurance work his Department undertook in December 2015 in connection with runway expansion has been completed; and what the estimated cost of that work was to the public purse on the latest date for which figures are available.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Department is undertaking work to understand the environmental impacts of additional airport capacity. Further details on procurement undertaken to support the Department on environmental impacts can be found here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/17ffaddc-3c19-4462-91ae-bf30029c08d9.

    “

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2016 to Question 46209, what the relationship will be between the clinical expert groups and the recently established cross-Clinical Reference Group working parties.

    David Mowat

    As part of the revised arrangements for the Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs), which support specialised commissioning, NHS England has also announced the establishment of cross-CRG working parties, including some which will work with other health and care bodies to contribute to improving services, data and efficiency. These are not distinct CRGs, but a collaboration between existing groups.

    Those working parties are:

    – Research – building an interface with the National Institute for Health Research to advise how future research strategies align with commissioning and maximising opportunities;

    – Data and Resource – working with NHS Digital and NHS Improvement to provide clinical advice to these organisations in their work to improve the information that guides commissioning;

    – Guidance – working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as a stakeholder in their guidance development and providing clinical advice as needed; and

    – Value – to better understand, and therefore reduce, variations in services and, where appropriate, cease treatments/ways of working that are no longer of clinical or patient benefit.

    These relate to the specialised commissioning CRGs and there is no link to the clinical expert groups.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK personnel have served in UN peacekeeping missions in each of the last 10 years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Over the past 10 years, UK military personnel have been deployed to a number of UN mandated peacekeeping missions including: Cyprus (UNFICYP), Mali (MINUSMA), South Sudan (UNMISS), Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Liberia (UNMIL), Dafur (UNAMID), UNAMI (IRAQ), UNIOSIL (Sierra Leone), UNMIK (Kosovo), UNOMIG (Georgia), UNMIN (Nepal), UNAMA (Afghanistan), UNSOM (Somalia) and UNSMIL (Libya/Tunisia).

    The number of military personnel who have deployed on the various UN operations is set out below:

    2006*

    2007*

    2008*

    2009*

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015**

    Total number of UK personnel deployed per year

    295

    290

    301

    293

    279

    276

    280

    278

    285

    287

    * The details supplied are correct as of 31 January each year.

    ** Correct as of 10 November 2015.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 18011, when he plans to announce the successful bids for the Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programme.

    Jane Ellison

    The results of the Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programme bidding process were announced on 22 December 2015. Bids worth £42.1 million were awarded for 14 projects in London and 60 in the rest of England. The programme runs for two years – from 2015-16 to 2016-17.

    A list of the successful bids is attached.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place the minutes of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference since 1998 in the Library of the House.

    Lord Dunlop

    The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference met on one occasion during 2007, 26 February in Dundalk. This was the last time that the body met.

    Details of Ministerial attendees and the topics discussed were published in a Joint Communiqué between the two Governments. A copy of this has been placed in the Library (along with copies of all other Joint Communiques published since 1998).

    Although a range of issues were discussed, no formal actions were listed. The focus however at the time was the drive towards devolution and the Conference urged all political leaders to act with courage and determination in order to attain this. Assembly elections subsequently took place in May 2007.

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have withdrawn more than the 25 per cent tax-free allowance from their pension fund as a lump sum since 2014.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs does not have information on all types of taxable pension payments taken since 2014. However, information on the taxable element of pension flexibility lump sums taken since April 2015 is collated and published quarterly. This also provides details of the number of people who have taken these payments. The publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/flexible-payments-from-pensions.

    “

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

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many reports of food fraud have been made to the Food Crime Unit through the official website since its creation.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is initially focusing on establishing the scale and nature of food crime in the United Kingdom at a strategic level through developing intelligence sharing relationships across the law enforcement community and with the food industry. This will also enable the Unit to instigate investigative interventions by law enforcement partners and local authorities to identify and disrupt specific instances of food crime.

    At the end of this year, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) will review progress on food crime, in line with Professor Elliott’s recommendations following the horsemeat incident. This review will inform decision-making about the Unit’s future form and function including the need or otherwise for the unit to establish an in-house investigative capability.

    Intelligence analysts within the Unit have just completed the first ever Food Crime Annual Strategic Assessment (FCASA). The FCASA sets out the Unit’s developing understanding of food crime and will drive its work to ensure resources are focused where the threat to consumers and other interests is the greatest.

    The NFCU receives reports of suspicions of food fraud from a number of sources via many different routes. The FSA website directs users to a dedicated email address and telephone number for reporting these suspicions. Information is also received through local authority and law enforcement partners. Information received is analysed and, where appropriate, entered onto the Unit’s intelligence database. Between 1 January 2015 and 18 March 2016, 793 such records were created.

    Establishment costs for the NFCU were minimal as the Unit initially evolved from a small but similar capability within the FSA. Total running costs to date are in the region of £579,000. Estimated costs for the forthcoming year are £1.2 million, subject to final allocations being agreed.

  • Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the stem cell research collaboration between British and Israeli scientists under the auspices of the Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The effectiveness of the Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership (BIRAX) comes firstly from its robust selection process. All projects are assessed during the selection process for their quality of science and contribution to the scientific community by a selection panel of leading researchers in their field from the UK and Israel, and also by an anonymous peer review process, that includes leading researchers around the world. During their implementation, projects are monitored via yearly narrative and financial reporting, in addition to reporting on Researchfish. The British Council is planning a comprehensive evaluation exercise this year, which is the programme’s 5th year.

    In addition, the programme is being co-funded by leading health research organisations such as British Heart Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Multiple Sclerosis Society and Parkinson’s UK, who evaluate the projects before making their funding commitment and ensure their scientific excellence.

    While the projects are too recent to be assessed for their impact on the Regenerative Medicine scientific field, so far a number of publications have emanated from the programme, including a ground-breaking article in Cell by Professor Yaqub Hanna in collaboration with Professor Azim Surani from The University of Cambridge. The article was assessed by the journal to be their number one paper last year. Articles by BIRAX grantees have also been published in Nature, Cell Biology, Frontiers in Immunology, Cancer Stem Cells and International Innovation.

    The Programme is the only platform for bilateral cooperation between Israel and UK researchers in the field of regenerative medicine and stem cell research. Over 30 labs are involved in the projects, and hundreds of scientists are working on the Programme’s project. Over 1000 scientists took part in the bi-annual BIRAX conferences, with the recent conference which took place at the University of Oxford, this April being the largest.

  • Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 1 June (HL344), whether they gave their consent for the EU Gendarmerie Force to wear the EU emblem on their uniforms; if so, whether they plan to withdraw their consent; and if not, what representations they have made to the relevant authorities about the use of that emblem.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The European Gendarmerie Force comprises police forces with military status from Spain, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, and Poland. Its work relates to crisis management operations and it’s purpose is set out in the Treaty of Velsen and the Declaration of intent, both of which are available at: http://www.eurogendfor.org/organisation/what-is-eurogendfor.

    The European Gendarmerie Force’s insignia differs from the EU’s flag or branding. The UK does not participate in the European Gendarmerie Force and in the event that it ever sought permission to operate in the UK that would require the agreement of the appropriate authorities.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Caroline Nokes

    The Government introduced the National Living Wage on 1 April 2016. This will put over £900 more a year in the pockets of full-time workers compared to the current National Minimum Wage.

    The Department ensures that all direct employees are paid at least the mandatory National Living Wage set by the Government, regardless of age. Similarly all agency staff and those on outsourced contracts are paid at least this rate. The Department reviews pay annually, setting pay at rates that will attract and motivate appropriate numbers and sufficient talent to fulfil its duties to some 22 million customers.

    None of our employees nor those working for our contractors are on zero hours contracts.