Category: Speeches

  • Lord Addington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Addington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any college or institution involved in the teaching of Degree Apprenticeships will have the same duty to provide reasonable adjustments and support to any candidate with a disability as a conventional university or institute of higher education.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Yes. The training for Degree Apprenticeships will be provided by many of the same universities as traditional degrees.

    Under the Equality Act (2010), all employers and training providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for their employees and students. These same duties apply for apprentices, including degree apprentices in exactly the same way.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications she has received from academy trusts wishing to use land for purposes other than education in each year since 2011.

    Edward Timpson

    The data is not held in the format requested. Any academy wishing to dispose or permanently change the use of its land must obtain the Secretary of State’s consent. However, whilst continuing to hold their land for educational purposes in accordance with their charitable status, academies may allow others to make occasional or limited use of their land, for example, by using this flexibility to play an important role in supporting their local communities.

    Only a minority of academies hold the freehold to their sites; the majority lease the land from local authorities and only the freeholder authority would have the power to request the Secretary of State’s consent to either dispose of or permanently change the use of land. The local authority, as the land owner, would also need to seek consent from the Secretary of State should the land be appropriated for other non-educational purposes.

  • Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Agriculture Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive on enabling beekeepers in Northern Ireland to be registered on BeeBase.

    George Eustice

    There are currently 38,297 beekeepers registered on the National Bee Unit’s voluntary database BeeBase.

    Defra continues to work closely with colleagues in the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland, (DAERA) on bee health. This includes previously exploring the option for Northern Ireland’s beekeepers to be able to register on BeeBase. As a devolved matter, the decision to join BeeBase is a matter for each devolved government to make.

    Beekeepers in Northern Ireland can benefit from the wealth of information on the public pages of BeeBase which provide advice and guidance on identification of bee pests and diseases and good beekeeping practices to keep their hives healthy.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on reform of the feed-in tariff for solar generation.

    Jesse Norman

    Almost 11 GW of solar capacity has now been installed. Solar continues to deploy under the Feed-in Tariff scheme, with over 140 MW of applications since the scheme reopened in February.

    Changes to the Feed-in Tariff scheme were introduced in 2016 to manage costs and ensure value for money. While it is appropriate to allow for a period of stability following these changes, the Secretary of State continues to keep the performance of the scheme under review.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment the Government has made of the risks to the security of electricity supply in Northern Ireland posed by the failure to build and have operational by 2020 the 400kV North-South electricity interconnector between County Tyrone and County Meath.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    Non-nuclear energy policy is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive Ministers.

  • Chris Bryant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Bryant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the pay bands are for special advisers; and how many there are in each band, in each Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    Information about the number, pay bands, and cost of special advisers will be published shortly in the normal way.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK Reapers have been deployed to Libya.

    Penny Mordaunt

    UK Reapers are currently operational in Iraq and Syria. No UK Reapers have been deployed to Libya, and no personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to Libya, Kenya or Somalia in the last three years.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the long-term financial sustainability of councils with low council tax bases.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    In reaching the funding decisions announced at the recent Spending Review, the Government had regard to a wide range of issues that might impact on local government over the spending period. The analysis took into account a range of financial and economic factors as well as changes in demand.

    When allocating funding through the local government finance settlement, the Government has taken into account the resources available to local authorities including the ability of authorities to raise funding locally through Council Tax.

    The Government has made it clear that redistribution of funding between local authorities will continue under the 100% business rates retention system, to be brought in by 2020. The redistribution system will take into account differing Council Tax bases. The Government will hold a Fair Funding Review to consider the appropriate funding needs of different types of areas.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24285, how many times (a) Brimstone missiles, (b) Hellfire missiles and (c) Paveway IV guided bombs were deployed against targets in (i) Iraq and (ii) Syria since 24 January 2016.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The table below shows the number and type of missiles fired from RAF aircraft in Iraq and Syria between 24 January 2016 and 9 March 2016.

    Munitions

    Iraq

    Syria

    Brimstone

    14

    14

    Hellfire

    7

    8

    Paveway IV

    166

    21
  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what amount of investment (1) has been made to date, and (2) is estimated to be made, at Leuchars to equip the base for use by army units and associated personnel.

    Earl Howe

    To date approx £900,000 has been spent on enabling works.

    Overall, the plan is to spend £8.5 million at Leuchars as part of the Army Basing Programme.