Category: Speeches

  • Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the funding for Superconnected Cities has been allocated to Northern Ireland.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Belfast and Derry/Londonderry were two of fifty cities benefitting from the Super Connected Cities Programmes, and received up to £15.6m to help develop digital infrastructure and capability, and to remain internationally competitive, attracting investors and businesses.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he expects to report on his review of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

    Mr David Lidington

    We aim to produce a revised version of the UK National Action Plan (NAP) for the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights early in 2016, meeting the previous Coalition Government’s commitment to do so. The NAP that will be laid before Parliament will reflect the broad range of activity related to business and human rights already taking place across government, including on tackling modern slavery. The review process has involved wide consultation across government as well as with businesses and civil society organisations.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what guidance (a) has been issued and (b) his Department plans to issue in 2016 to UK diplomats in states with the death penalty on representing the Government’s position on the use of that penalty.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The Government opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle but I have no plans to issue prescriptive guidance to posts on how they represent the Government’s position on the death penalty. UK Heads of Mission are best placed to judge what the most effective course of action will be, according to local circumstances.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK civilian personnel are currently deployed on military operations; and in what capacity such personnel are deployed.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There are 84 UK civilian personnel currently deployed on behalf of the Ministry of Defence on military operations. 26 of those are deployed as UK civil servants undertaking a range of essential roles including policy, legal and scientific advice, financial and commercial services, and delivery of the Government’s ex gratia redundancy and intimidation schemes for locally employed civilians. 58 of those 84 are deployed as contractors, undertaking a range of support roles.

    In both cases, the roles are undertaken principally in Kabul and locations across the Gulf.

  • Mark Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mark Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what value of dairy produce was imported from each country of origin in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    The HMRC data has been provided on a ‘country of despatch’ basis, rather than the requested ‘country of origin’ basis, as ‘country of despatch’ trade data is considered a more accurate representation of actual levels of trade.

    The table below shows the value of dairy produce imported into the UK, for the last five years, according to HMRC trade statistics:

    £/million

    Country

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    *2015

    Irish Republic

    689.1

    662.6

    767.3

    702.6

    594.1

    France

    484.2

    510.0

    559.5

    568.4

    392.0

    Germany

    286.3

    283.5

    336.5

    345.1

    241.4

    Netherlands

    169.2

    237.2

    277.2

    252.1

    187.3

    Belgium

    216.3

    209.5

    239.4

    196.0

    142.0

    Italy

    174.1

    162.4

    168.5

    174.5

    111.9

    Denmark

    214.1

    195.1

    153.1

    160.0

    70.7

    Greece

    44.8

    44.9

    53.7

    60.7

    70.2

    Poland

    28.4

    31.9

    42.0

    43.4

    41.2

    Spain

    31.8

    36.8

    44.3

    39.6

    31.9

    Cyprus

    16.3

    17.2

    20.4

    26.6

    22.2

    Others

    96.8

    95.9

    102.6

    134.7

    91.9

    Grand Total

    2,451.4

    2,487.0

    2,764.4

    2,703.6

    1,996.9

    Source: HM Revenue and Customs. Data prepared by the Food & Trade Statistics team, Great British Food Unit, Defra.

    *2015 data are subject to amendments. Totals may not add up to the sum of their components due to rounding.
  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their plans to make all schools convert to academy status, what will be the status of the National Curriculum after those conversions.

    Lord Nash

    In 2014, we introduced a new, more ambitious national curriculum which was developed to reflect the views of subject experts and teachers and the findings of international best practice comparisons.

    An academised system means that the national curriculum will become a benchmark. It will serve an important role in setting out the level of knowledge-based, ambitious, academically rigorous education which every child should experience.

    If autonomous academies or multi-academy trusts (MATs) wish to deliver the national curriculum in their schools, they can do so confidently. We want academies to use their freedom to innovate and build more stretching curricula to meet the needs of their pupils or their local area or the particular ethos of the school.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the cost of maintaining Black Start plans for coal-fired power stations has been to date.

    Andrea Leadsom

    National Grid is responsible for maintaining a Black Start capability for the Great Britain national electricity transmission system. This includes ensuring that all plans are up to date and fit for purpose. The costs for National Grid to administrate the Black Start capability are included in its operating expenditure under the transmission price control managed by Ofgem (currently RIIO-T1).

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) former and (b) current coroners responded to the consultation on the post-implementation review of the coroner reforms in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    The post-implementation review of the coroner reforms consultation closed on 31 December 2015. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.

    We received 214 responses to the review from current coronial officer holders. No respondents indicated that they were former coroners.

  • Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making to support healthcare employers to recruit apprentices onto nursing associate and graduate registered nursing programmes.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In May 2016, the Government confirmed proposals to introduce a new nursing support role, a nursing associate. Health Education England (HEE) are in the process of establishing test sites to educate and train the new nursing associates, which will be confirmed in the autumn. Once the test sites are confirmed with health and care employers, HEE will recruit at least 1,000 nursing associates into training by the end of 2016.

    A draft Higher Degree Level Nurse Apprenticeship Standard has been submitted to the Department for Education for approval by the Nurse Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group. Trailblazer Group members are from a wide variety of health and care employers. Once the standard is approved, the Trailblazer Group will commence work on the associated assessment plan which will ensure employers and training providers are geared up to support the apprenticeship when it is ready to deliver.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions have taken place with teaching unions on the application of the Prevent programme in schools.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department of Education consulted the teaching unions on the Prevent duty guidance which was published in March 2015 (see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance) and officials have subsequently briefed union representatives both on the duty and on the Department’s role in implementing the Prevent strategy in education. The Department has worked particularly closely with the unions representing school leaders to support schools in meeting their responsibilities under the Prevent duty.

    “