Category: Speeches

  • David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will work with his international counterparts to request that the UN Secretary General appoint a Special Envoy for Sustainable Development.

    James Duddridge

    Effective follow up and implementation of the now-agreed 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is one of the UK’s top priorities at the United Nations. We continue to discuss this with the UN Secretary General, the wider UN system, and Member States. It would need to be clear what value any new UN special envoy would add to existing UN activity before the UK advocated such an idea, over and above existing sustainable development activities.

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the (1) Mersey Waters, (2) Liverpool City, and (3) Sci-Tech Daresbury, Enterprise Zones in particular regarding new job creation and investment.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    DCLG publishes national and regional performance data collected from Enterprise Zones on a quarterly basis. Data is not published on individual zones. This data includes jobs attracted as well as investment and the number of business established.

    Based on the most recent quarterly monitoring returns, Enterprise Zones in the North, which include Mersey Waters and Sci-Tech Daresbury, have attracted 5,889 jobs including construction jobs, 150 new businesses and secured around £1,120 million of private sector investment. This data is self-reported but all efforts have been made to ensure its accuracy.

    Data for Liverpool City is not included, as it does not offer business rates discounts as part of the official Enterprise Zone programme.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many dangerous occurrences were reported by his Department to the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last five years; and how many of those incidents involved the unplanned or faulty discharge of a weapon.

    Mark Lancaster

    We are investigating the compilation of the requested statistics and I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of satellite broadband for serving rural areas; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure parity of service and cost with other types of broadband supply.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Satellite broadband can deliver download speeds of 10Mbps and above and upload speeds of 5Mbps. The subsidised offer to meet the Universal Service Commitment gives a first year only cost for a basic package of up to £400. This will make available an affordable basic broadband service to those premises unable to get a speed of at least 2Mbps. The total number of premises eligible for the universal service commitment subsidy had been substantially reduced, from around 11% in 2010 to around 1% by the end of 2015, as a result of roll-out superfast broadband by the commercial sector and through publicly-funded programmes.

  • 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 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on his Department’s policy expertise and experience in the development of (a) higher and (b) further education of the closure of his Department’s Sheffield office.

    Joseph Johnson

    Subject to consultation, the Department intends to close the Sheffield office at St. Paul’s Place by January 2018. This intention is based on the strategic vision for the Department that seeks to save 30-40% of its operating costs, reduce the number of locations it operates from (from currently around 80 to 7 centres and a regional footprint for the provision of local services), and halve the number of its Partner Organisations by 2020.

    Intention is subject to consultation, to close the Sheffield office by January 2018. This gives us time to transition the policy roles affected.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, after the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, incentive payments will continue to be made available for (1) small firms offering apprenticeships, (2) apprenticeships offered to 16–18 year olds, and (3) successfully completed apprenticeships.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    In English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 vision we set out our plans for introducing a simple and transparent funding model alongside the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. We want this to continue to encourage employers to take on 16-18 year old apprenticeships, as well as encourage take up of the higher quality training offered by apprenticeship standards. Further information on new arrangements will be made available by the summer.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to work with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust following the closure of Chorley Accident and Emergency unit.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department is concerned about the current situation at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital and is actively monitoring developments. These matters, including recruitment, are for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as employer, and NHS Improvement as regulator. The Trust has not asked the Department for any support in resolving these issues.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the firing of tear gas canisters at journalists in front of Ofer Prison.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have not raised this issue with the Government of Israel. However, the UK has repeatedly made clear to Israel our longstanding concerns about the manner in which the Israeli Defence Forces police non-violent protests. We are clear that protection of the freedom of the media is an important part of respecting human rights.

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the implications of the outcome of the EU referendum are for changes to the potential number of solar jobs supported on a headcount basis set out in his Department’s Impact Assessment on the Periodic Review of Feed-in Tariffs, published on 17 December 2015.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government’s guiding principle throughout the process of leaving the EU will be to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.

    At this stage, it is not possible to assess the implications of the outcome of the EU referendum on the potential solar jobs figures set out in the Impact Assessment.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the government of Burundi on political violence in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK Government remains deeply concerned about the political situation in Burundi and the allegations of horrific human rights abuses against its people.

    Our Special Envoy to the Great Lakes, Danae Dholakia, met with several Burundian government Ministers alongside her French counterpart in Bujumbura in June; and met with the Burundian Foreign Minister in Arusha in mid-July. In July we deployed a permanent UK Diplomat to Bujumbura to increase our engagement.

    We support the East African Community (EAC) led dialogue process mediated by former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and have been present through our Special Envoy at each round of the dialogue so far, engaging directly with all parties.

    We have also been working with partners to ensure that the international response is robust. We supported the suspension of EU aid direct to the government last March. We imposed EU sanctions on individuals accused of human rights abuses. We agreed UN Security Council Resolutions, including UNSCR 2303 which mandates a UN police force. We pushed for a strong Burundi resolution in the Human Rights Council on 27 September and welcome its establishment of a Commission of Enquiry. Burundi is a UK priority country for human rights work in 2016.