Category: Speeches

  • Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to improve the performance of the Feed-in Tariff scheme for solar power.

    Jesse Norman

    Solar continues to be deployed under the Feed-in Tariff scheme, with over 140 MW of applications since the scheme reopened in February.

    Changes to the 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, my rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State continues to keep the performance of the scheme under review.

  • Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will (1) produce a (a) Green Paper, and (b) White Paper, and (2) consult with Parliament, prior to recommending any legislative changes to parliamentary procedures following Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

    Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

    Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

    The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

    Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

    Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the co-operation between highway authorities and statutory service providers who need to dig up the highway and footway to maintain, repair and replace their services.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has not undertaken an assessment of the co-operation between highway authorities and statutory undertakers.

    However, section 59 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 places a duty on local highway authorities to co-ordinate works on the highway and section 60 provides a mirror duty on statutory undertakers to co-operate with them in that role.

    Additionally the Traffic Management Act 2004 introduced the Network Management Duty which requires local authorities to manage their networks with a view to making the most effective use of them. The 2004 Act also introduced permit schemes, which enable highway authorities to have a more proactive role in the management of their road networks.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who supervises and audits public funding of universities in the UK.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    Responsibility for higher education is devolved.

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has responsibility for oversight of the higher education sector in England.

    For Higher Education Institute’s that receive HEFCE funding, the individual HEI’s external auditor is required to provide a statement in their audit report that public funding has been used for the purposes for which it was provided. HEFCE also seeks a range of other accountability returns from each HEI and carries out periodic ‘HEFCE Assurance Reviews’ of all HEIs.

    Similar arrangements are in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. BIS is responsible for “alternative HE providers”, which includes some private universities, who are not in receipt of funding from HEFCE.

    Individual public bodies (such as Government Departments and Research Councils) are separately accountable for any public funding that they distribute.

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

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support young people who have been receiving palliative care and are transitioning from children’s to adults’ services.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department has provided grant funding to Together for Short Lives which is the membership organisation for children’s hospices to support the Transition Taskforce to provide guidance and training that supports good transitions locally between children’s and adult services for those with life-limiting conditions or needing palliative care.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many medical staff left the NHS before reaching the retirement age in 2014-15.

    Ben Gummer

    The information is not available in the form requested.

  • 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 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of elections due to take place in November 2016 on political stability in Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The Government is concerned that elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may not take place by the Constitutional deadline in November 2016. We believe that it is still technically possible to hold the elections on time and remain committed to doing what we can to support this process.

    On 4 March 2016 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, my Hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd), announced in Kinshasa that the UK was prepared to make available £11.4 million to support the elections provided that certain conditions were met. These conditions include the production of a credible timetable and budget for the elections.

    We have called upon the Government of the DRC to ensure that political freedoms, freedom of media and speech and human rights are respected to ensure a peaceful and fair environment for the elections. We have also called upon all actors to respect the law and avoid inciting violence and disorder.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals working for which organisations have received clearance to directly access the database of Suspicious Activity Reports in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr John Hayes

    The end user organisations (police forces, multi agency teams and other agencies) that have ‘direct’ access to suspicious activity reports (SARs) are listed in the SARs Annual Reports, which are available on the NCA website. They are summarised in the table below.

    Year

    Number of end users organisations that have ‘direct’ access to SARs

    2009

    78

    2010

    78

    2011

    78

    2012

    77

    2013

    69

    2014

    69

    2015

    71

    All individuals outside of the NCA who have ‘direct’ access to SARs are accredited by the NCA Proceeds of Crime Centre as being Financial Investigators, Financial Intelligence Officers or Financial Intelligence Administrators in line with the end user agreements in place with each organisation. Not all those individuals that have accreditation have ‘direct’ access to SARs. It is not possible, without further significant analysis, to determine the number of individuals who over time have had such access to the SARs System.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the list of conditions eligible for a medical exemption certificate has been reviewed since its introduction.

    Alistair Burt

    We cannot be sure from our records how many times the list of medical conditions which provide eligibility for a medical exemption certificate has been reviewed since its introduction in 1968.

    The most recent external review commenced in 2008 when the then Prime Minister announced the addition of cancer to the list of conditions which would be eligible for a medical exception certificate, and announced at the same time that there would be a review by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore on how to implement exemptions for all those with long term conditions. The report of the Gilmore review was published in May 2010, and it was announced in the 2010 spending review that the recommendations made in the report would not be implemented in light of the financial situation. There are no current plans to undertake a further review of the list.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many meetings have been held between Ministers of his Department and their international counterparts on future trade deals since his Department was created; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Garnier

    As the Prime Minister made clear earlier this week, as we leave the EU, Britain will seek to become the global leader in free trade. This is why my team of Ministers and officials at the Department for International Trade are actively engaging with our international partners. Through these discussions, we are working to best promote British trade, and to ensure we take advantage of the great opportunities available to us – including through our future trading relationships.