Category: Speeches

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and other victims of serious violence are aware that they can reregister to vote anonymously.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Electors who need to keep their name and address anonymous are able to submit an application for anonymous registration. As part of their application, electors must satisfy the Electoral Registration Officer that their safety, or that of people they live with, would be at risk if the register contained their name and address. For this purpose electors must provide either a court order or an attestation by a “qualifying officer”, which includes senior police officers and chief social workers. The evidential threshold for applications for anonymous electoral registration is to ensure that it is available only to those whose personal safety would genuinely be at risk if their details appeared on the electoral register. Domestic violence charities and other Non-Government Organisations may partner with Individual Electoral Registration Officers to ensure those in their area who may need to register anonymously are able to do so.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve the gender balance among Senior Civil Servants in his Department.

    Ben Gummer

    Diversity and inclusion is a key priority for the Civil Service and for the Cabinet Office. The Executive Committee of the Cabinet Office recently commissioned work on a departmental diversity and inclusion strategy, which will be published this month. This strategy promotes a more inclusive culture in the department through key strands of work on leadership, declaration data, supporting those from under-represented groups and promoting the work of the employee diversity networks. A key aim of the strategy is to promote the advancement of those from all under-represented groups, including women and black and minority ethnic staff.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to Russia on the breaking of the ceasefire in Aleppo.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The UK supported the Governments of France and Spain in their efforts to pass a UN Security Council Resolution on 8th October, calling for an immediate end to the bombardment of Aleppo. This resolution was vetoed by Russia. The UK’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations condemned Russia’s use of the veto in the strongest possible terms, as "a cynical abuse of the privileges and responsibilities of permanent membership". We have called repeatedly on Russia at the highest levels to implement a ceasefire in Syria, and to use its influence to deliver this. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) raised his concerns directly with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov during their meeting on 21 September, and the Prime Minister discussed the situation in Syria with President Putin on 4 September at the G20 Summit. I also refer the Hon. Member to the Foreign Secretary’s statement of 11 October (Hansard 11 October 2016, Column 165).

  • Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions emergency services have attended schools because of snow or ice related incidents in each of the last three years.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not collect information on the number of occassions on which emergency services have attended schools because of snow or ice related incidents.

  • Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how his Department plans to enable the sharing of best practice from current and completed devolution deals.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is pleased to have reached agreement on devolution deals with seven local areas during 2015 which will enable local people to make decisions on the priorities and investments which will best help local areas to succeed and grow. We are now focused on implementation of these deals, and as part of this process monitoring and evaluation will be crucial.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of full-time equivalent staff at HM Revenue and Customs on 31 March (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) expects to be operating with around 60,000 full time equivalent (FTE) staff on 31 March 2016.

    HMRC’s Business Plan for 2016-17 is currently being finalised and will be published by the end of March 2016 on GOV.UK. This will contain estimated FTE figures for 31 March 2017 and future staffing projections.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Attorney General, if he will estimate the costs attributed to the Department for Education for cases relating to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by the Government Legal Department in the 2014-15 financial year.

    Robert Buckland

    I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to question 24782 from the Hon. Member for Coventry South (Jim Cunningham) on the 4th February 2016.

    “

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

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase stem cell donations from the 16 to 30 age group.

    Jane Ellison

    Since 2010, the Department has provided £19 million funding to improve the provision of stem cells in the United Kingdom. As part of this investment, the Department has supported the work of our delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant and the charity Anthony Nolan, to recruit young male donors, who are approximately 10 times more likely to be asked to donate. The cohort of young male donors, known as the Fit Panel, currently has 66,365 registered donors. Funding from the Department in the current financial year is supporting the recruitment further 20,000 young male donors.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staple foods in the UK are subject to mandatory fortification.

    George Eustice

    Wheat flour is the only food with mandatory fortification requirements in the UK. All wheat flour (except wholemeal) is required to be fortified with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin at specific levels prescribed in the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998.

  • Lord Pendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Pendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of research that shows that lack of physical activity is negatively affecting more people than obesity, whether they have a strategy on how to support grassroots attempts at getting citizens to take part in more and sustained physical activity.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Government is determined to tackle physical inactivity. Around one in two women and a third of men in England may be damaging their health through a lack of physical activity. Ministers across government continue to work together to identify opportunities to get people active in a range of ways including active travel, health initiatives, planning and sport.

    In December 2015 Government published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation’ – the first comprehensive government strategy for sport for 13 years – it sets out a new vision for a successful and active sporting nation. It has a strong focus on reaching inactive people and helping them to get moving in ways that suit them.

    Sport England’s new strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’, published on 19 May, states that tackling inactivity is a major priority for the organisation, it is tripling its current investment to over £250 million over 4 years, making it the largest single national investor in tackling inactivity.