Category: Speeches

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals have been tasered by the police in England since 2012 and what protected diversity characteristics applied to each individual.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Home Office publish police use of TASER ® X26 statistics annually on GOV.UK. These releases contain statistics on police use of TASER ® X26 from the 43 Home Office police forces in England and Wales up to 2015. Protected diversity characteristics do not form part of this collection. The table below shows total police use of TASER ® X26 across England and Wales since 2012.

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Total use of TASER ® X26 since 2012

    Number of times TASER ® X26 was used

    8,161

    10,380

    10,095

    10,401

    39,037

    Source: Home Office

    Following the former Chief Constable David Shaw Use of Force Data review, published in July 2016, a new data collection is being implemented by the police which will allow for some protected characteristic data from 2016. We expect the data collected to be published locally by police forces and a sub-set of the data to be included in the mandatory annual data return for forces in 2017/18 for publication as Official Statistics. The current TASER publications can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/use-of-taser-statistics

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures have been put in place to ensure that EU funds committed to the Khartoum Process are not embezzled by corrupt officials; and whether they have investigated whether there has been collusion between Sudanese security officials and human traffickers.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    ​All EU funds committed to the Khartoum Process are managed by Member States’ Development Agencies or International Organisations. No funding will be channelled through the beneficiary countries’ government structures.

    We are deeply concerned by the reports of collusion between Sudanese security officials and human traffickers, and have raised this issue directly with the government of Sudan as part of our wider engagement on migration. The UK is supporting the Sudanese judiciary to implement new anti-trafficking legislation by helping them improve their understanding of both this and the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to give refugees settled in the UK opportunities to improve their English language skills.

    Nick Boles

    Adults who are granted refugee status or humanitarian protection become eligible for skills funding through a provider’s adult skills budget, as any other English resident and are not subject to the normal 3 year qualifying period. Refugees are therefore eligible for full-funding for English Speakers of Other Languages, if they are in receipt of certain work-related benefits and are mandated to undertake skills training to improve their English in order to find work. If they are on other state benefits and are unemployed, they may still be eligible for full funding at the discretion of the training provider. If they are not on benefits, they can be co-funded at the discretion of the provider.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is satisfied that the Financial Conduct Authority’s minimum professional indemnity insurance requirements for Independent Financial Advisers provide investors with adequate protection for medium and long-term investments.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

    This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honourable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2015 to Question 10658, if he will ensure that the national improvement framework for hepatitis C services contain guidance on the alignment of screening programmes for hepatitis C, HIV, tuberculosis and other blood-borne viruses or associated conditions.

    Jane Ellison

    Recommendations on testing for hepatitis C are evidence-based, including whether it is appropriate to align with guidance on testing for other conditions. It should be noted that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has already published guidance on testing for hepatitis B and C. Screening programmes are considered and recommended by the United Kingdom National Screening Committee.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much has accrued to the public purse from the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in each of the last five complete financial years.

    Brandon Lewis

    This information is set out in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts. The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre was valued during March 2010 and the total valuation was reported at £25,000,000. It was valued again during March 2015 and the total valuation was reported at £38,500,000. Dividend payments received by the Department from the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre trading fund for the five years are as set out below:-

    2010-11 – £1,200,000

    2011-12 – £1,200,000

    2012-13 – £2,250,000 (exceptional dividend received due to Olympic event)

    2013-14 – £1,500,000

    2014-15 – £1,500,000.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate of spending per capita in each region Arts Council England has made for each year until 2020.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    No such estimate can be made as it would require data that is indeterminable.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he takes to monitor the economic effect of projects his Department has funded.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has taken a number of steps to embed systematic monitoring of our policies and programmes, including economic effects. The Department’s vision for monitoring and evaluation is outlined in our Evaluation Strategy, found on the GOV.UK website.

    In particular:

    1. For all new spending the Department ensures fit for purpose monitoring and evaluation plans are embedded before policy implementation.
    2. The Department publishes an updated summary of the monitoring and evaluation coverage for each policy area on an annual basis. The BIS Evaluation Plan 2016 was published in January and is the second annual publication of BIS’s evaluation coverage, also found on the GOV.UK website.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the volume of advice given by community pharmacists to patients that is not covered by a commissioned services contract.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As part of the essential services within the National Health Service community pharmacy contractual framework, all community pharmacies are expected to provide advice in respect to dispensed medicines, support for self-care, prescription linked healthy life style advice and signposting to others where the pharmacy cannot itself provide support. The volume of advice given by community pharmacists to patients that is not covered by a commissioned services contract has not been assessed.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to section 7 of the East Anglia franchise Invitation to Tender, published on 17 September 2015, what weighting his Department has ascribed to (a) social characteristics and (b) other factors used to determine the most economically advantageous tender for (i) that franchise and (ii) proposals for new rolling stock orders by bidders for that franchise.

    Claire Perry

    As you have indicated the winning bid will be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender as set out in section 7 of the Invitation to Tender (ITT). This is determined through a combination of ‘price’ and weighted quality points awarded as part of the Department’s evaluation of initiatives proposed by a bidder to meet or exceed the Department’s requirements set out in each delivery plan at section 5 of the East Anglia ITT.

    It is in the delivery plans themselves that references to social characteristics are included. In the main they appear in the Stations, Customer Experience and Leadership delivery plans.

    In respect of Rolling Stock, as a minimum, the Department has required that bidders propose either new rolling stock or non-new build rolling stock. If non-new build rolling stock, passengers will perceive the overall design, internal ambience, condition and facilities, and the external condition, as being modern, comfortable and comparable to that of new or nearly new rolling stock.

    This link takes you to the full ITT should you require it: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/461470/east-anglia-invitation-to-tender.pdf

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