Category: Speeches

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Mr David Lidington

    For the financial year 2015/6, 84% of dairy products (by value) procured as part of the UK contracted catering service in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were sourced from British producers.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-06-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2016 to Question 905207, what definition of the digital economy is used by (a) his Department, (b) the Office of National Statistics and (c) other government bodies.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Treasury does not have a specific definition of the digital economy, and we are unaware of other attempts by Government bodies to create such a definition.

  • Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of India about allowing a delegation of members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir for a  fact-finding visit to Jammu and Kashmir in the immediate future.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Our missions across the globe have received many successful and worthwhile APPG visits by Parliamentarians with a strong record of interest in the relevant country. As with the British public, we encourage all Parliamentarians to study FCO travel advice when planning any travel. The FCO currently advises against all travel to certain parts of Kashmir.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 16 September (HL1580), which organisations will deliver the new Desistance and Disengagement Programme; and whether the programme targets terrorist groups other than those related to Islamic extremism.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Delivery of the Desistance and Disengagement Pilot Programme will be led by the Home Office in conjunction with key stakeholders and other Governmental Departments.

    The Home Office will work alongside experienced practitioners and non-governmental organisations to deliver a suite of mentoring, psychological and theological interventions.

    The pilot programme will focus on those convicted of all terrorism, or terrorism related offences, who have served their custodial sentences and are due to be released on licence. It is therefore not limited to Islamist extremists.

  • Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of households which have access to superfast broadband in (a) St Helen North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ofcom reported in its Strategic Review of Digital Communications in July 2015 that Superfast broadband is available to over 83 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK. The UK Government aims to increase this to 95 per cent of UK homes and businesses by 2017. Ofcom has not published data for Merseyside or at constituency level, however data for the five Local Authorities constituting Merseyside: Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, St. Helens and Knowsley is published here:http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/infrastructure/2014/Fixed_local_authority.csv.
    “

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As has been the case under successive Administrations, civil servants, including special advisers, may routinely accompany their Ministers on official visits.

    Information relating to Ministers’ overseas visits are published on my Department’s website, as part of the Government’s wider transparency agenda.

    All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

  • Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeffrey M. Donaldson on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to ensure that checks on the complement and manning limit of reservist regiments are performed regularly and on time.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Reserve is a vital component of the Army’s military capability and the Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring it continues to grow and contains the correct capability mix. There are a series of mechanisms to ensure this is the case.

    The Secretary of State chairs regular meetings to review manning levels in the Army Reserve. In addition, manning levels are routinely reviewed through the Defence People and Training Board, Defence Board Meetings and a series of holding-to-account processes.

    The Army also monitors the size and shape of its Reserve through bi-monthly boards, whilst the Executive Committee of the Army Board reviews manning levels on a quarterly basis.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from the Kurdish Region in Iraq (a) applied for and (b) were refused entry clearance to the UK in the last six months for which figures are available.

    Karen Bradley

    For the purposes of this answer, ‘people from the Kurdish region of Iraq’ has been interpreted to mean people making visa applications at the Visa Application Centre in Erbil, UKVI’s application point in the Kurdish region. It is possible for people not ordinarily resident in the region to apply in Erbil, and for people from the region to apply at other locations, but worldwide data specific only to people from the Kurdish region could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The most recent figures available are from April 2015 to September 2015 and show A) the number of Entry Clearance applications made via the Visa Application Centre in Erbil, Iraq, to be 1790 and B) the number of refusals 1165. * The figures quoted are not provided under National statistics protocols but have been derived from local management information. They are therefore provisional and subject to change.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 27077, on arms trade: Saudi Arabia, what representations he has received on that legal advice.

    Anna Soubry

    No representations have been received on the legal advice commissioned by Amnesty International and Saferworld.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to implement recommendation 8 in the executive summary of Public Health England’s March 2015 report entitled, Public mental health leadership and workforce development framework, on working with relevant colleges, faculties and boards overseeing professional training to include mental health within public health curricula.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) has worked with the Faculty of Public Health (FPH), Royal Society for Public Health and Royal College of Psychiatrists in developing and implementing the public mental health leadership and workforce development framework. More recently the Royal College of Nursing, Chartered Institute for Environmental Health (CIEH), Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) and Institute for Health Visitors have endorsed the framework and signed up to its Call to Action. Mental health has been made a presidential priority for the FPH, CIEH and ADPH. PHE has provided information and guidance to inform the recent FPH curricula review, the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework review and the new Mental Health Skills and Knowledge Framework. PHE has also presented the framework to the United Kingdom People in Public Health Board, Skills for Care Mental Health Board, Health Education England Mental Health Advisory Board and the forthcoming Health Education England Public Health Advisory Board.