Category: Speeches

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it the policy of the Government to enable councils in England to operate combined registration districts.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There are no current plans to change the law to enable councils in England to operate combined registration districts. Under existing legislation some local authorities undertake joint working initiatives to offer improved service options, which have proved successful.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to implement the family test.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Family Test was introduced in October 2014 and can be located at the following link Family Test Guidance

    The Family Test is part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of new policy in line with the guidance. Potential impacts of policy on family functioning and relationships are identified and brought to the attention of Ministers where appropriate.

    There is no requirement to publish the Family Test assessments. The Ministry of Justice does not collect information on the number of full Family Test assessments completed.

    “

  • Will Quince – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Will Quince – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to support resettlement of Syrian refugees.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID has agreed to fund the ODA-eligible costs of the Syria refugee resettlement scheme for this financial year – discussions are ongoing to determine the precise amount necessary. From next year ODA funding for the scheme will be transferred directly from Treasury to the Home Office.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people achieved qualified teacher status in religious studies in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The numbers of new entrants to religious education initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England, and the target levels, for each of the last five years are as shown in Table 1 below.

    The numbers of people achieving qualified teacher status (QTS) in religious studies in each of the last five years are as shown in Table 2 below.

    Table 1: New entrants to Religious Education ITT courses.

    Year

    Postgraduate ITT new entrants

    Postgraduate ITT target

    Percentage of the postgraduate target achieved

    Undergraduate ITT new entrants

    2011/12

    463

    446

    104%

    15

    2012/13

    471

    439

    107%

    12

    2013/14

    367

    450

    82%

    12

    2014/15

    386

    537

    72%

    8

    2015/16

    411

    650

    63%

    14

    Table 2: Final year religious education trainees obtaining QTS awards.

    Year

    Postgraduate

    Undergraduate

    Number awarded QTS

    Number not awarded QTS

    Total

    Percentage awarded QTS

    Number awarded QTS

    Number not awarded QTS

    Total

    Percentage awarded QTS

    2009/10

    755

    96

    851

    89%

    12

    2

    14

    86%

    2010/11

    762

    78

    840

    91%

    19

    2

    21

    90%

    2011/12

    464

    71

    535

    87%

    17

    7

    24

    71%

    2012/13

    419

    65

    484

    87%

    25

    5

    30

    83%

    2013/14

    321

    23

    344

    93%

    12

    0

    12

    100%

    Further information is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training

    “

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 26 January (HL5024), what assessment they have made of whether the specialist software Turnitin is able to detect whether a whole essay was not written by the person submitting, such as if that essay had been paid for from an essay mill.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Government has made no such assessment. The selection of particular types of software is an academic matter for individual institutions.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether she has had discussions with Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive on the publication date of guidance for health professionals on abortion; and whether she plans to hold such discussions with those Ministers.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I have had no discussions with Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive on the publication date of guidance on abortion for health professionals.

    Abortion law and guidance in Northern Ireland is a transferred matter and is therefore the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive Ministers.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of private hire operators straddling licensing authorities in order to avoid more thorough licensing requirements under the Deregulation Act 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    Before these measures were introduced, the Department undertook an informal targeted consultation, which focused on key stakeholders such as national licencing associations, respected solicitors in the taxi and private hire industry and a union. The Department also conducted an impact assessment for this policy.

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has for ensuring an orderly shutdown of coal-fired power plants as the Government moves towards taking all coal-fired power plants offline by 2025; and what consideration her Department has given to the numerous technical mechanisms that necessarily entail removing all coal-fired stations simultaneously.

    Andrea Leadsom

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has announced that the Department will be launching a consultation on proposals to end unabated coal generation by 2025. Options will be set out in that consultation.

  • Lord Willoughby de Broke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Willoughby de Broke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 June (HL446), why that answer did not include the information that on 8 June the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, announced an extension until 15 October of the payment window for the Rural Payment Agency to make payments to qualifying farmers.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Commissioner Hogan announced his intention to allow applications from Member States for CAP direct payments to be made after the closure of the payment window without incurring the penalties that would otherwise fall on paying agencies for making late payments. Defra and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) noted this announcement.

    Once we have received information from all UK paying agencies concerning the value of payments made by 30 June, we will be in a position to consider whether the UK should submit a request for such penalties to be waived.

    The RPA remains focused on getting top up 2015 BPS payments to those that received bridging payments, out as promptly as possible.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which authority is responsible for the safety of (a) beach users and (b) swimmers at beaches in Gwynedd.

    Mr John Hayes

    Safety at public beaches is generally the responsibility of the local authority, who carry out risk assessments to determine appropriate safety measures.

    Gwynedd Council have information guides about beach and harbour safety on their website.