Category: Speeches

  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 18865, who has attended each meeting of the Community Engagement Forum to date; and who has been invited to attend future meetings.

    Karen Bradley

    In his speech on countering extremism in July 2015, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to hear directly from all those in our society who are tackling extremism. The Community Engagement Forum is one of the ways the Prime Minister is doing this. The Forums provide a platform for a wide range of partners to share their experiences and learn from each other. Attendance at the Forums is fluid to ensure Ministers can hear from a wide range of partners. To date, the Community Engagement Forum has met on 13 October 2015 and 19 November 2015. The attendees have been from a wide range of backgrounds and were representatives of all parts of the UK.

    The following individuals attended the first meeting of the Community Engagement Forum on 13 October 2015

    David Cameron, Prime Minister

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for Countering Extremism

    Theresa May, Home Secretary

    Louise Casey, Department for Communities and Local Government

    Max Chambers, Special Adviser on Home Affairs

    Camilla Cavendish, Number 10

    Brendan Threlfall, Number 10

    Arooj Shah, Councillor, St Mary’s Ward, Oldham

    Sean Harriss, Chief Executive, Lambeth Council

    Paul Martin, Chief Executive, Wandsworth Council

    Sheikh Musa Admani, Imam and Muslim chaplain, City University, London

    Fareed Ahmad, Ahmadiyya Muslim Association

    Farooq Aftab, General Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association

    Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester

    Khatun Sapnara, circuit judge

    Aina Khan, solicitor

    Fiyaz Mughal OBE, Director, Faith Matters

    Sadja Mughal OBE, Director, Jan Trust

    Haras Rafiq, Managing Director, Quilliam Foundation

    Sara Khan, Co-founder and Director, Inspire

    Wahida Shaffi, Near Neighbours Coordinator; National Women’s Programme Lead, Christian Muslim Forum

    Faiza Vaid, Executive Director, Muslim Women’s Network

    Aysha and Kiran Iqbal Patel, Directors, Odara

    Kamal Hanif OBE, Executive Head, Waverley School, Birmingham

    Alun Francis, Principal and Chief Executive, Oldham College

    Imam Qari Asim, Chief Imam, Leeds Makkah Mosque (was invited but unable to attend)

    The following individuals attended the second meeting of the Community Engagement Forum on 19 November 2015:

    Rt. Hon. Nicky Morgan MP, Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities

    Lord Ahmad, Minister for Countering Extremism

    Louise Casey, Independent review on isolated communities

    Alun Francis, Principal and Chief Executive of Oldham College

    Aina Khan, Head of Islamic Department, Duncan Lewis Solicitors

    Sajda Mughal OBE, Managing Director at Jan Trust

    Mary Ney, Supporting Commissioner, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

    Syima Aslam, Organiser of Bradford Literary Festival

    Farook Yunus, Leader of Kumon Y’all

    Sara Khan, Director and Co-founder of Inspire

    Shaukat Warraich, Chief Executive, Faith Associates

    Anil Bhanot OBE, Managing Trustee and Director of Hindu Council UK

    Gillian Merron, Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews

    William Nye, Secretary General of the General Synod of the Church of England

    Lord Singh of Wimbledon CBE, Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations

    Christine Fischer, Catholic Education Service

    Pascale Vassie, Executive Director, National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRCSE)

    Martin Pratt, Director of Children, Schools and Families, Camden Council

    Matthew Coffey, Chief Operating Officer, Ofsted

    Phil Champain, Director 3 Faiths Forum

    Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara, Circuit Judge East London Family Court and Kingston Crown Court

    Sue Robb, Head of Early Years, 4Children

    The next Community Engagement Forum is scheduled for 14 January 2016. The government is also engaging directly at ministerial level with representatives from community, faith and civil groups, and have engaged directly with both the Scottish and Welsh governments.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of what proportion of the difference between the local housing allowance rate and the actual cost of rent and service charge in supported and sheltered housing will be met by discretionary housing payments in (a) Birmingham and (b) England and Wales.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not available.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to consult on the transposition of the fourth anti-money-laundering directive.

    Harriett Baldwin

    In June 2015, the fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (‘the Directive) was formally adopted. Member States have up until June 2017 to transpose the Directives requirements, into national law.

    With regards to the Government’s plans to consult on the transposition of the Directive, it intends to do so by early spring, with consultation running for a full 12 weeks. The consultation will cover areas where the Directive has given us options or direction on how we transpose its provisions, as well as areas where we can improve the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.

    By undertaking this work, we are further ensuring that our anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism regime is robust and sufficiently responsive to emerging threats.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have applied for the lower rate of corporation tax under Patent Box.

    Mr David Gauke

    Due to companies being able to make a Patent Box election up to two years after the relevant accounting period, we will not be able to get full figures for the first year of the Patent Box until April 2016. The following figures are therefore projections.

    The estimated amounts of Patent Box relief can be found at the link below;

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487119/Dec15_expenditure_reliefs_Final.xlsx.pdf

    About 480 companies made Patent Box relief elections for the first year 2013-14 alone.

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  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust, working with a clinical commissioning group, has asked every GP in Lancashire if it can help cover the staff shortfall in that trust.

    Ben Gummer

    These are operational matters for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and we have written to Stuart Heys, Chair of the Trust informing him of the hon. Member’s questions. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question 36368, what timescale Anguilla and Guernsey have given for putting in place central registers of beneficial ownership or similarly effective systems.

    Matthew Hancock

    The new arrangements agreed with Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with finance centres, giving UK law enforcement and tax authorities quick and unrestricted access to beneficial ownership information on corporate and legal entities incorporated in these jurisdictions, must be in place by June 2017. UK law enforcement authorities will, however, work with these jurisdictions to ensure that the spirit of the arrangements is respected immediately.

    Anguilla committed to these arrangements via an Exchange of Notes with the UK on 19 April. The signing of the arrangement with Guernsey is expected shortly following their recent general election and formation of a new government. Implementation of the arrangement is anticipated to follow the same timescale as above.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the Commissioning through Evaluation programme to date; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mowat

    Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) is an innovative £25 million programme introduced by NHS England in 2013. It specifically aims to generate valuable new evaluation data in promising areas of specialised care where the current evidence base of cost and clinical effectiveness is insufficient to support routine National Health Service commissioning, and where further formal research trials are thought to be less likely.

    Each scheme – put forward by senior clinicians and other stakeholders – is funded on a time limited basis in a small number of selected centres, and then evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

    Once the planned number of patients has been recruited across the participating centres, each scheme closes to new patients and analysis begins. This means that the funding identified for each scheme can then be reinvested into the evaluation of additional potentially life changing specialised treatments to maximise the value and impact of the overall evaluation fund for patients. As an example, routinely funding Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy contrary to the currently published clinical commissioning policy and in advance of a formal review of any new evidence would mean that between £2 million and £4 million per year (covering the surgical costs and immediate follow up only) would then be unavailable to support the evaluation of other promising treatments.

    The analysis phase for each CtE scheme will typically take between one and two years depending on how long we need to follow up patients after their treatment to identify its effectiveness. The three cardiology based CtE schemes are currently scheduled for a 15 month analysis and reporting phase, after which the data can be used by NHS England to support policy review.

    However, CtE is only one form of data that might be put forward in considering a new (or revision to an existing) policy and clinicians do not need to await the final report from CtE schemes if they feel that other new substantive data becomes available more quickly.

    NHS England’s published clinical commissioning policies (which set out eligibility for NHS funded specialised care on the basis of the available evidence) can be reviewed at any time where there is thought to be substantive new evidence available, and around 100 such proposals were developed and considered by NHS England during 2016/17.

    The policy development process is subject to both informal stakeholder testing and formal public consultation, including the opportunity for patients, clinicians and industry representatives to review and comment on the evidence base considered and the assessed impact on patients, existing services and cost.

    Where a new service is routinely commissioned as a result of a policy review, NHS England works with commissioned providers to ensure that sufficient clinical expertise and supporting infrastructure is in place to provide a safe service to patients in line with nationally set requirements.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to put in place for an operator of last report for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern passenger rail franchise since September 2013.

    Paul Maynard

    The Secretary of State has a duty under Section 30 of the Railways Act 1993, to maintain the continuity of passenger rail services in the event that a passenger rail franchise terminates and is not immediately replaced. In order to ensure the effective discharge of this duty the Department maintains a standby capability which would enable it to step into a rail franchise and operate it in the public sector should the need arise. There are currently no plans in place to step into the Thameslink Southern and Great Northern franchise.

  • William Cash – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    William Cash – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether (a) she or (b) another Minister from her Department plans to attend the Nutrition for Growth Summit schedules to take place during the Rio Summer Olympics.

    Grant Shapps

    We have yet to receive a formal invitation to the Nutrition for Growth Summit from the Government of Brazil. Once an invitation is received a decision will be taken on ministerial attendance.

    DFID are working closely with the Brazilian government to support them in their preparations for the summit.

  • Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government has taken to transpose the EU Directive on Victims’ Rights into UK law.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Justice fully transposed the EU Victims’ Directive 2012/29/EU (the Victims’ Directive) on 16 November 2015. In conjunction with existing legislation, the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Victims’ Code) is the main mechanism used to transpose the Victims’ Directive into the law of England and Wales.

    The UK government is responsible for transposing the Directive in England and Wales. The Devolved Administrations are also required to implement the Directive under their devolved powers and we have been working closely with them to do so.

    The transposition table which sets out how we have implemented the Victims’ Directive through the Victims’ Code can be found at:

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1817/pdfs/uksitn_20151817_en.pdf

    In the Queen’s Speech we made a commitment to bring forward measures to increase the rights of victims of crime. Further detail on our plans will be published in due course.

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