Category: Speeches

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the legal opinion issued by Philippe Sands QC concerning alleged violation of national, European and international arms transfer control law by their continued authorisation of arms exports to Saudi Arabia, especially in the context of their alleged use in Yemen; and what action they are taking in this regard.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is aware of this legal opinion provided on instructions from certain non-governmental organisations. In accordance with long standing Government policy we do not disclose legal advice given or received, and it would not be appropriate to discuss any potential or ongoing litigation matters. The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent arms export control regimes in the world. All arms export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking into account all relevant information, to ensure compliance with our legal obligations, including under international law. A licence will not be issued for any country if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria. This includes the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training is available for judges and barristers to assist them when questioning child witnesses in cases involving sexual offences.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Judicial training is a judicial matter and fulfilled by the Judicial College, which reports to the Lord Chief Justice. Training for barristers is a matter for their own professional bodies.

    The Judicial College have advised me that a workshop on the cross examination of vulnerable witnesses is incorporated into their Serious Sexual Offences Seminar. This is mandatory training for all judges who have been authorised to hear cases involving serious sexual offences.

  • 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 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the UK has received in grants and funding from the EU to fund research into cancer under (a) the EU’s 7th framework programme 2007-2013 and (b) the current Horizon 2020 programme.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold this information.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU member states who are living in social housing in the UK.

    Brandon Lewis

    The department collects details on the nationality of all household reference persons in the English Housing Survey. However, the sample size of the English Housing Survey does not permit us to report detailed nationality statistics.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure that the quality of service is consistent at jobcentres around the country.

    Priti Patel

    There are comprehensive operational instructions available that all Jobcentres are expected to adhere to. This is monitored through internal checking to ensure processes and the quality of our interaction with claimants meets the required standard. Alongside the checking of results, other sources of data, such as DWP Customer Survey and complaints data, are exploited to ensure services meet the required standard. Continuous improvement is a key factor in our approach and examples include providing coaching/training, improving operations instructions and making better use of technology.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to promote LGBT rights in developing countries in this Parliament.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    Through development programmes, DFID aims to support civil society, governments and others to build open economies and open societies in which citizens have freedom, dignity, choice and control over their lives, and institutions are accountable, inclusive and responsive.

    DFID’s approach to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights’ was published in February 2016 online.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) men and (ii) women were refused bail and remanded in custody when the alleged offence related to an incident involving domestic violence in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Uddin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Uddin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current availability of qualified speech therapists at the point of assessment throughout the NHS and community healthcare provision.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre annual census data shows that as at 30 September 2014, there were 6,207 full time equivalent speech and language therapists working in the National Health Service in England, this is a rise of 2% since May 2010.

    Health Education England (HEE) and the Department of Health commissioned the Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI) to undertake a stock take of the speech and language therapists workforce in England. The CfWI published Securing the future workforce supply – Speech and language therapy stocktake, in December 2014. A copy of this is attached. The stocktake investigated the current balance of demand and supply for speech and language therapists and explored how this is expected to change by 2025, including those working in the public and private sector.

    HEE has increased the number of speech and language therapist training places in 2015-16 to 668, an increase of 3.7% over 2014-15. HEE will take the content of the CfWI speech and language therapy stocktake into account in their workforce planning and future commissioning decisions.

  • Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with employers in Wales about the effect of the apprenticeship levy in Wales.

    Nick Boles

    Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have had exchanges with many employers, including those with a UK-wide presence, as part of the consultation exercise held between August and early October this year. These discussions continue. The Government is working with the Welsh Government and other devolved administrations to ensure fair and transparent funding and, as far as possible, to develop a system for administering the levy which complements the skills and apprenticeship policies of each of the devolved administrations and which works for employers wherever they are in the UK.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number and (b) value of maintenance grants issued in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Joseph Johnson

    Statistics showing the number and value of Maintenance Grants awarded to English applicants for study at UK providers are published annually by the Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education in England’.

    The latest publication covering the last five academic years can be found here:

    "http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx"

    Publications covering previous academic years can be found here:

    http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/full-catalogue-of-official-statistics/student-support-for-higher-education-in-england.aspx

    “