Category: Speeches

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what planning his Department is undertaking in relation to the effect of crypto-currencies on traditional banking models.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Digital currencies, and the distributed ledger technology that underpins them, have the potential to bring innovative services and products to UK customers and firms – particularly in areas like international transfers.

    The Chancellor announced in March 2015 that the Government will bring digital currency exchange firms into regulation in the UK to help the legitimate industry flourish, and to create a hostile environment for illicit actors. We will publish proposals on this regulatory regime in due course.

    As outlined in Deputy Governor, Ben Broadbent’s recent speech, the Bank of England is also exploring this emerging sector and the implications it could have for monetary and financial stability as part of its broader research agenda.

    Separately, academics at University College London’s (UCL) digital currency research centre have also been looking at how the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital currencies could be harnessed by central banks. The Government is encouraged to see this research from one of the UK’s world-leading universities. However, this a theoretical paper by an independent institution, separate from the Bank of England’s work and from Government policy.

    It is the Government’s ambition to foster the growth of legitimate digital currency firms as part of the wider FinTech ecosystem here in the UK. As part of this, the Government will consider the wider implications of a growing digital currencies sector for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole. Some parts of Government are also looking at how the benefits of distributed ledger technology can be harnessed to deliver greater innovation. However, the Government and the Bank of England do not currently have any plans to introduce a centrally issued digital currency.

    The UK has been rated as having the world’s leading FinTech ecosystem in a recent global benchmarking exercise and attracted c. £524mn in investment in 2015.

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether there have been any meetings between HS2 Ltd and King Street Energy Ltd to discuss the proposed gas storage project near Northwich.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    According to the Department for Transport’s records, representatives from HS2 Ltd met with King Street Energy on 25 September 2013 and 22nd May 2014 to discuss interactions with the proposed HS2 route.

    A further meeting between HS2 Ltd and King Street Energy is scheduled to take place later this year.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many meetings of the British-Irish Council Ministers of his Department took part in since May 2013.

    Joseph Johnson

    Information on Ministerial attendances can be found on the British-Irish Council website:

    https://www.britishirishcouncil.org/communique/ministerial-meetings

    “

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Written Statement HCW588 on Infected Blood Payment Scheme, whether his Department has made an estimate of how many bereaved people will receive less support after 2016-17 than they do now.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The reformed scheme will provide a payment to all those with hepatitis C, even if they have been treated, for the current spending review period. A review of the scheme will take place towards the end of this spending review period.

    All those who are currently bereaved partners/spouses and all those who will be bereaved partner/spouses in future will receive a £10,000 lump sum payment and will have continued access to discretionary support. Discretionary support will continue to be available to the bereaved, as well as to infected individuals.

    All infected individuals who are registered with Skipton as having hepatitis C stage 1 (nearly 2,500 people) will be eligible for the new stage 1 annual payment.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of cattle which have died of disease or were put down on account of disease in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    Defra collects data on cases of notifiable or reportable diseases, as per a legal requirement. The department does not estimate the number of all cattle or all pigs which have died of disease or were put down on account of disease as the department does not collect cattle or pigs death data.

    There have been no pig deaths due to notifiable disease in Great Britain in the last 5 years. There were two cattle deaths in 2015 from Anthrax. The most recent data on Bovine Tuberculosis is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain

    “

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress is being made on the accelerated access review for drugs for rare cancers; by what date he plans for that review to be concluded; and if he will set a deadline by which arrangements must be in place for the assessment of new drugs.

    George Freeman

    The Accelerated Access Review which was set up to look at speeding up access to innovative drugs including those for rare diseases, devices and diagnostics for National Health Service patients has been making strong progress since it was first announced in November 2014.

    The review which is independently chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor has been engaging stakeholders extensively over the summer to gather evidence on the big questions the review is considering, and has developed a number of emerging solutions.

    Sir Hugh published his interim report of the review on 27 October 2015. The report is high-level, direction-setting and grounded in evidence gathered through the review’s stakeholder engagement to date. The review is embarking on a second phase of engagement with stakeholders to further build the evidence, stress-test and refine the reports interim findings.

    The review will conclude with Sir Hugh making his final recommendations to Government by April 2016. The Government will thereafter consider how best to respond.

  • Lord Moynihan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Moynihan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moynihan on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether all governing bodies of sport will be eligible for financial support to ensure that their lead employees and senior volunteers with responsibility for implementing or overseeing governance arrangements within their governing boards can sit the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Sport Governance and Administration.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government expects the highest standards of governance from all our sports bodies in the UK and is working with UK Sport and Sport England to foster this. UK Sport and Sport England set standards that are a condition of funding, covering leadership, governance, financial management and administration, and also provide support and expertise to help national governing bodies to meet them where necessary. The recent triennial review recommended that UK Sport and Sport England should bring together both the governance requirements and the support arrangements for the next funding cycle.

    Ensuring that those responsible have the right skills is an important aspect of achieving high governance standards.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assurances he has received from the government of Saudi Arabia that no British-made equipment was used in recent executions in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent arms export control regimes in the world. Each application for an export licence is subject to a rigorous case-by-case assessment against these high criteria. The British Government is satisfied that the current licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria and that we are not in breach of our international obligations. No licence is issued if it does not meet these requirements. This includes the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what statutory arrangements are in place to penalise rail franchises which consistently perform poorly; and how often such arrangements have been called on since 2010.

    Claire Perry

    Section 55 of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended) gives the Secretary of State power to make an Enforcement Order where a train operator contravenes a term of the franchise agreement. Such an Order may require the train operator to take specified steps to address the contravention and can include a requirement to pay a penalty if the Train Operator contravenes the Order.

    Section 57A of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended) gives the Secretary of State a separate power to impose a penalty for contravention of a term of the franchise agreement as an alternative to making an Enforcement Order or in addition to such an Order (provided that the Order does not include a penalty provision).

    Since 2010 no train operator has been required to make a payment for breach of an Enforcement Order under section 55. Some 13 Enforcement Orders under Section 55 have been issued, and one train operator has been required to make a penalty payment imposed under section 57A.

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential of Westbury to become the north-south/east-west rail hub for the central south of England.

    Claire Perry

    The importance of Westbury as an interchange station for South West Trains and Great Western Rail services is not underestimated by the Department, and is already a mini hub and crew point for some of the inter-regional services (Bristol to Portsmouth and Weymouth). However, Bristol is the key hub for the region, and the Department has therefore made no such assessment regarding Westbury.