Category: Speeches

Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to increase financial protection for investors within the UK who invest in mini-bonds.

Simon Kirby

The government is committed to regulating only where there is a clear case for doing so, in order to avoid putting additional costs on lenders that would ultimately lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers.

The marketing and promotion of mini-bonds is subject to financial promotion restrictions set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA). Firms that fail to meet any of these requirements may be subject to enforcement action by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

01/01/2023
Lord Campbell-Savours – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell-Savours on 2015-11-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 October (HL2728), whether they will set out the broad circumstances in which a housing association or Community Land Trust could exercise discretion in deciding whether to sell a property to a tenant.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government is currently engaging with the National Housing Federation and the housing association sector on implementing the Right to Buy Agreement. Further details will be announced in due course.

01/01/2023
Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the average proportion of spending on DfID’s Programme Partnership Arrangements was on salaries for UK staff and advocacy work in the UK, broken down by the charities receiving that funding.

Baroness Verma

DFID does not hold details of the average proportion of spending through the Programme Partnership Arrangements (PPAs) on salaries for UK staff.

PPAs are not used for any campaigning or advocacy efforts in the UK.

The PPAs are strategic level arrangements with Civil Society Organisations based around mutually agreed outcomes. Organisations have individual performance frameworks against which they formally report against on an annual basis. Funding is flexible and not tied to specific interventions or initiatives.

01/01/2023
Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Parish on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when her Department plans to publish the terms of reference for its Renewable Heat Incentive consultation.

Andrea Leadsom

To be eligible for Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) support, all biomass combined heat and power (CHP) must be certified by the Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance (CHPQA) scheme, and must demonstrate that they have a valid CHPQA certificate. Any installation claiming the CHP Renewable Obligation Certificate uplift will not be eligible for receiving support under the RHI scheme.

We intend to reform the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to improve value for money and reduce costs; improve cost control and budget management; and ensure the scheme focuses more on our long-term needs, while contributing to both our carbon and renewable energy targets. We plan to consult on the changes shortly. Therefore, I am unable to make specific commitments as to the future shape of the scheme at this point.

01/01/2023
Joanna Cherry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joanna Cherry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to include the new wage rate recommendations published annually by the Low Pay Commission in calculation of the national living wage.

Nick Boles

The independent Low Pay Commission will recommend future National Living Wage rates as well as continuing its current role in recommending National Minimum Wage rates.

01/01/2023
Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the performance of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services with regard to the health, wellbeing and performance of young people in schools and colleges.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We want all children to fulfil their full potential. Academic attainment is supported if students have good health and mental wellbeing and when they have access to specialist mental health services where they need it.

The government is investing £1.4bn in children’s mental health this Parliament. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across the country have worked with partners, including schools and colleges, to produce local transformation plans for children and young people’s mental health services. These should set out what will be done locally to make the best use of the resources available – changing how CAMHS is delivered in response to the challenges set out in the Future in Mind report and increasing the focus on preventative activity. NHS England has put the plans through an assurance process before releasing funds and is carrying out an analysis of plans to identify practice that can be shared to inform future planning.

In addition we are contributing to a £3m joint pilot with NHS England which is testing how single points of contact in CAMHS and schools can secure effective mental health support to pupils. The pilots are involving over 250 schools in 27 CCG areas through joint training, which supports schools and CAMHS leads to identify specific activity to improve support in their area.

01/01/2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of EU migrants who will be eligible to receive benefits in each of the next five years and (b) cost of paying those benefits to the public purse.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The information requested is not available.

01/01/2023
Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding of the Young Women’s Trust on page 13 of its report, Making apprenticeships work for young women, that apprenticeships are reinforcing, rather than challenging, occupational segregation by gender.

Nick Boles

We want to make apprenticeships accessible to the widest possible range of people, as part of meeting our commitment to reach 3 million starts in England by 2020.

Women are well-represented within English apprenticeships – 53.0% of starts in 2014/15 were made by women. This is higher than in both 2013/14 (52.9%) and 2009/10 (49.6%). We will continue to support the extension of this positive representation across all sectors.

We have made it a priority to ensure that all young people have access to quality careers advice and support to help them make the right personal choices. This includes communicating career opportunities in sectors such as science and engineering. We will launch a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.

01/01/2023
Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 35103, what the role is of the Liaison Officers deployed in Saudi coalition headquarters.

Michael Fallon

UK Liaison Officers located in Saudi Headquarters exchange information between the UK and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to give the UK a better degree of insight into Saudi processes.

They remain under UK command and control and are not embedded with the Saudis. They do not provide training or advice on International Humanitarian Law compliance, and have no role in the Saudi targeting chain.

01/01/2023

Neil Gray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is for a decision to be made for a personal independence payment claim in (a) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) England.

Penny Mordaunt

The table below shows the average (median) actual clearance times (AACT), in weeks, for normal rules new claims and DLA reassessments to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for Airdie and Shotts, Scotland and England in April 2016.

April 2016	Normal Rules, New Claims AACT (weeks)	Normal Rules, DLA Reassessments AACT (weeks)
Airdie and Shotts parliamentary constituency	11	13
Scotland	10	13
England	9	12

Source – PIP Computer Systems management information.

Notes to table:

1) The figures are for normal rules only, and do not include special rules for the terminally ill, as these claims have a separate and faster route through the claims process.

2) ‘Time take for a decision’ has been interpreted as the average time between the date of referral to the assessment provider and the date of the DWP decision to either award or disallow the claim. It does not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant or claims that were disallowed by DWP pre-referral to the Assessment Providers (e.g. for failure to meet basic eligibility criteria or failure to return the Part 2 form within the time limit).

3) Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number of weeks.

Further information on AACTs is published and available at;

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics

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01/01/2023