Category: Speeches

  • Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what percentage pay award was made to employees of each Government department in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

    Matthew Hancock

    In line with Public Sector Pay Policy, Civil Service departments and agencies made average consolidated pay awards of 1 per cent in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16. Departments and agencies are responsible for determining how to allocate the award to their staff, but the Government expects pay increases to be applied in a targeted‎ manner within workforces to support high performance and the delivery of public services.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many people of each gender work in the Law Officers’ Departments.

    Robert Buckland

    The total number of staff employed by the Law Officers’ Departments by gender is detailed in the following table:

    Department

    Headcount (as at 31st December 2015)

    Female

    Male

    Attorney General’s Office

    23

    15

    Government Legal Department

    1227

    788

    HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

    17

    16

    Crown Prosecution Service

    3853

    2069

    Serious Fraud Office

    183

    227

    “

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to amend social care charging guidance so that compensation awarded to military veterans injured before 6 April 2005 is fully disregarded from financial assessments for support.

    Alistair Burt

    Armed forces veterans injured in service receive payments either through the War Disablement Pension (WDP) or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The AFCS applies to veterans injured from 6 April 2005. These payments are divided into a personal injury compensation element and other payments. Traditionally, only the personal injury compensation payment has been fully disregarded.

    Since October 2012 Guaranteed Income Payments made to veterans under the AFCS have been disregarded. The Department has been in discussion with the Royal British Legion about how WDP payments are treated. Currently the first £10 per week of WDP payments is disregarded. The Government is considering how WDP payments to veterans should be treated in the financial assessment for social care charging in future.

  • Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department’s policy is on the future development of tidal lagoons in the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government recognises the potential that exists in harnessing tidal energy around the coastline of the UK.

    That is why we are commissioning an independent strategic review to assess the case for tidal lagoons and consider whether they could represent value for money for the consumer.

    Government will carefully consider the recommendations from the review before making decisions on future development of tidal lagoons.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the trend in the level of continuing professional development undertaken by teachers of STEM subjects in primary schools; what estimate they have made about the effect it will have on the standards attained by pupils; and whether they will provide funds to increase continuing professional development in the future.

    Lord Nash

    It is for schools to determine the professional development their teachers need. The Government funds a number of programmes which make high quality, professional development available to primary teachers. This supports our commitment to making Britain the best place in the world to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

    The network of 35 Maths Hubs is working with many primary teachers to adopt effective south-east Asian ‘mastery’ teaching approaches to make sure that more children leave primary schools having met the expected standards in mathematics. The network of 44 Science Learning Partnerships provides support to primary teachers to improve their science subject knowledge and how they teach science including good quality practical work. Support to improve the teaching of the new primary computing curriculum is available through the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science. All of these programmes are subject to ongoing evaluation to assess their impact.

    The Government remains committed to making sure primary school teachers continue to have access to high quality STEM professional development in the future.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has investigated the airstrikes of 3 June 2015 in al-‘Eram and Sa’da, Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate incidents of concern at a press conference on 31 January. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that civilians have been targeted.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to implement the National Screening Committee’s recommendations on introducing (a) the Faecal Immunochemical Test into the bowel screening programme and (b) HPV as the primary test in the cervical screening programme.

    Jane Ellison

    Ministers have accepted the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation on replacing the guaiac Faecal Occult Blood test with the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Following the change to FIT we expect that around 200,000 more people per year will take up the opportunity to be screened as part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England. This has the potential to save hundreds more lives by detecting bowel cancer earlier. Public Health England is responsible for the leadership of the NHS Screening Programmes and will oversee the change to the programme in partnership with NHS England.

    Ministers are currently considering the UK NSC’s recommendation that human papillomavirus testing should replace the currently used cytology test as primary screening for cervical disease.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an estimate of the cumulative effect of the tobacco control measures introduced in the last 10 years on small independent retailers before the publication of the Government’s next smoking strategy.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Tobacco control measures are reviewed regularly, including by statutory requirement. The impact of individual measures is also assessed in advance of implementation through impact assessments which are made publicly available.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, and to what extent, the expert panel convened by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has concluded that a potentially viable pregnancy with normal karyotype can be achieved through pronuclear transfer based on the accompanying images of the relevant karyotypes in figures or other supporting data presented in Reproductive BioMedicine Online published in October.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that the independent expert panel are currently reviewing the latest evidence of safety and efficacy for pro-nuclear transfer and maternal spindle transfer. The panel has not yet reached its conclusions. It is anticipated that the panel’s report will be published by the end of the year.

  • The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 8 July (HL831), how many of the recorded fume or smell events during the 100 flights referred to in that answer were reported to the Civil Aviation Authority under the mandatory reporting scheme.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    No fume event occurred during this study (Aircraft Cabin Air Sampling Study, Cranfield University, 2011) which triggered the airline’s formal reporting procedures to the Civil Aviation Authority.