Category: Speeches

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many car owners whose car tax has expired have not made a SORN declaration since the tax licence disc was abolished in 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport conducts a roadside survey every two years. This survey estimates the number of vehicles without a valid licence or Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) to determine the rate of vehicle excise duty evasion.

    The last survey took place in June 2015, which was eight months after the DVLA stopped issuing paper tax discs. The survey estimated that 1.4% of vehicles on UK roads were unlicensed and were not subject to a SORN.

    The DVLA aims to make vehicle excise duty easy to pay and hard to avoid and operates a comprehensive package of measures to tackle vehicle excise duty evasion. These measures range from reminder letters, penalties and court prosecutions through to the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, wheel clamping and the removal of unlicensed vehicles.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that the skills of steel industry employees are maintained.

    Anna Soubry

    From my visits to Scunthorpe, Redcar, Port Talbot and Cardiff, I know first-hand what a dedicated and skilled workforce exists in the industry and am determined that they have a future, with the action the government has taken and will continue to take to help the industry.

    For those workers that have unfortunately lost their jobs, the government is committed to doing all we can to give them the support and training needed to quickly return to work. We have made available up to £80 million for Redcar and announced up to £9 million for Scunthorpe to support those who have been affected.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in each county and unitary council area in the North West are currently receiving free school meals under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The number of children eligible and receiving free school meals (FSM) is available at regional and local authority level online at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015.

    We do not hold information on the qualifying benefits of individual claimants.

    “

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of homes affected by flooding in winter 2015-16 that do not have insurance.

    Rory Stewart

    We have made no assessment on the number of uninsured homes affected by flooding this winter.

    To help those affected by the current flooding, including the uninsured, the Government has announced nearly £200m to support recovery efforts. This includes funding to make properties more resilient to future flooding. In addition, we are taking action to protect people at the highest flood risk by making sure that everyone can access affordable flood insurance, regardless of where they live. Flood Re has now been set-up and it is expected to begin in April.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will instigate a national public awareness campaign about sepsis.

    Ben Gummer

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health asked Public Health England (PHE) to review the evidence and make recommendations on the scope for a public-facing campaign to raise awareness of Sepsis. PHE will publish its evidence-based review shortly.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Syrian refugees resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme were previously resident in another country before Syria.

    Richard Harrington

    We do not monitor whether a resettled person has ever previously been resident in another country apart from Syria and their host country. All refugees resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) Scheme are Syrian nationals.

    The UN High Commissioner for Refugees identifies and proposes Syrian refugees for the VPR scheme from among the whole of the registered refugee population in the region, over 4 million people. This includes people in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2016 to Question 30689, when his Department plans to publish the declaration of actual or potential conflicts of interest made by Paul Newby for the role of Pubs Code Adjudicator.

    Anna Soubry

    The appointment panel satisfied itself there were no conflicts of interest when they made recommendations to ministers in relation to the appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator.

    The Department does not intend to publish any information provided by candidates during this appointment process.

    In due course and as is usual practice, the Adjudicator’s office will publish a register of interests.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to keep coal plants open.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Decisions on plant closures are commercial matters for the plant owners. However, we recently consulted on changes to the Capacity Market, which included proposals for an early Capacity Market auction for the 2017/18 delivery year to mitigate the security of supply impact of potential early plant closures. If we go ahead with this proposal, coal plants will be eligible to participate.

    On 18 November we announced plans to close all unabated coal-fired power stations by 2025. Achieving this goal would make the UK one of the first developed countries to deliver on a commitment to take coal off the system. However, we have been clear that we would only proceed with these plans if we are confident that the shift to new gas generation can be achieved within these timescales.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has extended to the British Overseas Territories of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha the (a) International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1969, (b) 1992 Protocol to the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, (c) 2010 Protocol to the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, (d) International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage 2001, (e) International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation 1990 and (f) 1997 Protocol to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973.

    James Duddridge

    Only the 1992 Protocol to the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage has been extended to St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Information on all treaties that have been extended to the UK Overseas Territories can be found at: http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/

    “

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of excluding Scotland from the scope of the net migration target.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Our immigration system is designed to work for the whole of the UK and surveys show that people in Scotland want to see net migration reduced. We have a Scotland-specific Shortage Occupation List to accommodate skills shortages which are specific to Scotland. Applying substantially different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harming its integrity, and cause confusion for applicants and difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.