Category: Speeches

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many deceased cats and dogs have been collected and identified by Highways England since the Department for Transport committed in March 2015 to ensure that it is mandatory for all new and existing contractors to collect and identify cats and dogs killed on the strategic road network.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Backbench Business Committee Debate on 2 March 2015, considered legislating collection and identification of pet fatalities on the strategic road network (SRN). During the debate key commitments were made to immediately make the necessary arrangements to ensure it is mandatory for all new contracts to collect and identify dogs and cats killed on the strategic road network and contact their owners, where possible, and to review how to retrofit the requirements to existing contracts.

    The review was completed in September 2015. Mandatory instructions were issued to Highways England service providers in October 2015. Since this time there have been the following dog and cat fatalities on the strategic road network:

    From October 2015

    Number of fatalities

    Number identified

    Dogs

    39

    14

    Cats

    42

    2

    Service Providers are required to make a search for a collar or disc at the incident sites. Where the owner’s details are found on a collar and/or disc, the remains are bagged, separate from any debris, taken to the depot and the owner notified as soon as possible to be given the option of collecting their pet.

    Where no collar/disc is found the entire body is scanned for microchips. Any positive identification is recorded and the appropriate identification body is informed (eg PetLog).

    If remains cannot be positively identified they are cold-stored, where facilities are available, for at least seven days or until the cold store is due to be emptied, whichever is sooner. If no owner has come forward at the end of the seven-day period, the remains are disposed of.

    Due to the high speed nature of the SRN it is impossible to guarantee that remains can be fully identified e.g. the microchip may have been lost in the collision. In this case, if the remains can be identified as a dog or cat, they are cold stored and as much information as possible is recorded.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many civil law suits have been brought against his Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The information requested is not available, as separate data for cases based wholly or partially on the Human Rights Act 1998 are not recorded.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of electrifying the railway line from (a) Crewe to Chester and (b) Chester to Holyhead.

    Claire Perry

    We await the industry’s advice on future investment priorities for the England and Wales network in the next Control Period, building on the Wales and other Route Studies. We continue to work with the industry, the Welsh Government and local groups, including the recently announced North Wales and Mersey Dee Region Task Force, to see what more can be accomplished to deliver better journeys for passengers and freight customers in this corridor. We welcome the recent submission by the Welsh Government of their Strategic Outline Business Case for electrification from Crewe/Warrington to Holyhead as a contribution to this work.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what involvement (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department had in the Security and Counter Terror Conference at Olympia on 19 and 20 April 2016.

    Mr John Hayes

    Home Office Ministers and officials have regular meetings and attend various events as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings and events.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the terms of reference are for the new Anti-corruption Innovation Hub.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Anti-Corruption Innovation Hub is a virtual network which brings together government, civil society, law enforcement, technologists and the private sector to share cross-sector expertise and new ideas on how to tackle corruption.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what statistics her Department holds on (a) convictions and (b) fines for mobile phone use while driving in each police force area.

    Brandon Lewis

    There has been no assessment made of the enforcement by the police of the offence of driving whilst using a mobile phone. The enforcement of this offence is an operational matter for individual Chief Officers of police.

    The attached table, “Fixed Penalty Notices” includes figures for Fixed Penalty Notices for use of mobile phones whilst driving, broken down by Police Force Area and by Year.

    Based on information provided by the Ministry of Justice, statistics on offenders found guilty and sentenced, including sentence outcomes, for using or causing others to use a mobile phone whilst driving, at all courts in England and Wales, by police force area, from 2005 to 2015, can be viewed using the ‘Motoring data tool: with criminal justice area’ in the annual publication, linked below:- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to the six steps towards peace in Syria proposed by Lord Williams of Baglan in the October and November edition of the Chatham House publication The World Today.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The issues suggested by the noble Lord Williams of Baglan are being addressed through the UK’s work to tackle the Syria crisis. The International Syria Support Group meets weekly at official level and is supported by the team of the UN Special Envoy for Syria. At UK urging, the UN has established a Working Group with a small secretariat to lead on stabilisation planning for when a political settlement is reached, which the UK is helping fund. Clearly, Russia must be a part of any solution and we support engagement but Russia must stop bombing civilian areas and encourage the regime to do the same if it is genuinely interested in finding a political solution to the conflict.

  • Graham Stringer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Graham Stringer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Stringer on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to issue guidance on the implementation of the EU Cross Border Enforcement Directive.

    Andrew Jones

    The UK is required to transpose the EU Directive 2015/413 on the Cross Border Exchange of Information on Road Safety Related Traffic Offences by 6 May 2017. Work is currently underway to implement the relevant legal changes by this date. Explanatory notes will accompany the secondary legislation implementing the data sharing requirements and these will be made public when the legislation is tabled.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning the use of hollow-point bullets by the Israel Defence Forces.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities. However, our Ambassador in Tel Aviv regularly raises UK concerns over the use of force, including lethal force, most recently on 19 November with the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs and Public Security. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv also raised the issue of force with the Head of the Civil Department of the Israeli Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Civil Department, on 24 November and the Israeli National Security Council on 18 November.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the armed forces are taking in cooperation with other countries to prevent piracy off the coast of West Africa.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, as well as Short Term Training Teams (STTTs), work episodically to assist in building the capacity of maritime forces in West Africa in order that they may mitigate a range of security threats, including piracy. In 2015 HMS DRAGON, HMS LANCASTER and RFA GOLD ROVER delivered capacity-building training to maritime forces in Angola, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. In partnership with US maritime forces, STTTs conducted training in Angola, Cameroon, Gabon and Ghana while bilateral training was delivered in Mauritania, Morocco and Nigeria. In 2016/17 there are plans for RFA GOLD ROVER and HMS PORTLAND to continue these capacity building efforts and for an STTT to return to Nigeria.