Category: Speeches

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is carrying out trials to assess the suitability of unmanned aerial vehicle technology as part of the UK’s humanitarian disaster response capability.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    It is in the interest of the UK taxpayer, as well as beneficiaries on the ground, ‎that the Department for International Development scrutinises the most cost-effective means of delivering aid, especially when responding to crises. In some cases technology can provide valuable advantages in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness, as well as enabling the ability to respond rapidly to crises and assist those in the hardest to reach places.

    The Department has recently commissioned a review of the potential of a number of Frontier Technologies including Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology, which will help us identify potential applications as well as risks.

    There are a small number of examples of UAV technologies currently being trialled in DFID programmes. This includes a small-scale trial of UAV mapping to inform disaster preparedness, mitigation and response efforts in Nepal. There is also research being conducted in the natural and physical sciences arena, including on climate extremes which have an impact on vulnerable populations in developing countries.

  • 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 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to support the Department of International and European Affairs of the German Ministry of Health’s draft resolution on sepsis for the World Health Assembly General Assembly meeting in 2017.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department is committed to improving diagnosis and management of sepsis and has a wide programme of work underway. We will consider the German Ministry of Health’s draft resolution to the World Health Assembly in due course.

  • Desmond Swayne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Desmond Swayne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Desmond Swayne on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will visit the New Forest to see the effect of wetland restorations.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    In May this year, my predecessor visited the New Forest, to see the benefits of wetland restoration; reversing the long term damage caused by artificial deepening and widening of the watercourses in the 19th and early 20th century. This restoration work is expected to help restore the Site of Special Scientific Interest to a favourable condition. It wouldn’t now be appropriate for me to revisit, during a time when the planning application is being assessed.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nusrat Ghani – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what work her Department is undertaking to encourage the development of democracy and political rights in Ethiopia.

    Grant Shapps

    DFID and FCO Ministers and officials regularly raise concerns about democracy and human rights with the relevant authorities, at the highest level of the Ethiopian Government. In light of the results of the parliamentary elections earlier this year, UK ministers urged the Ethiopian government to explore ways to increase the diversity of political parties in future parliaments, and to ensure those who voted for other parties this time still feel their voice is heard.

    HMG has a number of programmes that support civil and political rights in Ethiopia, including a DFID civil society support programme, and a recently established joint programme with the FCO to support strengthening in democratic governance. We are currently supporting an initiative to engage civil society in a review of Ethiopia’s progress with implementation of recommendations from the May 2014 Universal Periodic Review, (the Universal Periodic Review is a United Nations Human Rights Council mechanism designed to improve the human rights situation on the ground in UN member states).

    Ethiopia remains one of the world’s poorest countries, with around 25 million people living in extreme poverty. In the last five years, with UK support, Ethiopia has reduced child mortality by a quarter, put four million more children in primary school and protected almost eight million people from needing humanitarian food aid. A healthier, better educated population will be more able to participate in society and contribute to the progress and development of that country.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to improve the UK’s economic ties with developing African economies.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Supporting Africa’s economic development is central to the government’s international agenda. This is highlighted in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 which states that:

    Over the next five years, we aim to deepen the UK’s relationships with African countries significantly. To enable this, we will deliver a more strategic and coordinated government approach to Africa… We will continue to make substantial investments to promote greater economic growth and poverty reduction.

    In parallel, the Department for International Development (DFID) has previously committed to spend around £1.8 billion of their budget on economic development by the end of the 2015/2016 fiscal year: almost double the level of two years ago. DFID is also working with business and new partners, including new partners in the UK, to support innovative and profitable solutions to Africa’s development challenges. For example, the recently launched Energy Access initiative aims to expand solar energy access across sub-Saharan Africa, by increasing investment in off-grid energy firms, promoting innovation and removing regulatory barriers.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to support the development of additional new nuclear reactors.

    Andrea Leadsom

    New nuclear power offers low carbon, affordable, and reliable energy to keep the lights on – which is our top priority.

    I can tell my Honourable Friend that the Department is focussed both on engaging with the 6 individual new nuclear proposals from developers, and also supporting the exciting future prospects for small modular reactor technology.

  • Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23722, what estimate his Department has made of the additional cost to social care providers of paying the new national living wage.

    Alistair Burt

    Our analysis of the cost of the national living wage was based on projections and data on pay including the national living wage from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care.

    This analysis informed the decision to provide a settlement which means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase adult social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what special advisers have (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully sought his permission to work on a EU referendum campaign.

    Mr David Cameron

    The arrangements for special advisers who wish to work for a campaign are set out in the Cabinet Secretary’s letter of 23 February. It is not appropriate to publish personal data about individual special advisers.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will invite Maryam Rajavi to visit Parliament and the UK.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Maryam Rajavi remains excluded from the UK and Her Majesty’s Government has no plans to invite her to visit the UK.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how deprivation factors are taken into account in school funding formulae.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    In current funding arrangements, each local authority devises a local funding formula through which they distribute funding to schools in their locality. The formula must include a deprivation factor, and local authorities have the flexibility to use a pupil-based measure (eligibility for free school meals (FSM)), an area-based measure (the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index, which is known as IDACI) or both in order to identify pupils eligible for this funding.

    We are committed to introducing a national funding formula so that schools’ funding is matched fairly and consistently to need. In our recent consultation on the principles and building blocks of a national funding formula, which closed on 17 April, we proposed to include a deprivation factor which uses a combination of the FSM and IDACI measures to identify eligible pupils. We are now reviewing all responses and will set out the detail of the formula in a second consultation, to be published later this year.

    Further detail on our proposals for a deprivation factor in a national funding formula can be found on page 19 in our consultation document: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/schools-national-funding-formula/supporting_documents/Schools_NFF_consultation.pdf

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