Category: Speeches

Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase tourism in Cornwall from (a) domestic and (b) foreign visitors.

David Evennett

Our tourism industry supports millions of jobs and is one of the nation’s leading employers and export earners. In 2014, the sector contributed nearly £60bn to the UK economy, and at the latest spending round the Chancellor announced a new £40m Discover England to encourage international visitors to explore beyond London. In the South West, the number of domestic visitors has increased by 14% in the 12 months to December 2015, compared with the previous year; and we have been working to promote international tourism through the £5m South West Tourism Growth Fund. Full-year data for international visitors in 2015 will be released in due course.

01/01/2023
Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what monitoring his Department has undertaken of the adequacy of supply of suitable and affordable accommodation for older people who want to live independently but with some support on-site.

Brandon Lewis

Decisions on how to meet the health and social care needs of older people who need affordable and accessible homes and monitoring the supply of such accommodation are best made by local authorities. Government believes that local planning authorities remain best placed to determine the extent to which provision of more accessible housing is necessary and appropriate in their local area, and have appropriate powers to introduce development plan policies to meet these needs, having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework, Planning Guidance and other relevant matters.

The National Planning Policy Framework & Planning Guidance requires local authorities to plan for a mix of housing based on current and future demographic trends, and the needs of different groups, including elderly people, in their area.

01/01/2023
Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make representations to her EU counterparts and the European Commission on amending provisions related to take-down notices in the Electronic Commerce Directive 2002.

Matt Hancock

Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation.

01/01/2023
Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to postpone the introduction of the secondary market for annuities until 2018 to ensure adequate time for the pension industry to plan for the introduction of that market.

Simon Kirby

To date, the Government has published the following consultation documents in relation to the secondary market in annuities policy:

Creating a secondary annuity market – March 2015

Creating a secondary annuity market: response to the call for evidence – December 2015

Creating a secondary annuity market: tax framework – April 2016

Creating a secondary market for annuities – secondary legislation – April 2016

These consultations have now closed. The Government will respond shortly.

01/01/2023
Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether businesses will be permitted to allocate their apprenticeship-levied funds to small and medium-sized enterprises and other business in their supply chain; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles

My Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will announce further details of the apprenticeship levy at the Spending Review, including the scope and rate of the levy.

01/01/2023
Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents his Department has recorded of drones operating over prison estates in the last year for which figures are available; what steps his Department took following each such incident; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous

If an incident involving a drone occurs, prisons will invoke appropriate contingency plans and will work alongside the police and CPS to ensure those responsible are caught. NOMS are exploring research options with the Home Office Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) on detection and mitigation technology for drones.

There were 30 reported drone related incidents between 1 December 2014 and 30 November 2015. This includes drone finds and drone sightings by prison staff in and around public and private prisons in England and Wales.

Individual prisons will invoke the appropriate contingency plan relevant to the circumstances of the incident involving a drone. This includes, for example, working with the police and CPS to ensure those responsible for an incident involving a drone are caught and, if appropriate, prosecuted.

These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank represents value for money to the public purse.

Anna Soubry

The Government is following best practice recommended by the National Audit Office (NAO) to ensure a sale of the Green Investment Bank achieves value for money. This includes following the NAO’s recommendations on Government asset sales that were set out in its report on the sale of the Government’s shares in Eurostar.

We are consulting with the NAO about the approach we are taking, and will continue to assess whether we are achieving value for money for the taxpayer through all stages of this process.

01/01/2023

John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what receipts were received by each police force from the proceeds of crime in 2015.

Mr John Hayes

More assets were taken off criminals in 2014/15 than ever before. £199 million was recovered, and hundreds of millions more was frozen and put beyond the reach of criminals. The table below shows the total receipts from cash forfeited by each police force, and receipts from confiscation orders in the financial year 1 April 2014-31 March 2015.

The table includes data for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, the figures for the Police Service of Northern Ireland are for cash forfeitures only, as under the devolution settlement, all confiscation receipts are retained by Northern Ireland, and the Home Office holds no data.

Police Force	Total receipts from cash forfeiture orders and confiscation orders in the year 2014-15
Avon & Somerset Constabulary	£1,490,611.90
Bedfordshire Police	£1,094,410.68
British Transport Police	£556,348.90
Cambridgeshire Constabulary	£720,660.84
Cheshire Constabulary	£2,484,655.12
City of London Police	£2,555,229.61
Cleveland Police	£556,308.05
Cumbria Constabulary	£1,135,771.58
Derbyshire Constabulary	£676,892.51
Devon & Cornwall Constabulary	£1,398,001.79
Dorset Police	£275,603.19
Durham Constabulary	£739,926.17
Dyfed-Powys Police	£196,955.52
Essex Police	£1,636,232.98
Gloucestershire Constabulary	£1,321,446.18
Greater Manchester Police	£6,823,306.05
Gwent Police	£755,622.39
Hampshire Constabulary	£1,357,509.31
Hertfordshire Constabulary	£1,895,544.77
Humberside Police	£1,009,594.15
Kent Police	£1,710,364.42
Lancashire Constabulary	£2,125,492.14
Leicestershire Constabulary	£1,462,857.28
Lincolnshire Police	£440,109.19
Merseyside Police	£3,971,554.79
Metropolitan Police Service	£23,518,346.51
Norfolk Constabulary	£605,485.18
North Wales Police	£555,579.35
North Yorkshire Police	£395,279.48
Northamptonshire Police	£1,607,162.05
Northumbria Police	£827,194.86
Nottinghamshire Police	£924,929.87
Police Service of Northern Ireland	£521,050.22
South Wales Police	£1,313,813.78
South Yorkshire Police	£1,666,790.98
Staffordshire Police	£1,099,376.89
Suffolk Constabulary	£939,571.40
Surrey Police	£1,081,929.13
Sussex Police	£1,089,285.30
Thames Valley Police	£834,890.14
Warwickshire Police	£263,041.41
West Mercia Constabulary	£698,110.14
West Midlands Police	£4,689,385.89
West Yorkshire Police	£5,062,763.87
Wiltshire Constabulary	£430,894.47

01/01/2023

Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total (a) budget and (b) full-time equivalent workforce was of the Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit in each of the last five years.

Mr John Hayes

The Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) receive referrals from a number of sources including the public and law enforcement partners. The unit also self-generates referrals.

All referrals are assessed by CTIRU against UK terrorism legislation (Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006). Those that breach this legislation are referred to industry for removal. If industry agrees that it breaches their terms and conditions, they remove it voluntarily.

Referrals made to industry by CTIRU have led to over 150,000 pieces of terrorist-related material being removed to date from various online platforms. Overall, removals at the request of CTIRU have increased from around 60 items a month in 2010, when CTIRU was first established, to over 4000 a month in 2015.

For reasons of national security we do not publically disclose the detailed allocation of funding for counter terrorism by capability.

01/01/2023
John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the food served to members of the armed forces at his Department’s facilities run by Sodexo meets his Department’s standards; and what sanctions are in place to deter violations of such standards.

Mark Lancaster

The Department is aware of concerns that have been expressed about the standard of food served to members of the Armed Forces.

The Department has in place a number of safeguards to ensure a good quality of food. These include; contract monitoring, site visits, reviews, customer engagement and assurance by Single Service catering subject matter experts to improve on the service provided.

Any complaint over food can be raised through the chain of command or directly with the contractor by way of a complaints book.

01/01/2023