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Category: Speeches

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Tornado aircraft (1) the RAF possess which are (a) available for operation, (b) maintained at each of the various defined levels, and (c) in storage; and (2) the RAF intend to fund for each of the above categories in each of the years from 2015–18.

    Earl Howe

    The information is not available in the format requested. The number of aircraft available varies day-to-day according to normal fleet management activities.

    I am withholding further information on the number of serviceable aircraft available for operations on the grounds of safeguarding national security.

  • Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Defence how the best examples of literacy and numeracy education carried out in initial basic training in HM Armed Forces can be introduced to assist underachieving pupils in attaining GCSE grade C in English and mathematics.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government is committed to raising standards of literacy and numeracy for all pupils. We have strengthened the teaching of reading through rigorous phonics methods and placed greater emphasis within the primary curriculum and assessment on secure grasp of the essentials such as grammar, punctuation and spelling and fluency in mental and written calculation. We provide funding to secondary schools to help pupils catch up quickly and have announced resits for year 7 pupils in reading and mathematics.

    Our reforms to mathematics and English at GCSE offer greater assurance that pupils with these qualifications will have the literacy and numeracy skills they need in employment, and we now require every 16-19 year old without a good pass in GCSE English and maths to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 programme.

    In every aspect of this work the Department for Education is active in looking for ways to improve literacy and numeracy. We will look with interest at the work of the Armed Forces in this area.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to merge local authorities with a low council tax base with neighbouring higher base councils to ensure financial sustainability and service provision.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government has no plans to make local authorities merge with one another. However, the Government has been clear that it will listen to proposals made by local authorities for reform that lead to more effective governance arrangements.

    We are making huge strides towards rebalancing the economy and empowering local government through the devolution of powers away from Whitehall. The strength of the devolution agenda is in its localist nature: local leaders know best what their area needs and we are committed to giving them the tools to drive growth.

    The Government will undertake a review to devise a new formula to assess councils’ needs and provide fair funding for every type of local authority, ahead of the introduction of 100% business rates retention by the end of this Parliament.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24285, how many times (a) Brimstone missiles, (b) Hellfire missiles and (c) Paveway IV guided bombs were deployed against targets in (i) Iraq and (ii) Syria since 24 January 2016.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The table below shows the number and type of missiles fired from RAF aircraft in Iraq and Syria between 24 January 2016 and 9 March 2016.

    Munitions

    Iraq

    Syria

    Brimstone

    14

    14

    Hellfire

    7

    8

    Paveway IV

    166

    21
  • Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that UK aid to Palestine is not given, directly or indirectly, to the families of suicide bombers or to convicted prisoners.

    Baroness Verma

    UK aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is subject to rigorous scrutiny, with safeguards in place to ensure its being used for proper development purposes. Our financial assistance to the PA is used to pay the salaries of civil servant and pensioners. Our support is provided through a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank, which carries out close monitoring of PA expenditure. Only named civil servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible, and the vetting process ensures that our funds do not benefit terrorist groups. The process is subject to independent auditing.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many funding agreements have been terminated by each regional schools commissioner.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    A funding agreement is contract between the Secretary of State and an academy trust. The model funding agreement states that the agreement can be terminated under the following grounds: termination by either party; by warning notice; by the Secretary of State after inspection; by the Secretary of State; and a change of control.

    The Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) are civil servants, and as such, carry out their duties in the name of the Secretary of State. The RSCs have powers to make a decision, on behalf of the Secretary of State, to replace a sponsor or trust, where they have not been able to secure necessary improvements. In some circumstances, the funding agreement may be terminated as part of the process.

    As with other areas of their responsibility, RSCs escalate decisions to the National Schools Commissioner or the relevant minister where they are sensitive, raise issues of interpretation of government policy, or relate to urgent safeguarding or extremism concerns.

    The decision to terminate a funding agreement that results in the closure of an academy is made by the Secretary of State.

    Listed below are the numbers of academy closures and re-brokerages by region since the RSCs’ appointment in September 2014:

    RSC

    Re-brokered

    Closed

    Total

    East Midlands & Humber

    28

    7

    35

    Lancashire & West Yorkshire

    15

    3

    18

    North

    6

    3

    9

    North East London & East

    15

    2

    17

    North West London & South Central

    10

    2

    12

    South London & South East

    9

    4

    13

    South West

    28

    1

    29

    West Midlands

    11

    3

    14

    Total

    122

    25

    147
  • Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspectors are employed by her Department to monitor the health of bee colonies across the UK.

    George Eustice

    The National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), currently employs 1 National Bee Inspector, 7 Regional Bee Inspectors and 45 part-time, seasonal Bee Inspectors to monitor honey bee health in England. All Seasonal Bee Inspectors are employed throughout the beekeeping season (April to September) to look for bee pests and diseases and provide training to beekeepers on good husbandry practices. The NBU’s inspectorate carries out a total of over 5,000 apiary inspections each year.

    Bee Health is a devolved matter. However, there are currently 10 bee inspectors who are contracted by APHA to carry out bee inspections and training in Wales. They are funded by the Welsh Government.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Government plans to publish its green paper on disability employment.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We will publish a Green Paper later this year.

  • Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons the matters within his Department’s responsibility in Schedule 1 of the draft Wales Bill have been designated as reserved.

    Joseph Johnson

    The reservations listed in Schedule 1 to the draft Wales Bill reflects the Government’s view of where the Welsh devolution boundary lies following the devolution of further powers to the Assembly provided for in the draft Bill.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to produce an update to the 2010 Drug Strategy, and if so, what is the timetable.

    Lord Bates

    The Government plans to refresh our approach and build on the balanced 2010 Drug Strategy ‘Reducing demand, restricting supply, building recovery: supporting people to live a drug-free life’ in line with the manifesto commitments including to tackle drugs as a key driver of crime; intervene early to prevent troubled young people being drawn into crime; and review how best to support those suffering from long term drug dependency back into work.

    There are promising signs our approach is working – with a downward trend in drug use over the last decade and more people recovering from their dependency now than in 2009/10.

    A date for the publication of the refreshed approach is yet to be confirmed.