Category: Speeches

  • Stephen Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK is entitled to be represented before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Philippines v. China.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK is not party to the case of Philippines v China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is therefore not entitled to be formally represented before the PCA in this case.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 11 January 2016, whether the £247 million of investment announced for liaison mental health services in emergency departments is in addition to (a) the £1.25 billion investment for perinatal and children and young people’s mental health announced by the then Deputy Prime Minister in March 2015 and (b) the £600 million investment for mental health announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

    Alistair Burt

    The investment for liaison mental health services and crisis home response teams detailed by the Prime Minister on 11 January 2016 is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in devolving transport powers to local authorities, it is their intention also to grant authorities the power to implement part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 so that they become responsible for tackling rising congestion and poor air quality or urban roads, and to promote more efficient bus operation.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government will continue to work with local authorities to consider whether there are powers that would be appropriate to devolve as part of their devolution deals.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to secure the appropriate data to monitor the progress of programmes which encourage the uptake of STEM subjects and careers by girls.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government funds a number of programmes which encourage the uptake of STEM subjects by girls. We monitor the progress of these programmes against their key performance indicators through regular reports, and by evaluating their impact.

    In 2014 the Government published for the first time data showing the proportion of girls and boys studying A levels in science and maths at each post-16 institution, and in 2016 time series data of students entered for mathematics and science A level subjects by number of subjects and gender. Both sets of data will continue to be published on an annual basis.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contracts (a) have been agreed and (b) are still to be awarded by Highways England for (i) routine highway services and (ii) specialist goods and services.

    Andrew Jones

    For routine highways services and specialist goods and services, Highways England has awarded several contracts that cover the whole of England. One recently awarded contract was in the Area 7, for the East Midlands and Lincolnshire:

    • Maintenance and Response Contract- this was awarded to Amey Highways Ltd on 14th March 2016 and is now in mobilisation.
    • Design Contract – this was awarded to Kier Highways on 10th March.

    Contracts still to be awarded include:

    • Construction Works Framework – Award is scheduled for early May 2016.

    • Salt Saturators – Award is programmed for 15th April 2016.
    • Salt supply – Highways England intend to use the ESPO framework which is currently being tendered for the supply of salt. ESPO is a public sector owned professional buying organisation and Highways England are scheduled to award a task order for the supply of salt in mid May 2016
    • Structural Inspections – award is scheduled for early June 2016.
    • Technical Surveys and Testing – this is the non-OJEU process and Highways England has published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) in the Official Journal for the European Union detailing how firms are to register. Responses are currently being assessed and then assessed firms will be invited to tender for specific pieces of work.
    • Weather forecasting – this is currently out to tender, with the award date scheduled for mid-June 2016

    The Asset Led Delivery Model that is being adopted in Area 7 will also be rolled out in Areas 1 and 2 covering the South West of England and in Areas 13 covering Cumbria and Lancashire. These contracts will not be awarded until 2017.

  • Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Parish on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of fruit juice a drink must contain to be considered a pure fruit juice for the purposes of the sugar levy.

    Damian Hinds

    The levy will apply to soft drinks with added sugar. This will include any fruit or vegetable juice drinks that contain added sugar. Pure fruit and vegetable juices, and other juice drinks that do not have added sugar will not be liable.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been awarded the enhanced rate mobility component of personal independence payment in each month since January 2014.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The available data on the number of claimants in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), by a range of breakdowns including award outcomes, are available from Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.

    “

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2016 to Question 31582, whether the Government has offered support to the government of Iraq on collecting forensic evidence of genocide committed against the Yazidis and other religious minority groups.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to condemn in the strongest terms the appalling crimes that Daesh has committed in Iraq against Christians, Yezidis and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population.

    On 21 July, The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), announced that the UK will work with international partners to drive a global campaign to hold Daesh to account for its crimes. Over the summer, Ministers and officials have been working with international partners, including the Government of Iraq, to establish the character and scope of this campaign. We will take forward action on it in New York later this month.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what grant her Department made available to the NSPCC for running the modern slavery human trafficking helpline between July 2014 to June 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    The NSPCC-run modern slavery helpline was launched in July 2014, as part of a wider awareness-raising campaign, to better support potential victims of modern slavery. For the period July 2014 to July 2015, £50,000 was made available to the NSPCC to run the modern slavery helpline. To support the launch of the helpline, training was provided by existing staff in the NSPCC child trafficking advice centre, the Metropolitan police’s human trafficking unit and the Modern Slavery Unit to NSPCC call-handlers at zero cost.

    The NSPCC helpline routinely records the number of contacts made each month, how they are made, and by whom. The helpline also records the gender, age and nationality of potential victims, where that information is known or presumed. Between 31 July 2014 and 31 July 2015 the NSPCC modern slavery helpline received, in total, 849 contacts. These were comprised of 491 referrals, 107 advice cases and 251 enquiries. During the period 31 July 2014 to 31 July 2015 the helpline received a total of 57 contacts from potential victims themselves and in that same period the NSPCC made 272 referrals to the police. The NSPCC does not hold data on the number of contacts referred to the helpline by the police and other agencies that were subsequently referred back to those agencies.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Prime Minister, which (a) business organisations and (b) non-governmental organisations he met during his visit to the COP 21 climate change conference in Paris on 30 November 2015.

    Mr David Cameron

    Details of my meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available via the gov.uk website.