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Category: Speeches

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to provide additional support for educational studies to young carers.

    Edward Timpson

    Schools play an important part in identifying pupils who are young carers and in offering them appropriate support. That is why my Department works with Carers Trust and The Children’s Society to share tools, good practice and increase awareness in schools of young carers’ issues. Ofsted inspectors will also pay particular attention to the outcomes achieved by young carers in schools.

    We have changed the law so that, since April 2015, all young carers are entitled to an assessment of their needs for support, regardless of who they care for, what type of care they provide or how much time they spend caring.

    The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund enables students from disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in further education by helping them to overcome any financial barriers they face. With the help of Carers Trust, we have recently improved our guidance to the schools, colleges and training providers that administer the bursary on how they can better identify and support eligible young carers. We also have strong links with the National Association of Managers of Student Services, a network of college staff who have direct responsibility for providing appropriate support for students. We have provided Carers Trust with access to this network so they can agree in partnership how they can better raise awareness of young carers’ circumstances and support requirements.

    Around 60%, of young carers are thought to be eligible for free school meals, and those who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years will be attracting pupil premium funding to the schools that they attend.

    Additionally, all young people who have not achieved their full potential at age 16 in terms of achieving a grade C in English and maths GCSE at the age of 16 attract extra funding to provide the educational support they need to achieve and progress. Any young carer who finds themselves in this situation will be able to access additional educational support from their school or college.

    We also funded Suffolk Family Carers over £111,000 in 2015-16 to run a local project to raise awareness of young carers amongst teachers, non-teaching staff and school nurses, including a focus on young carers’ mental health, supporting Suffolk County Council’s strategy on young carers. We are now evaluating that project.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on how many of the 35 individuals named under the US Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 currently hold assets in the UK.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The information requested is not held by HM Treasury.

    The Treasury does not routinely hold information regarding ownership of UK assets.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Europe of 8 June 2016, Official Report, column 137WH, when the cross-departmental programme expenditure funding to support Yemen’s national de-mining institution will be released.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has thus far released £671,592 of funding from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund to UNDP, who manage the project rebuilding the capacity of Yemen’s national demining institution (YEMAC) and supporting mapping and clearance operations. This project, to which the UK will contribute a total of £1.05m, will reduce the physical and social-economic impact of mines and explosive remnants of war on people and communities. This is part of the UK’s wider efforts to help address Yemen’s urgent humanitarian needs and contribute to effective stabilisation – giving the nascent peace process a better chance of success.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the British High Commissions in India and Pakistan are providing to British citizens affected by the violence in Kashmir.

    Alok Sharma

    The Foreign & Commonwealth Office encourages all British nationals to check the FCO’s Travel Advice web pages before travelling. This highlights the current unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir. It explains that due to the accessibility and current unrest in the area, the level of consular assistance that the FCO can provide is extremely limited.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making savings in the pharmaceutical supply chain instead of reducing funding to community pharmacies.

    David Mowat

    The Department introduced the Health Service Supplies (Costs) Bill on 15 September. This Bill is intended to enable my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State to make regulations to obtain information from across the supply chain to assure itself that all parts of the supply chain provides value for money to the National Health Service and the taxpayer. We expect everyone in the NHS and the supply chain should play its part in achieving efficiency savings.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to help establish an international agreement on surrogacy arrangements and harmonisation of the law and practice on surrogacy overseas.

    Jane Ellison

    The Hague Conference on Private International Law, of which the United Kingdom is a Member State, has set up an Experts’ Group to examine whether there is a realistic prospect of progress in this area. The Experts’ Group will report in March 2016.

  • Liam Fox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Liam Fox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of single farm payment and basic payment claims to the Rural Payments Agency are outstanding.

    George Eustice

    The payment window for the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 runs between 1st December 2015 and 30th June 2016.

    We received around 88,000 Basic Payment Scheme applications for 2015. On the 1st December, the opening of the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 payment window, we paid around 33,000 claims. This means that, as a proportion, around 62% of claims are still being processed.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to announce details of the responsibilities to be imposed on the five cities in which clean air zones will be introduced.

    Rory Stewart

    We will be working closely over the coming months with the five cities in which Clean Air Zones are to be introduced to develop the detail of the actions required. An impact assessment of the proposals for Clean Air Zones will be published later this year alongside a consultation on a framework for Clean Air Zones and the secondary legislation to be introduced.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Atos or Capita have (a) targets or (b) guidelines for the number or proportion of personal independence payment applications which are successful.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Providers have no targets or guidelines relating to the outcome of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applications. Atos and Capita supply the Department with an assessment report on PIP claimants; They do not determine the suitability of that claimant for the benefit. That is decided by Departmental Decision Makers.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5646), when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority changed its practice; what the reasons were for doing so; and how that change in practice had previously been communicated publicly.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) cannot confirm when this practice changed. Making provision for interested members of the public to make their views known, whilst not a legal requirement under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, was part of the HFEA’s past practice although very few applications attracted a response. This change was not communicated publicly.