Category: Speeches

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the review from Keele University, published in the Journal of Ecology, warning that almost all ash trees in Europe will be wiped out due to the fungal disease ash dieback and the emerald ash borer beetle, and what plans they have to tackle these twin problems.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    We are committed to protecting our country from tree pests and diseases and we want to ensure that the ash tree continues to have a place in our environment. To support this we have invested over £21 million in tree health research.

    Natural tolerance to ash dieback does exist and the UK is leading research to identify resistant strains. Ash trees have a wide genetic diversity and potential for greater levels of resistance compared to other tree species affected by diseases.

    There have been no findings of emerald ash borer anywhere in the EU. We have identified this pest as a threat, have introduced restrictions to protect against its introduction and are screening native populations of ash trees grown abroad for resistance.

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the invitation to tender to be issued for the franchise currently held by South West trains.

    Claire Perry

    The Department is finalising the specification for the South Western franchise so that it offers the best possible proposition for passengers. I expect to issue the Invitation to Tender later this month.

  • Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Crawley on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of (a) rape and (b) sexual abuse have been reported in detention centres in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    All complaints made by detainees are investigated by the relevant supplier in accordance with Detention Services Order 03/2015 ‘Handling complaints’. Any allegations of serious misconduct made by a detainee against staff are also referred to the Home Office Professional Standards Unit (PSU) for investigation. Where a detainee, or someone on behalf of a detainee, alleges that a member of staff has committed a sexual offence against them the police will automatically be notified, even if the detainee does not wish the matter to be reported or to make a formal complaint.

    Management information shows that there have been six allegations of sexual assault made by detainees against staff at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre between 2013 and 2015. Of these six allegations, one was made in 2013, three in 2014 and two in 2015.

    In the same period there have been two Home Office PSU investigations into allegations of sexual assault made by detainees against staff in other immigration removal centres. Both allegations were made in 2015. There have been no allegations of rape made by a detainee against staff at any immigration removal centre during this period.

    This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

    Information on the number of women who have been deported following an allegation of sexual abuse or rape while in detention is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many fixed-wing jet trainees are projected to graduate from the Ascent Flight Training programme between 2016 and 2019; and when the programme is due to be fully up and running.

    Earl Howe

    It is anticipated that 118 fixed wing jet trainees will graduate from the Ascent Flight Training programme between 2016 and 2019. All elements of the recently contracted UK Military Flying Training System are due to be fully up and running by April 2019.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has for the number of full-time equivalent staff to be in the benefit cap processing team when the lower benefit cap is implemented; and what estimate he has made of the cost of those staff to the public purse.

    Caroline Nokes

    The implementation funding for additional benefit cap processing is circa £1.4m to provide an additional 44 FTE staff in steady state for Universal Credit and current benefit claimants.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2015 to Question 14454, what (a) funding and (b) other support the Government has offered UNHCR to identify people for resettlement to date.

    Richard Harrington

    We recognise that the scaling up of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme is placing additional demands on UNHCR and have offered them additional support in the form of funding, equipment and seconded personnel, to help with upscaling their resettlement operations. We are currently finalising a support package and will publish details of this once agreed.

    This assistance is in addition to £122 million we have already allocated to UNHCR’s work in Syria and the region since the start of the crisis.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people applied for British passports through the passport section of the British embassy in Dublin in the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    Her Majesty’s Passport Office Belfast commenced the repatriation of application processing for customers residing in the Republic of Ireland on 20th January 2014 and the decommissioning of passport processing at the British Embassy in Dublin was completed by 31st March 2014. Therefore, no applications for British passports will have been dealt with or issued by the British Embassy Dublin after 31 March 2014.

  • 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 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of what the primary sources of finance for Daesh are; and what steps the Government is taking to disrupt those sources.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    Daesh has two main sources of funding. About 40% comes from extorting communities living in territory it controls; and around 40% from selling oil. It also gets a small amount of funding from selling looted antiquities and donations from individuals in the region and around the world.

    Tackling Daesh financing is a key element of our comprehensive strategy. This involves military action, enforcement of sanctions and engagement with international partners.

    The RAF carried out 15% of the airstrikes in the Global Coalition’s recent offensive targeting Daesh oil facilities. Since this offensive began, the Coalition has destroyed 25% of the Daesh daily oil production capability, which equates to approximately 10% of their total income.

    The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international legal regime to cut off support for Daesh, including UN and EU sanctions against Daesh. This regime is underpinned by UN Security Council Resolutions 2178, 2199, 1267 and 2253. We are expanding existing work with regional partners to ensure implementation of these sanctions and hamper Daesh’s ability to trade outside the formal financial system, and to stop smuggling.

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total value is of the bills government departments have paid to private businesses more than 60 days after the date the invoice was received since 2010-11.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on 5 February 2016 to UIN: 25347.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that local authorities have the (a) financial and (b) other capacity to deliver free childcare to those people who are most deprived.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Since September 2014 around 40% of disadvantaged two-year-olds have been entitled to an early education place. In 2012 the Government contracted ‘Achieving 2-year-olds’ to support local authorities in expanding the two-year-old entitlement. This support is working, and data from the latest voluntary survey of local authorities shows that an estimated 182,000 children were funded during the seven week period in the autumn of 2015, as take-up of the entitlement has increased to 72% of eligible children. This is building on local authorities’ successful delivery of 15 hours of early education per week to all three- and four-year olds, with 99% of four-year-olds and 94% of three-year-olds taking up a place.

    The Government is investing in childcare at record levels, and total Government spend on childcare will increase from £5 billion in 2015-16 to over £6 billion by 2019-20. This includes almost £4 billion for the current free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, disadvantaged two-year-olds and the early years pupil premium for three- and four-year-olds, as well as funding for the extended entitlement for working parents of three- and four-year-olds. The funding also includes £300 million for a significant uplift to the rate paid for the two, three and four-year-old entitlements, including for children from deprived backgrounds.