Category: Speeches

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will press for an amendment of the current indicator for health within the Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure it accurately measures coverage of health services and financial risk protection.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    There are 25 proposed indicators for the health goal; the coverage of health services is included within these as is a measure relating to health financing. The United Nations Statistical Commission has asked the Inter-Agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators to take forward further work on the indicator framework, including a review of the indicator on health financing due to the concerns over its ability to measure financial risk protection in its current form. The UK supported the request for review.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Hungarian government about the sale of Hungarian residency bonds through off-shore companies.

    Mr David Lidington

    Neither I, nor the The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), have had any discussions with the Hungarian government on this issue.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on the potential link between high blood pressure in people of 30 to 40 years of age and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has had no such discussions.

    Dementia is a key priority for this Government. That is why on 6 March 2016, we published the Implementation Plan to support the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020. As part of the Plan, we will transform our approach to risk reduction, using the NHS Health Check programme to educate more people earlier about the risks of developing dementia – and the steps they could take to reduce those risks.

    In March 2016, we announced that Public Health England, in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, will pilot approaches to the dementia awareness and risk reduction component of the NHS Health Check, specifically with the younger age group, aged 40-64.

    The Government has also signed up to the Blackfriars’ Consensus, which, made clear that individuals can reduce their risk of dementia by living healthier lives by not smoking, drinking less, keeping physically active and better managing diabetes.

  • The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to maintain their policy of universal free access to the UK’s national museums and galleries.

    Lord Ashton of Hyde

    Yes. The Government recognises the benefits that free access to the national museums and galleries brings to the public and to the UK economy. The Spending Review 2015 committed to continued free access to the permanent collections of the national museums and galleries as part of a settlement that maintained funding in cash terms for museum and galleries over the Spending Review period. Museum policy is a devolved matter for their respective administrations although the National Museums of Wales and Scotland are also free of charge, as are the National Armed Forces museums sponsored by the Ministry of Defence.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of Islamophobic abuse have been recorded in each of the last five years.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office does not hold the requested information. The Home Office has published data for 2011/12 to 2014/15 on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales for the five centrally monitored strands (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity) but these data cannot be broken down by religion of the victim. The 2015/16 data will have been published on 13 October 2016.

    From April 2016, the Home Office began collecting data from the police on the targeted religion of religious hate crime offences in order to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account. This information will be provided voluntarily in 2016/17, but we intend to make it mandatory from the following year. We will publish the first data from this collection in the 2016/17 Hate Crime statistics publication in 2017.

    This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Jonathan Edwards – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which non-party political organisations he has worked with in developing the proposed Wales Bill.

    Stephen Crabb

    As Secretary of State I meet regularly with many non-party political organisations to discuss a range of issues, including the draft Wales Bill. These include business organisations, representatives of the legal profession, academics and representatives of Welsh civil society.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the value of compensation given for delayed switches in the energy market in the last 12 months for which records are available.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Each supplier is responsible for managing complaints about delayed switches. Suppliers must have in place a process for handling complaints, including those concerning delayed switches. This process includes a requirement to explain to the customer the remedies available, including compensation and remedial action.

    Ofgem will take enforcement action against suppliers who unjustifiably block customers switching to a new supplier and can instruct suppliers to pay compensation to customers who lose out financially.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he intends to answer the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 9 November 2015 with regard to Mr S Hewitt.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    A reply to the letter from the right hon member for Manchester, Gorton, was sent on 21 December.

  • Craig Willia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Craig Willia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Willia on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the Government’s objectives are for the Syria Donors Conference on 4 February 2016.

    Justine Greening

    We want the Conference to raise significant new funding to help those affected by the crisis, both to support immediate and longer term humanitarian needs but also jobs and getting Syrian refugee children into school. The Conference also aims to reaffirm the international community’s commitment to protect civilians from harm and the need for unfettered, impartial humanitarian access inside Syria.

  • 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 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Government policies on ensuring the (a) security of UK ports and (b) identification and checking of containers for contraband, trafficked persons or other illegal activity are the responsibility of his Department; and which such policies which are the responsibility of another department his Department has a secondary role in.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport (DfT) is responsible for ensuring that proportionate security measures are in place to protect ports, passengers and ships registered in this country. These measures are risk based and are designed to mitigate the threat from terrorism. This work involves close co-operation with other government departments, the Police and the maritime industry.

    The Home Office is responsible for the detection of contraband and trafficked persons at UK Ports. DfT works closely with the Home Office and other partner agencies to counter this type of illegal activity.