Category: Speeches

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will publish the guidance provided to government Ministers by the Cabinet Secretary on the entitlement of such Ministers to make use of (a) special advisors, (b) departmental officials and (c) legal advisors to provide advice on the implications of (i) remaining in and (ii) leaving the EU.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the letter of 23 February from the Cabinet Secretary, a copy of which can be found on the gov.uk website.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many cases have been received by the Housing Ombudsman in each year since 2009-10.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Housing Ombudsman is an independent body whose objective it is to resolve disputes involving tenants and leaseholders of social landlords and their voluntary members.

    The levels of complaints and enquiries have increased year on year since 2006 and there was a 64% increase between 2012-13 and 2014-15, which is due to an extension of The Housing Ombudsman’s remit to cover local housing authorities. The total number of enquiries and complaints received by the Housing Ombudsman are provided in the table below:

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    8,360

    8,643

    9,010

    9,958

    12,782

    16,337

    15,984

    The majority of these cases are resolved informally but the following table shows the number of formal determinations made by the Housing Ombudsman each year.

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Within jurisdiction

    458

    559

    501

    543

    520

    579

    976

    Outside jurisdiction

    108

    73

    104

    100

    160

    240

    125

    Total

    566

    632

    605

    643

    680

    819

    1101
  • Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of forced marriage the police investigated in England as that offence in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice will not be tolerated in the UK.

    The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) (a joint FCO and Home Office Unit) leads the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. It carries out a range of awareness raising work, including a comprehensive programme of outreach, new e-learning for professionals, and the launch of short film aimed at deterring potential perpetrators. For the financial years 2014-16, the Home Office has allocated £200,000 to the FMU.

    Statistics on the number of cases of forced marriage investigated by the police are not collected centrally. The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) most recent violence against women and girls report shows that the volume of referrals from the police to the CPS with a forced marriage element is going up: from 67 in 2013-14, to 82 in 2014-15. In addition, to date over 1,000 Forced Marriage Protection Orders have been issued to prevent marriages from taking place and to assist in repatriating victims.

    We are encouraged by the first conviction secured in June last year, but there is still work to be done. We want to see more victims having the confidence to come forward and being identified by the police. As part of the wider work to improve the police response to so-called ‘honour’ based violence, we will continue to work with the partners to review the implementation of the new legislation and lead efforts to tackle this barbaric crime.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, whether any pedestrian entry points to the Parliamentary Estate are restricted to particular categories of passholder, and if so what those restrictions are at each point.

    Tom Brake

    The main Parliamentary Estate has the following pedestrian entrances available to passholders (see exceptions to this below):

    House of Commons

    • Canon Row/Derby Gate
    • 1 Parliament Street
    • Carriage Gates Turnstiles
    • Subway – Westminster Tube
    • Cromwell Green Visitor Entrance
    • St Stephen’s Entrance
    • Portcullis House
    • 53 Parliament Street


    House of Lords

    • Black Rod’s Garden
    • Chancellor’s Gate
    • Peers’ Entrance – By convention and practice, only Peers and their spouses or partners are allowed to use this entrance. Members of the House of Lords are allowed to invite up to six guests in via this route unless dispensation to bring in more is given by Black Rod. Guests must be booked in by name before they are allowed access.

    Pedestrian entry points to outbuildings which form part of the Parliamentary Estate are not restricted to particular categories of passholder.

    Holders of the following passes have restricted access to certain pedestrian entrances on the Estate:

    • Former Member Passes – Subway, St Stephen’s, Portcullis House entrances only
    • House of Commons Nursery Passes – 1 Parliament Street entrance only
    • Westminster Gym Passes – Derby Gate entrance only
    • MEP Passes – MEPs are only able to access the House of Lords via Black Rod’s Garden entrance and can only use readers within the House of Lords.
  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many full-time equivalent officials in her Department have been seconded to the Department for Exiting the European Union; and what the grades are of those officials.

    Rory Stewart

    One member of DFID staff has taken up a Grade 6 role within the Department for Exiting the European Union on a loan basis. We expect that several DFID staff will be strong candidates for other roles in the new Department currently being advertised.

  • Lord Touhig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Touhig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Touhig on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase staff retention in the Defence Medical Services.

    Earl Howe

    The Defence Medical Services (DMS) takes very seriously the issue of retention and ensures the views expressed by personnel in exit interviews, conducted when they leave the Service, inform policy in this area.

    There are no Financial Retention Incentives for personnel within the DMS as a whole. However, the Royal Navy has introduced Financial Retention Incentives for Submariner Medical Assistants based on their Return of Service. In addition, Medical and Dental Officers, Nurses (Officers and Other Ranks) and Veterinary Officers have bespoke pay spines which are seen as retention positive. Specialist Nurses are also able to claim Recruitment and Retention Pay.

    There are a number of non-remunerative incentives for DMS personnel and these include access to funded Continuing Professional Development courses; career opportunities outside the main clinical roles and responsibilities; inter trade transfers (predominantly from Combat Medical Technicians and Medical Assistants into an Allied Health Professional trade or Nursing) and the availability of post graduate training.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Defence and International Development on ensuring that full and proper account is taken of the importance of international humanitarian law in areas of potential conflict and war.

    Jeremy Wright

    I meet regularlywith Ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest, including on international humanitarian law. I am not able to talk about any legal content of those discussions because, by convention, whether the Law Officers have given advice or not is not disclosed outside Government. All legal advice provided by the Law Officers is confidential and subject to legal professional privilege.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on amending immigration rules to support the curry industry.

    Anna Soubry

    My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has regular discussions with the Home Secretary on a wide variety of issues.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Prime Minister will increase the Government’s commitment beyond 20,000 on the number of Syrian refugees it plans to offer asylum to.

    Richard Harrington

    The UK has already committed to resettling 20,000 refugees from the region during this parliament through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme, and we have no plans to increase this at the present time.

    Resettlement is only one strand of our efforts in the region, and is complemented by the UK’s significant humanitarian aid programme, and our diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. We believe this approach is the best way to ensure that the UK’s help has the greatest impact for the majority of refugees who remain in the region and their host countries.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 27211, whether the remit of permission granted to use the Sigonella air station extends to UK (a) Reaper launch and recovery operations and (b) combat missions.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We have had a long-standing presence at Naval Air Station Sigonella, and have made frequent use of it. However, it is not normal practice to comment on the details of arrangements with host nations.