Category: Speeches

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government gave to Lord Davies during his work to produce his report on women on boards.

    Margot James

    Lord Davies chaired the independent and business-led Women on Boards review from 2010 to 2015 to increase the representation of women on FTSE 100 boards to 25% by 2015.

    The former department (BIS) provided a small secretariat to support his work. A number of sponsors and stakeholders also contributed to the successful publishing of his reports.

  • Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris White on 2016-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policy on Yemen of the airstrike in Sanaa on 8 October 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I visited Riyadh on 13 October and met with Saudi Foreign Minister Al Jubeir to discuss the airstrike on a funeral hall and efforts to revive the stalled political process in Yemen. I welcome the release of the report by the Coalition’s Joint Incidents Assessment Team into the incident. This will be used to contribute to our overall view on the approach and attitude of Saudi Arabia to international humanitarian law.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made through the Permanent Mission to the United Nations regarding the incitement of violence in Burma against the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government supports the Special Rapporteur, Professor Yanghee Lee, and deplores the hateful and threatening language that has been used against her by MaBaTha monk Wirathu. We have also called for Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs to take action on the matter. I was able to convey my sympathy and concern to Professor Lee in person during her visit to London in March. Last week, we publicly reiterated our support for Professor Lee and her mandate at the UN General Assembly in New York, at a dedicated session discussing her most recent report on the Human rights situation in Burma.

    Unfortunately, statements like those of Wirathu are symptomatic of a troubling rise in intolerance, discrimination and hate speech in Burma. We have repeatedly raised our concerns over this trend, both bilaterally and in company with our international partners. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with senior Burmese government ministers during his visit to Burma in July and, most recently, with Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in September in New York.

  • Bob Blackman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Bob Blackman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will undertake an analysis of the feasibility of devolving property taxes to London linked to specific infrastructure projects.

    Mr David Gauke

    By 2020, local government will retain 100% of business rates and will have the power to reduce business rates. Directly elected mayoral authorities, such as the Mayor of London, will have the power to levy a small supplement on business rates to fund new infrastructure.

    In the last Parliament, the Government gave local councils greater power over council tax support schemes and the treatment of second homes and empty properties. The Government believes there would be difficulties in devolving other property taxes, such as Stamp Duty Land Tax and Capital Gains Tax, to London as this would create a distortive effect around the border, increase administration costs and complexity and expose local government to significant fiscal risk.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of current and past students who it expects will be able to pay off their student loans in full.

    Joseph Johnson

    The student loan system is progressive, with income contingent repayments protecting those on the lowest incomes and loans that have not been fully repaid being cancelled after 30 years. Therefore only a proportion of students are expected to fully repay their loans within this repayment term, although almost all students will repay at least part of their loan.

    The BIS Student Loan Repayment Model forecasts that around 45% of current full time students will fully repay their student loan. The majority of these students have Plan 2 student loans.

    It is forecast that around 75% of all past students with student loans since 1998 that are still making repayments will fully repay their student loan. This includes all full time students that finished their courses in the 2015/16 financial year or earlier, the majority of whom have Plan 1 student loans.

    The above figure for past students does not include those borrowers who have already fully repaid their student loan or had it cancelled. The Student Loan Company publication ‘Student Loans in England: financial year 2014-15’ published in June 2015 shows statistics on the number of borrowers that had fully repaid their loans or had them cancelled up to the end of April 2015. This can be found at the following link:

    http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx

    “

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what arrangements people can be extradited from Pakistan to the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015 there were no extraditions from Pakistan to the UK.

    There is no bilateral extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan and, unless a multilateral convention applies, extradition is on the basis of reciprocity.

    The Government will neither confirm nor deny whether it is considering or is involved in negotiations with a particular country regarding an extradition treaty.

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the growth of the red squirrel population.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government is committed to protecting and expanding red squirrel populations and tackling the threats that grey squirrels pose to them.

    Since December 2014 the Forestry Commission has been undertaking a number of actions to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels resulting from an updated grey squirrel action plan for England. These have included measures to control grey squirrels in red squirrel areas, through forestry options under Countryside Stewardship and the previous English Woodland Grant Scheme.

    Additionally, the Government participates in and supports Red Squirrels Northern England, a partnership project between the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Wildlife Trusts, which is helping to protect and expand the biggest population of red squirrels left in England.

    We are also working together with a range of stakeholders under the UK Squirrel Accord, which aims to promote partnership working to increase public awareness and support for action to protect red squirrels and woodlands from grey squirrels.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of rising house prices, they intend to make representations to the Bank of England discouraging it from reducing interest rates.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The UK’s monetary policy framework, set out in the Bank of England Act 1998, gives operational responsibility for monetary policy to the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Decisions on the use of monetary policy tools are for the judgement of the MPC.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to promote diplomatic connections between the UK and other Commonwealth countries.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have well established Diplomatic connections between the UK and other Commonwealth countries both through the FCO’s global network and through Ministerial and official contacts with Commonwealth High Commissions and the Commonwealth Secretariat. These enable us to engage with the 52 other Commonwealth members both bilaterally and on Commonwealth business. In 2014 we appointed the first UK Commonwealth Envoy specifically to forge closer ties with London-based High Commissioners and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Our membership of international organisations such as the UN Security Council and EU means that we are uniquely placed to make our voice heard, particularly in support of the Commonwealth’s smaller members.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to safeguard the existing rights under EU treaties of non-UK EU citizens living in the UK in the event of a vote to leave the EU.

    James Brokenshire

    Article 50 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union deals with the process of exiting the EU.

    More detail is set out in the Government’s White Paper: ‘The process for withdrawing from the European Union’, published on 29 February. The White Paper is available on the GOV.UK website, using the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-process-for-withdrawing-from-the-european-union