Category: Speeches

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have applied for asylum on the basis of sexual orientation; how many of these claims have been unsuccessful; on what grounds those unsuccessful applications were refused in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office is currently undertaking a process to quality assure information on its Case Information Database relating to sexuality based asylum claims.

    Until this exercise has concluded it is not possible to provide an accurate picture of the number of asylum claims based solely, or partly on sexuality.

  • Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations on public funding to match charitable support for a National Mesothelioma Centre have been received by (1) HM Treasury, (2) the Department of Health, and (3) the Department for International Development.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    These Departments have received representations concerning this issue from the noble Lord, Lord Wills of North Swindon and other noble Lords. The Department of Health has received a letter from the British Lung Foundation that mentions this issue.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of patients referred to the Fit for Work service since its launch have since returned to work.

    Justin Tomlinson

    An evaluation strategy is in place for Fit for Work. As part of this, a formal process evaluation is being undertaken. The formal evaluation will include feedback from employee users of the service, GPs and employers. Return to work will also be covered. Monthly performance group meetings take place between the Department and the providers in both England/Wales and Scotland together with weekly meetings to discuss management information and performance issues.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the level of investment in UK oil and gas production until May 2020.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The latest published projections of development capital expenditure by the UK upstream oil and gas industry are those in Supplementary Table 2.1 to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s June 2015 Fiscal Sustainability Report:

    http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/fsr/fiscal-sustainability-report-june-2015/.

    This had annual investment (in £ billion) at the following levels:

    2016

    2017

    2018

    2019

    2020

    8.3

    6.6

    5.9

    4.9

    4.2

    Updated projections informed by recently-received information from operators should be published alongside the Economic and Fiscal Outlook which will accompany the forthcoming Budget.

    “

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 29 January (HL5640), whether they request and collate statistics from each local authority about pupils who are regularly absent from school, or who have been deleted from the admission register in certain circumstances.

    Lord Nash

    Pupil absence information is collected by the Department at an enrolment level through the School Census.

    Absence information, including figures relating to those pupils who are persistent absentees, is published three times a year in the following National Statistics releases:

    • Pupil absence in schools in England: autumn term

    • Pupil absence in schools in England: autumn and spring term

    • Pupil absence in schools in England: full academic year

    The Department does not collect information on pupils who have been deleted from the admission register for specific circumstances.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of respite care and support for family carers.

    Alistair Burt

    The Short and Long Term (SALT) Care data collection for 2014-15 show the number of cared-for people receiving respite or other forms of carer support;

    (a) England – 55,735

    (b) Birmingham local authority area – 635

    (c) Swindon local authority area – 160

    The data include other forms of support as well as emergency respite places; a precise figure for emergency respite places is not available. We are working with councils to improve data in this area for future iterations of the SALT Care data collection.

    The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by unpaid carers and the importance of supporting them in their caring roles. That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. This includes a right to an assessment on the appearance of needs for support. These assessments cover carers’ wellbeing and what support they may need in their caring role.

    The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these improved carers’ rights in 2015/16. We have also made an additional £400 million available to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to provide carers with breaks from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The equivalent annual allocation of £130 million for carers breaks is now included in the Better Care Fund.

    The Department is also leading the development of a new cross-Government National Carers Strategy that will look at what more we can do to support existing carers and future carers.

  • 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 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of children in Calais who are waiting to be reunited with their families in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    There is no official estimate of the number of children in Calais, this is primarily a matter for the French authorities. It is only possible to assess whether an individual has links to the UK that could enable a transfer on family unity grounds once they make an application for asylum in France.

    Once an asylum claim is lodged in France the Dublin Regulation procedure requesting the UK to take charge of a child on family unity grounds takes place very quickly, often in a matter of weeks, subject to consideration of the evidence in each individual case. An average time is not available for each of the last three years.

    Since February 2016 the UK has accepted 30 family reunification applications from minors in France of which 23 have already been transferred to the UK.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    The information requested (as at 31 March in each of the two years) is presented below. The figures given take into consideration only information about staff who have formally declared their ethnicity.

    Average Hourly Rate 2015

    Average Hourly Rate 2016

    Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff

    £18.50

    £19.03

    Non-Black and Minority Ethnic (Non-BME) Staff

    £24.23

    £24.34

    17% of the Department’s staff are BME which is above the Civil Service average. The difference in average hourly rates between BME and non BME staff is due to there being a higher proportion of BME staff in junior grades at present.

    To encourage recruitment and promotion of talented individuals from a BME background, the Department has undertaken several initiatives including, but not limited to, blind recruitment forms, mandatory unconscious bias training for all staff and a suite of other Diversity and Inclusion training, such as Race Awareness, Positive Action Pathways, and Future Leaders Schemes.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to safeguard levels of research funding in universities as a result of the outcome of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government recognises the importance of our research base, which is why we have protected the science resource budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the parliament.

    The future of UK access to European research and innovation funding will be a matter for the new Prime Minister and government to decide. The Government is determined to ensure that the UK continues to play a leading role in European and international research and innovation.

  • Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Byron Davies on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations the International Corruption Unit (ICU) at the National Crime Agency (NCA) inherited from other agencies when it was first established; and how many new investigations the ICU at the NCA has started since it was established.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The International Corruption Unit (ICU) at the National Crime Agency (NCA) inherited 23 investigations. Since it was first established it has commenced 24 new investigations. (Figures have been provided by the NCA).