Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what safety improvements have been undertaken on the A34 in the last five years.

    Mr John Hayes

    In the last five years Highways England has carried out twelve specific safety schemes on the A34.

    The Gore Hill HGV restriction scheme started as a trial in 2010 and was made permanent in September 2011 because of its success in reducing accidents.

    Between 2011 and 2012, Highways England completed four safety schemes, namely the Botley Northbound Merge Improvements, Whitchurch Directional Signing, Winnal Layby Improvement, and the Oxford Resurfacing Scheme. The layby and directional signs needed bringing up to current standards to improve safety.

    Between 2014 and 2015, Highways England completed seven safety schemes, namely Kingsworthy Layby Improvement, Whitchurch Direction Signs Upgrade, A34/M3 Junction 9 Deer Vehicle Collisions Mitigation, A34 Passively Safe Signs, A34 Roadworker Safety, A34/M40 Junction 9 Wendlebury (Phase 2), and Didcot Drainage Maintenance. The drainage maintenance scheme was necessary to reduce the risk of future flooding between the A4130 Milton Interchange and the A4185 Chilton junction.

    Numerous Renewals, Structures and Technology schemes have been delivered on the A34 in the past five years and these schemes have had an inherent safety aspect inbuilt.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-10-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the timeframe to implement the Apprenticeship Levy; and what steps he is taking to ensure that businesses affected by the levy are given adequate time to make adjustments.

    Mr David Gauke

    From April 2017 the government will introduce a levy to fund the step change needed to achieve 3 million apprenticeship starts and an uplift in their quality by 2020. The systems required to implement this in time for April 2017 are on track and are being tested on a regular basis. This includes progress by both HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), with regards to the collection of the levy, and from the Skills Funding Agency who are building the digital accounts for employers to access levy funds.

    The Department for Education has issued guidance for employers regarding the apprenticeship levy. Further guidance, confirming the funding policy, will be published shortly. HMRC has also issued guidance to software developers to ensure that employers’ payroll systems are ready for the apprenticeship levy and will publish further guidance for employers in December.

    The government have been working with employers and training providers since the concept of the apprenticeship levy was introduced to ensure that it works for them. These conversations have played a major part in shaping how the apprenticeship levy will work and we will continue these discussions to assist employers and providers as they prepare for the introduction of the levy.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the quality of educational facilities in HM Prison Holloway; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    At HMP Holloway there are currently approximately 120 places in a morning session and the same in an afternoon session for women to attend education courses. Women may attend in one or two sessions each day depending on the type of course they are on. In addition there are approximately 40 places available to attend Physical Education provision and approximately 60 places in vocational training areas.

    The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 8th September a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates. The review will examine the scope, quality and effectiveness of current provision. It will consider the scope and range of the current curricula and identify the most effective teaching and delivery models. Stakeholders are being consulted and a Call for Evidence has been issued. The review is expected to report in the spring of 2016. A copy of the terms of reference are lodged in the library of the House and at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-prison-education-terms-of-reference

    “

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

    Karen Bradley

    The Department records actual staffing levels, but does not centrally record the number of jobs by location. Actual staffing levels for (a) the Department, between March 2010 and March 2015, have slightly reduced (less than 10 FTE¹) in Stoke-on-Trent. However, this does not necessarily mean that posts have been abolished or relocated as a consequence.

    The Department is still planning its workforce requirements for 2020 in line with the Spending Review settlement; this level of detail is not yet known.

    (b) For the Department’s executive non-departmental public bodies and statutory bodies, there have been no staff or offices based in Stoke-on-Trent during this period. The Department’s executive non-departmental Public Bodies are:

    • the Independent Police Complaints Commission;

    • the Gangmasters Licensing Authority;

    • the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner;

    • the Security Industry Authority; and

    • the Disclosure and Barring Service

    None of the Department’s Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs employ staff or have offices in Stoke-on-Trent.

    ¹Data Source: Data View, the Home Office’s single source of Office for National Statistics compliant monthly snapshot corporate human resources data Period Covered: Figures are as at 31 March each year.

    Extraction Date: 1st April each year

    Organisational Coverage: March-10 – Figures include core Home Office and the Executive Agencies; United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau March -15 – Figures include core Home Office (including Border Force, UK Visas & Immigration, Immigration En-forcement and Her Majesty’s Passport Office.) Employee Coverage: Data is based on headcount and FTE of all current paid and unpaid civil servants as at 31st March each year

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when HS2 Ltd plans to update its Register of Assurances and Undertakings to include agreements made after 23 September 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The publication date for the next iteration of the draft register of Undertakings & Assurances will be 26th February. This iteration will include all undertakings and assurances given up to and including 4 February 2016.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s guidance Overseas Business Risk – The Occupied Palestinian Territories, what advice they have given to local councils and other public bodies on (1) trade with businesses in the state of Israel, (2) trade with businesses in the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), (3) trade with Israeli companies that also work in the Israeli settlements in the OPTs, and (4) trade with any company from the UK that also has contracts in the Israeli settlements in the OPTs.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    On 17 February, the Government published procurement guidance for public authorities that makes clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK Government. It is general guidance for public authorities on contracting with suppliers from WTO countries.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the EU’s decision-making process is for (a) humanitarian and (b) military interventions; who is involved in those decision-making processes; and what the timetable for those processes is.

    Mr David Lidington

    The EU’s humanitarian assistance is administered primarily by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO). Approved implementation partners submit project proposals to ECHO in response to its Humanitarian Implementation Plan. ECHO has a number of decision-making procedures available to it: the delegation procedure, where ECHO has delegated powers for emergency humanitarian work up to a limit of €3m and a maximum duration of three months); and the empowerment procedure, where the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection may take decisions relating to emergency operations up to €30m (maximum €10m for non-urgent decisions) for a maximum of six months. These decisions are subject to a consultation procedure within the Commission. Emergency decisions exceeding €10m and non-urgent decisions exceeding €2m (and all other decisions not covered by the delegated or empowerment procedures) require the approval of the Humanitarian Aid Committee (of representatives of all EU Member States). These decisions can be made by consensus or by voting, simple majority or Qualified Majority Voting, depending on the circumstances. The voting procedure has not been used in the Humanitarian Aid Committee as yet. The timeframe for the Commission’s approval will depend on the urgency of the humanitarian crisis.

    EU military interventions fall under the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy. Proposals are framed by Member States and the European External Action Service. A military intervention requires two Council Decisions: one to establish the mission; and, once planning is complete, another to launch the mission. All CSDP Council Decisions require unanimity. Timescales for military interventions depend on a range of factors, such as operational urgency and planning requirements.

    There are other Commission-administered programmes, aside from those administered by ECHO, which have humanitarian aspects. Typically, under these programmes, the Commission is responsible for framing proposals with decision-making involving a committee of Member States.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on granting that Institute the power to be able to approve cancer drugs for use off-license.

    George Freeman

    Clinicians can prescribe any treatment, including an unlicensed product or a product not licensed for a particular indication, which they consider the best available medicine to meet the individual clinical needs of their patient, subject to their primary care organisation agreeing to fund this treatment.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) already produces Evidence Summaries which critically review the best available evidence for significant uses of unlicensed or off-label medicines. They help commissioners and clinicians to make evidence-based prioritisation, treatment and funding decisions where there are no clinically-appropriate licensed alternatives.

    Ensuring that patients get timely access to any new treatment, including off-label medicines in new indications, is complex and the Department is committed to working with stakeholders including NICE, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the General Medical Council, patient and professional groups, and charities to co-ordinate activities and set plans in place that will make this easier. This includes work to look at more systematic inclusion of off-label uses of drugs in the British National Formulary and development of case studies looking at re-purposed medicines and their pathways from research results into clinical practice.

    Alongside these, the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Act 2016 will, in due course, provide the National Health Service with a newly created database which will provide a mechanism for collecting and sharing information on innovative treatments including off-label drugs and medicines in development. Now that the Act has received Royal Assent the work to implement its provisions can begin.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times he has visited Wales in his official capacity since the last UK general election.

    Mike Penning

    Details of all ministerial meetings are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/moj-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.

    “

  • Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Elmore on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department provide any alternative support for people who have been refused a Start-up loan due to their credit score.

    Margot James

    The Start Up Loans Company assess applications based on a range of factors including business viability and affordability. If an application does not meet the lending criteria an applicant will be signposted to a number of credit reference agencies to obtain a copy of their credit report. Additionally, they will be signposted to other lending organisations and charities that may be able to help them.

    There are also other Government supported schemes to help people who want to set up and grow a business. The 39 Growth Hubs across England provide support to help businesses start-up and grow with the Business Support Helpline also providing information and guidance. In addition, individuals and small businesses can access the British Business Bank’s Business Finance Guide, which aims to ensure individuals understand the finance options available to them.