Category: Speeches

  • Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the Government’s Visa and Entry Clearance Office in Dakha, Bangladesh is being relocated to New Delhi, India.

    James Brokenshire

    Decision making on UK visa applications lodged in Bangladesh was moved from Dhaka to New Delhi in September 2014. Logistical changes like this are made for operational reasons and to refine the longstanding hub and spoke structure of the visa network, where applications are decided at regional decision making centres. UKVI retains a small team in the British High Commission, Dhaka to carry out local checks and the remote printing of some visas. There has been, and will be, no change to the customer experience when applying for a visa in Bangladesh. Customers are still able to apply in the same Visa Application Centres (Dhaka and Sylhet) and applications are decided within the same global customer service standards (15 working days for non-settlement or 60 days for settlement).

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of those eligible service personnel who have left the armed forces have participated in the Specialist Support Programme of the Careers Transition Partnership in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    Information is held on personnel that have participated in the Specialist Support Programme (SSP) (formerly the Recovery Careers Service and now called CTP Assist) for the period 1 April 2013 – 30 September 2014. Data prior to this date is not held as there was no requirement to collate this information prior to April 2013.

    All eligible individuals who require support from the SSP are referred to it. Between 2013-14 and 2014-15 the following numbers of personnel have participated in the SSP:

    2013-14 – 3,000

    2014-15 (1 April 2014 – 30 September 2014) – 1,960

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken steps to liaise with police and crime commissioners and local authorities on the proposed ban on novel psychoactive substances.

    Karen Bradley

    On 17 September 2015, the Minister for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims wrote to all chief constables, copied to police and crime commissioners, to inform them of the Psychoactive Substances Bill and to invite them to operational workshops for enforcement partners taking place in February. The Local Government Association, Trading Standards and other law enforcement partners have been engaged through the cross government implementation working group as well as the police psychoactive substances enforcement working group over the last few months in preparation for the commencement of the Bill.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he holds on steps being taken to rescue Yazidis being held hostage by Daesh in Syria and Iraq.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We hold no specific information on steps being taken to rescue Yazidis being held hostage by Daesh in Syria and Iraq. However, Yazidi hostages have been freed by the Peshmerga during recent offensive operations against Daesh. We are also aware of media reports of organisations who are working to free those being held hostage.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of child abuse flagged by sexual offences have been investigated in each police force area in each of the last three years.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office does not collect data on the number of cases of sexual offences flagged as child abuse that have been investigated.

    The Home Office collects information on the number of crimes the police in England and Wales record and the outcomes they assign to these crimes. The Home Office is clear that all crimes reported to the police should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.

    From the data the Home Office receives, information can only be provided for certain sexual offences that identify that the victim is aged under 18 by the name of the offence in statute, namely:

     Rape of a female child under 16

     Rape of a female child under 13

     Rape of a male child under 16

     Rape of a male child under 13

     Sexual assault on a female child under 13

     Sexual assault on a male child under 13

     Sexual activity involving a child under 13

     Sexual activity involving child under 16

     Sexual grooming (the victim must be under 16)

     Abuse of position of trust in a sexual nature (under 17)

     Abuse of children through sexual exploitation

    Data for these offences by police force area are available in the police recorded crime and outcomes open data available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the current Police and Crime Commissioners are standing for re-election in May.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Twenty seven of forty current police and crime commissioners (PCCs) for police force areas where ordinary PCC elections are taking place this May are standing for re-election.

    This excludes Greater London, where the elected mayor exercises PCC functions in respect of the Metropolitan Police, and Greater Manchester, where the ordinary PCC election has been cancelled to pave the way for the transfer of PCC functions to an elected mayor in May 2017, with the term of the current PCC extended to that point.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the maximum distance recommended by NHS England is for people with severe asthma to travel to receive day-case treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England commissions severe asthma services in line with national specifications to ensure that patient numbers are sufficient to support safe, quality service provision. It is revising the severe asthma service specification which is expected to be published later in 2016.

    Nationally there are 27 trusts that have identified themselves as providing severe asthma services.

    NHS England does not specify travel distances for patients attending treatment for severe asthma.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-07-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the US Treasury decision to impose sanctions on North Korean senior officials in the light of reported human rights abuses; and whether they plan to impose similar sanctions.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The US decision to designate senior members of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) regime follows its decision to introduce the US North Korea Sanctions Policy Enhancement Act in February 2016. The British Government shares the objective of maintaining pressure on the DPRK to fulfil its international human rights obligations and is deeply concerned by the human rights situation in the DPRK. It regularly consults with partners such as the US, the EU and regional partners on the best way to achieve this.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of inward investment in (a) Liverpool, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West.

    Mark Garnier

    The Department for International Trade (DIT) does not publish figures below the UK regional level. However, DIT has published regional figures for 2011/12 to 2015/16 which can be located via the link below to the relevant section on the Gov.UK website.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-direct-investment-projects-by-ukti-regions-201011-to-201415/foreign-direct-investment-projects-by-uk-region-201011-to-201415

    “

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what decision his Department has made on the use of the £6 billion of funding allocated for the implementation of phase 2 of the Care Act 2014 now that the implementation of that phase has been postponed.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises that social care is vital to enabling people to live healthy and independent lives.

    Funding decisions for 2016/17 onwards, including on adult social care, are subject to the forthcoming Spending Review.

    Officials in the Department and across government are working hard to understand pressures on the care system and will consider adult social care expenditure and future demand as part of this process.