Category: Speeches

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what date he became aware that his Department would not be able to deliver the Universal Credit programme to its original deadline of the end of 2017.

    Priti Patel

    In early 2013 the Government reset the Universal Credit Programme, and a clear plan was developed to ensure delivery. The Programme has since been delivering against that plan in a safe, steady and secure way.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake a review of the effectiveness of the operations and governance of NHS Property Services.

    George Freeman

    NHS Property Services Ltd is a limited company that is fully owned by the Secretary of State for Health. Review of the effectiveness of its operations is an ongoing process by the company’s Board, which includes a Departmental senior civil servant as a Director, and by officials in the Department’s Commercial Division. Minsters have no plans for any further review of the company’s operations at this time.

    With regard to its governance, the company undertook a review of its corporate governance in 2014 to align itself more closely to UK Corporate Governance Code 2014, which applies to listed companies. This resulted in the introduction, during the year, of new Nomination and Facilities Management Committees.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what Tech City UK’s (a) total operations budget, (b) communications budget and (c) expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies was for (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Tech City UK (including Tech North) total operations budget was £2,500,000 in 2014-15; £4,223,000 in 2015-16; and £4,100,000 in 2016-17. Tech City UK (including Tech North) communications costs were £173,091 in 2014-15; £279,355 in 2015-16; and £5,000 in 2016-17 (YTD). These costs were all expenditure on third party communications, consultancy and public relations agencies

    Tech North’s communication costs were nil in 2014-15 and 2016-17 (YTD), and £74,500 in 2015-16. These costs were all expenditure on third party communications, consultancy and public relations agencies.

  • Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with Tata UK on that company’s sale of carbon credits and its pension fund deficit; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Ministers have held a number of meetings with Tata at which a wide range of issues impacting Tata’s business have been raised. These continue to be explored as part of our wider package of Government support for UK Steel. In addition, on 26 May 2016, the Department for Work and Pensions launched a consultation on the options for the British Steel Pension Scheme. The consultation has now closed and the responses are being considered carefully.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have been transferred from other EU member states to the UK under the Dublin regulations in each year from 2010 to 2016; and how many cases resulting from such applications have been completed in each of those years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We will always fully consider cases passed to us under the Dublin Regulation, and have made significant progress in improving and speeding up the existing processes via Dublin especially since the beginning of the year.

    Any request to unite family members under the Dublin Regulation is carefully considered. Where someone seeking asylum elsewhere in the EU can demonstrate they have close family members legally in the UK, we will take responsibility for that claim. At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation.

    The latest release of published data on asylum can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2016

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2016 to Question 48717, how many customers were interviewed in the small-scale qualitative evaluation of the Warm Home Discount scheme.

    Jesse Norman

    A total of 41 customers were interviewed as part of the evaluation of the Energy Rebate scheme.

    These customers were drawn from four representative sample groups of interest.

    The findings of the research can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220145/energy-rebate-scheme-evaluation.pdf

    “

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the length of time it is taking the British Virgin Island government to respond to its consultation on a public register of beneficial ownership.

    James Duddridge

    The BVI Government issued a public consultation document in November 2013, seeking public opinion on whether or not the BVI should adopt a central register of beneficial ownership. The consultation process concluded in March 2014 and this was followed by a review and analysis of the submissions. The results were published in February 2015. Since then the BVI Government has been working with the financial services industry to develop proposals which led to the Statement made by the Premier in the House of Assembly on 3 November on changes to the BVI Business Companies Act and Anti Money Laundering legislation. We will continue to work with the BVI authorities so that the changes to their systems meet the three criteria that the Government has set out.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 7 December (HL4065), whether they are in the process of submitting evidence of genocide against Yazidis and Assyrian Christians to international courts, and if so, which ones; when the international courts last declared a genocide to have taken place; and when the international courts last initiated a trial for genocide, and against whom.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are not submitting any evidence of possible genocide against Yezidis and Christians to international courts, nor have we been asked to.

    The most recent occasion on which an international court found genocide to have occurred was on 10 June 2010, when the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted several of the accused in the Prosecutor v. Popović et al. case for either committing, conspiracy to commit, or aiding and abetting, genocide in and around Srebrenica and Žepa in 1995. These convictions were subsequently upheld by the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY on 30 January 2015.

    The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) initiated a trial against Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, two former Khmer Republic senior officials, which remains ongoing, and includes charges of genocide against the Cham and Vietnamese people. Evidence relating to the genocide charges began being heard on 7 September 2015.

  • Yvonne Fovargue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Yvonne Fovargue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yvonne Fovargue on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many meetings Ministers have had with representatives of Keep me Posted since May 2015.

    George Freeman

    Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills&publication_type=transparency-data

    “

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the police on the police grant settlement.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Secretary has regular meetings with policing partners on a range of issues, including police funding. The Government published the Final Police Grant Report for 2016/17 on 4 February following the usual public consultation. The Final Police Grant Report was approved by the House on 10 February. This represents a good settlement for policing.