Category: Speeches

  • Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that women in safe houses and refuges who need to keep their address anonymous are not prevented from voting.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Electors who need to keep their name and address anonymous are able to submit an application for anonymous registration. As part of their application, electors must satisfy the Electoral Registration Officer that their safety, or that of people they live with, would be at risk if the register contained their name and address. For this purpose electors must provide either a court order or an attestation by a “qualifying officer”, which includes senior police officers and chief social workers. The evidential threshold for applications for anonymous electoral registration is to ensure that it is available only to those whose personal safety would genuinely be at risk if their details appeared on the electoral register, rather than for the purpose of gaining additional privacy.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support infrastructure development in the West Midlands.

    Mr David Gauke

    There are 40 schemes in the West Midlands in the infrastructure pipeline, with a total value of £7.6 billion. These include the £18m Midland Metro tram extension to Wolverhampton, due to open in 2019. Over 300 infrastructure schemes have been delivered in the West Midlands since 2010. HS2 Phase 1, due to open in 2026, will cut journey times between London and Birmingham by 35 minutes.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with representatives of (i) Bayer CropScience and (ii) Syngenta in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    Ministers and officials meet with Bayer CropScience, Syngenta and other parties on a range of issues.

    Information on Ministerial meetings with organisations is available on GOV.UK and is published on a quarterly basis.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many actions have been taken by the police and trading standards regarding breaches of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in relation to ticket resale websites.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Such information on breaches of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in relation to ticket re-sale websites is not currently held by or routinely made available to the Government.

    The Independent Review of Secondary Ticketing required by the Consumer Rights Act will consider evidence and report by 26 May 2016.

  • Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 18028, with what representatives of claimants his Ministers or officials met when developing policy on the small claims limit.

    Dominic Raab

    The Government is very clear on what claimant representatives think about raising the small claims limit. The Coalition Government consulted on this issue between December 2012 and March 2013 with a wide range of stakeholders. Following that consultation, the Coalition Government announced in October 2013 that it was deferring the decision on whether to raise the small claims limit to focus instead on work that would lead to the establishment of the MedCo system in April 2015.

    The present Government decided that the time was right to return to the issue of raising the small claims limit, announcing its intention to do so in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. The Ministry of Justice has continued to engage with representatives from all sectors since the Chancellor’s announcement and will be consulting on the detail of the new reform package in the New Year.

  • Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the distribution of deemed contributions to defined-benefit pension schemes for each (a) income level and (b) age.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Distributions of deemed contributions to defined-benefit (DB) schemes broken down by income level or age, are not readily available, and have not been previously published as official statistics.

  • Lord Turnberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Turnberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent statements by Ismael Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, that they are rebuilding tunnels from Gaza with the intention of attacking Israel.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain deeply concerned by Hamas’ attempts to rearm and its efforts to rebuild infrastructure, including the tunnel network in Gaza. We are clear that Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza must permanently end rocket fire and other attacks against Israel. Any Hamas rearmament undermines efforts to improve the situation in Gaza and harms prospects for peace and stability in the Middle East.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the (a) annual contribution to the economy of food production and (b) number of people employed in the food production industry.

    George Eustice

    The latest provisional data shows that in 2014 the whole food chain from farming to retail and catering was worth £108 billion to National Gross Value Added, and employed 3.8 million people. Within this, farming contributed £10.7 billion Gross Value Added and employed 440 thousand people, and food and drink manufacturing contributed £26.9 billion Gross Value Added and employed 410 thousand people. These statistics are derived from the Aggregate Agricultural Accounts by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Annual Business Survey and the Labour Force Survey by the Office for National Statistics.

  • 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 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UN missions in South Sudan in protecting civilians in South Sudan.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has had significant effect in protecting civilians, most notably the 200,000 internally displaced persons who have sought shelter on its bases. However, the mission faces a number of challenges, not least continued obstruction and access restrictions by the parties to the conflict. The UK will continue to work with UNMISS to improve the effectiveness of the mission’s operations and is working with the UN to finalise the new military deployment of 250 – 300 British troops to the Mission announced by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), in September 2015.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and other victims of serious violence are aware that they can reregister to vote anonymously.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Electors who need to keep their name and address anonymous are able to submit an application for anonymous registration. As part of their application, electors must satisfy the Electoral Registration Officer that their safety, or that of people they live with, would be at risk if the register contained their name and address. For this purpose electors must provide either a court order or an attestation by a “qualifying officer”, which includes senior police officers and chief social workers. The evidential threshold for applications for anonymous electoral registration is to ensure that it is available only to those whose personal safety would genuinely be at risk if their details appeared on the electoral register. Domestic violence charities and other Non-Government Organisations may partner with Individual Electoral Registration Officers to ensure those in their area who may need to register anonymously are able to do so.