Category: Speeches

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policies are in place to ensure that newly arrived asylum seekers placed in Home Office initial accommodation have immediate access to the education system.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The issue of education provision for children seeking asylum is an important one and the Home Office makes every effort to ensure that families with children who claim asylum support have access to education at the earliest opportunity.

    To enable access to education, internal checks are in place to triage applications involving children of school age for priority dispersal from initial accommodation facilities into permanent accommodation.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure the Mandarin Excellence Programme is delivered to all local authorities in the UK; and how many (a) schools and (b) pupils in Birmingham are planned to start the programme this year.

    Nick Gibb

    The Mandarin Excellence Programme offers intensive study in the language. The programme is expected to result in at least 5,000 young people heading towards a high level of fluency in Mandarin Chinese by 2020.

    Secondary school pupils in an initial 14 secondary schools will study Mandarin for eight hours a week – a significant increase on the time pupils currently spend on the subject.

    Currently two schools in the Midlands, one in Coventry and one in Walsall, have joined the programme. Around 300 pupils are expected to join the programme this year. There will be further opportunity for schools to apply to join the programme in subsequent years.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Govia Thameslink Railway about whether it still intends to activate the Oyster card reader installed at Epsom station, and if so, when it intends to do so.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There has been numerous discussions between my officials and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) on the franchise obligation to extend Oyster pay as you go and Contactless payment to Epsom. GTR is currently working with TfL closely to deliver this as soon as is practical and we are applying lessons learned from extending Oyster to Gatwick to extending Oyster to Epsom.

  • Lord Mawson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Mawson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to connect the building developments in East London Tech City with the developments in the Lower Lea Valley.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    The Mayor of London is responsible for economic development in London, as well as housing policy and delivery and strategic planning. These responsibilities come together through the statutory London Plan. Thus it is for the Mayor and the Greater London Authority, working with the relevant London boroughs, to make the most of the important opportunities provided by the developments in East London Tech City and the Lower Lea Valley.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on treatment for drug and alcohol addiction in (a) each year since 2010 and (b) each month of 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 January 2016 to Question 21900.

    It is not possible to provide a breakdown of monthly spend on treatment for drug and alcohol addiction due to disproportionate cost.

    “

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what volume of additional spent fuel will be produced as a consequence of the life extension of nuclear reactors.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The additional amount of spent fuel arising from the recently announced lifetime extension of 4 AGR stations is anticipated to be in the range of 700-800 tU, based on the current rate of arisings of spent fuel from the AGR fleet.

  • 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 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to increase the number of advocacy services available to mentally ill people before they are sectioned.

    Alistair Burt

    When a person is detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, (“the Act”) they are legally entitled to an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) who understands the Act and can support the detained patient. The provision of IMHA services is the responsibility of local authorities.

    For other mental health patients who need help and support in expressing their views, more general advocacy services, as well as family and friends, can provide support.

    The Department is also currently exploring providing additional guidance to mental health professionals promoting advocacy services to psychiatric patients that they believe would benefit from such support.

  • Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with local authorities in Northern Ireland about the illegal trafficking of puppies into Scotland; and what assessment she has made of the effect on such trafficking of the transfer in Scotland of search powers from Trading Standards to local port authorities.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Government takes the illegal movement of dogs and puppies seriously and it is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations, delivery bodies, enforcement agencies and non-government organisations to tackle this issue.

    While I have had no discussions with local authorities in Northern Ireland about the illegal trafficking of puppies into Scotland, the Defra Chief Veterinary Officer has recently discussed the issue with his Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland counterparts. Additionally, there have been discussions on this issue between other Defra officials and officials within the Devolved Administrations.

    The Government has not carried out an assessment of the impact of transferring Trading Standards search powers to local port authorities in Scotland as this is a devolved matter. However, Defra will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and other interested parties to ensure that there is a full exchange of ideas and information on combating the illegal importation of puppies.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each of the following European Union implementing acts, when those acts were due to be transposed into UK law; when they intend to have transposed each; why they have not yet done so; and what action the European Commission has taken against the UK government for any delay: (1) Implementing Regulation (EU) 909/2015 regarding charging and direct cost; (2) Implementing Regulation (EU) 545/2016 regarding framework agreements; (3) Implementing Regulation (EU) 171/2015 regarding licensing; (4) Implementing Regulation (EU) 10/2015 regarding applicants; (5) Implementing Regulation (EU) 869/2014 regarding the principal purpose and economic equilibrium test; (6) Implementing Regulation (EU) 429/2015 regarding noise differentiated track access charges; and (7) Implementing Regulation (EU) 1100/2015 regarding rail market monitoring.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    These implementing Regulations are directly applicable and do not require transposition into UK law. Their legal effect in the UK derives from the European Committee Act 1972.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports from Human Rights Watch of collusion between Sudanese police forces and people smugglers trafficking people in the region.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of, and deeply troubled by, reports of collusion between Sudanese police forces and people smugglers. We have raised our concerns over these reports with both the Ministry of Interior and the Commissioner for Refugees. We will continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Sudan as part of our wider engagement on migration issues.