Category: Speeches

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that demand for school places in Solihull is met.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them in doing so is one of this Government’s top priorities. That is why this Government is investing £23 billion in school buildings to create 600,000 new school places, open 500 new free schools and address essential maintenance needs.

    Basic need funding is allocated to local authorities to help them to create new school places. Solihull has been allocated £17 million of basic need funding for the period 2015-18. Solihull also received £4 million between 2011 and 2015.

    Information on basic need allocations can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations-2015-to-2018

    “

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) proportion of vacancies listed on Universal Jobmatch that are within 20 miles of Birkenhead are unfilled and (b) wage levels those vacancies are listed at; and for how long those vacancies have been unfilled.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available, as Universal Jobmatch is a self-service job posting and matching service. Outcomes of vacancies posted on the site are not monitored.

  • Baroness Pinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Pinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Pinnock on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to Main Finding 4 of the 2014 Annual Report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator relating to the admission arrangements of schools that are their own admission authority.

    Lord Nash

    The Department is giving careful consideration to the findings in the Chief Schools Adjudicator’s annual reports published in December 2014 and November 2015 as part of our current review of the School Admissions Code. We will be conducting a full public consultation in due course.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much UK aid has been spent on programmes to support (a) children who have been conscripted as child soldiers by Daesh, (b) other children who have been held in captivity by Daesh and (c) women and girls who have been held in sexual slavery by Daesh.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    We are very concerned about appalling crimes committed by Daesh in Iraq and Syria, including against women and young children. We strongly condemn their use of sexual slavery, sexual violence, rape and kidnapping. Likewise, we have seen reports of children in Daesh-held areas being forced into military training after the militant group closed down their schools – leaving an estimated total of over 670,000 children without the opportunity of a proper education.

    In Syria and Iraq, DFID continues to work with the UN and the international community to ensure all civilians’ rights are protected. However, we do not earmark our aid as being solely for Daesh victims or victims of other groups. The UK is committed to supporting the most vulnerable people wherever they are, in accordance with international humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, independence and impartiality. Consequently all UK funded humanitarian assistance is distributed on the basis of need, and need alone, regardless of politics, religion, ethnicity or place of origin.

    The UK has pledged over £2.3 billion for the response to the Syria crisis. Some of this funding is enabling partner agencies to provide specialist assistance to those affected by sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including safe spaces, psychosocial support, cash assistance and reproductive healthcare. By June 2015, UK assistance had provided SGBV focussed interventions to over 197,000 individuals in Syria and the region. In addition, more than 673,000 children have been reached with child protection initiatives across Syria and the region.

    Ultimately, the best way of safeguarding these children is by defeating Daesh and establishing a lasting peace in both Syria and Iraq. The UK Government is committed to this aim: we have a comprehensive strategy for defeating Daesh and continue to work with our international partners and the UN towards a political settlement in Syria.

  • Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Hywel Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what provision HM Prison Service makes to meet the spiritual needs of prisoners who speak Welsh in prisons in (a) Wales and (b) other parts of the UK.

    Andrew Selous

    The spiritual needs of Welsh speaking prisoners have been, and continue to be, provided by chaplains working in multi-faith teams. The framework for providing faith services in languages other than English is detailed in Prison Service Instruction 05/2016 Faith and Pastoral Care of Prisoners.

    This can be found on the Justice website at the following link:

    https://www.justice.gov.uk/offenders/psis

    “

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate any advantage which fossil fuel generated electricity imported via interconnector has over domestic electricity generation on which carbon price floor rates are applied.

    Jesse Norman

    Whatever the source, and wherever it is from, we import electricity when the cost is lower than here in the UK, driving down consumer bills. Ofgem’s analysis of proposed interconnector projects shows that the carbon price floor is not the determinate of whether the projects are in the interests of UK consumers.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding she plans to make available to replace payments made under the Common Agricultural Policy.

    George Eustice

    On 13 August the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the agricultural sector will receive the same level of funding that it would have received under Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) until 2020.

    The Government will also guarantee funding for CAP Pillar 2 projects, including agri-environment agreements, signed after the Autumn Statement and which continue after the UK has left the EU, so long as they meet the conditions that they are good value for money and are in line with domestic strategic priorities.

    This provides crucial certainty and continuity to our rural communities while we develop a new approach to supporting agriculture and protecting our precious countryside.

  • Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which companies were invited to tender or to participate in dialogues for the 2015 contracts for (1) the running of Medway secure training centre, and (2) the running of Rainsbrook secure training centre.

    Lord Faulks

    The companies that were invited to tender for the running of the Medway secure training centre were:

    • G4S Care and Justice Services (UK) Limited (now trading as Inspiring Futures);
    • MTCnovo Limited;
    • Sodexo Justice Services;
    • Diagrama Foundation; and
    • Ingeus UK Limited.

    The companies that were invited to tender for the running of the Rainsbrook secure training centre were:

    • G4S Care and Justice Services (UK) Limited (now trading as Inspiring Futures);
    • MTCnovo Limited;
    • Sodexo Justice Services;
    • Diagrama Foundation; and
    • Ingeus UK Limited.

    Tenders to run Medway and Rainsbrook secure training centres were evaluated using a standard approach balancing quality and price.

  • Lord Condon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new arrangements have been made in 2015, nationally, regionally, or locally, for police forces formally to share operational or support functions.

    Lord Bates

    Chief Constables and PCCs are best placed to consider whether and how their forces’ operational or support functions should be shared. The number of collaborations continues to increase, with at least 4 new alliances involving 9 forces announced in 2015.

    Regional Organised Crime Units, the National Crime Agency and local law enforcement continue to develop specialist capabilities to tackle a range of threats, including serious and organised crime, child sexual abuse and cyber crime. The Government supports the current review by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners into where specialist policing capabilities best sit, and how they should be delivered, to provide a common basis for future collaboration decisions.

    To continue to strengthen and improve mutual aid arrangements, the National Police Coordination Centre is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to develop consistent national standards.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether all fines issued in June 2015 by the Environment Agency to aircraft operators for failure to surrender allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System were paid by the deadline.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Environment Agency did not issue any fines in June 2015 to aircraft operators for failure to surrender allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. However, the Environment Agency did publish in June 2015 the details of five civil penalties that had previously been issued to operators for failure to surrender sufficient allowances to cover reportable emissions in the 2012 scheme year. None of these civil penalties have yet been paid. The Environment Agency is taking action to recover the penalties as a civil debt, in line with UK law.