Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help prevent the hunting to extinction of endangered species.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK has been working through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to tighten controls ensuring that trophies of endangered species are only exported if the animals were hunted sustainably.

    CITES import controls are currently implemented at an EU-wide level. In light of growing concerns about the sustainability of the hunting of some species, stricter controls on the import of hunting trophies of six species, including lions and African elephants, have been introduced. On the advice of EU CITES scientific experts, Member States also prohibit the importation of a number of species from certain countries where there is uncertainty about sustainability, such as elephant hunting trophies from Mozambique and Tanzania.

    We continue to monitor the impact of trophy hunting and will work to put in place greater protection, including prohibiting imports, if this is shown to be needed. For example, I announced on 24 November 2015 that the Government will ban lion trophy imports by the end of 2017 unless there are improvements in the way hunting takes place in certain countries, judged against strict criteria.

    The UK is also pushing for tougher hunting trophy controls to be agreed at the 17th Conference of Parties to CITES in the autumn. A UK-led EU proposal aims to agree global guidelines to ensure that hunting trophy exports are sustainable, and agree clear criteria on when lion trophy hunting can be considered acceptable.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to his Oral Statement of 5 September 2016, Official Report, columns 38 to 41, how many of his Department’s 300 officials were recruited for their ability to speak a second language.

    Mr Robin Walker

    The Department for Exiting the EU now has over 200 staff, and is growing fast. The overall size and scope of the new Department, including staffing and budget, are regularly reviewed. We will ensure we are appropriately staffed to deal with all aspects of the forthcoming negotiation. There are currently 43 (French) speaker slots in UKRep, for which the staff require operational language skills to undertake the post. For the wider Department there are a number of staff with language skills, however these are not currently a requirement of the posts and were not the determining factor in recruitment. We are undertaking work to identify the skills required for the future so this position may change in due course.

  • Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the matters within his Department’s responsibility in Schedule 1 of the draft Wales Bill have been designated as reserved.

    Dominic Raab

    The reservations listed in Schedule 1 to the draft Wales Bill reflects the Government’s view of where the Welsh devolution boundary lies following the devolution of further powers to the Assembly provided for in the draft Bill.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will extend the eligibility to apply for a registered assistance dog to adults with autism.

    Justin Tomlinson

    There is no register of assistance dogs. Assistance dogs are provided by charities and private sector organisations some of which are accredited member organisations of Assistance Dogs International or the International Guide Dog Federation. These organisations are responsible for making decisions on who they supply with an assistance dog.

    Responsibility for deciding what treatment is best for patients rests with the doctors concerned who are required to exercise their clinical judgement, in consultation with the patient and informed by a patient’s medical history.

  • 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 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is provided to universal credit claimants who do not have (a) online access or (b) the capability to apply online.

    Priti Patel

    For those Universal Credit claimants who do not have online access, computers and free Wi-Fi are available through DWP and their delivery partners. Where claimants have limited, or no, capability to apply on-line, ‘assisted digital’ support is available alongside telephone and face to face support.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the living conditions of the Yazidi community in refugee camps in Iraq.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    To date, the UK has committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. UK aid is reaching hundreds of thousands of people across Iraq, including the most vulnerable groups, such as Yezidis. All UK-funded aid is distributed on the basis of needs and in line with humanitarian principles which ensure that no-one is discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion or ethnicity . According to the International Organisation for Migration, the vast majority of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Iraq live in host communities, with around 10% of all Iraqi IDPs living in camps.

    On a field visit to Dohuk in January 2016, DFID officials met with a number of displaced Iraqis, including Yezidis, and discussed their shelter needs and living conditions. This included members of the Yezidi community who were living in poor conditions in informal settlements. The DFID team were told that the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had undertaken to relocate these individuals to a camp with appropriate services and conditions. However, this offer had been declined by Yezidi heads of households because of a perception that the camps were too far from employment opportunities although it appeared that other members of the community held differing views about the suitability of the camps.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s legal costs were in the Supreme Court cases UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government has incurred approximately £52,299 to date on legal costs in the joined cases of MA, A & Rutherford v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at the Supreme Court (UKSC 2014/0129, UKSC 2014/0139, UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025). Due to the way in which the cases are billed, it is not possible to provide a separate figure for UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025.

    It should be noted that this figure includes VAT where this is payable (e.g. on Counsel’s fees) and disbursements but does not include costs attributable to the time spent by Government advisory lawyers, as time spent by such advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases.

    It should also be noted that this figure does not include all of Counsel’s fees incurred in relation to proceedings during February and March which have not yet been billed.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will give details of progress made by all the networks of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, including future plans and a description of the outcomes obtained.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The action notes and papers from the last alcohol network group meeting, which took place on 5 November 2014 are attached. There are no current plans for any of the Responsibility Deal networks to meet, but the Department continues to engage with key stakeholders in each of these sectors as part of its routine policy activity.

    On alcohol, 1.3 billion units of alcohol were removed from the market through improving consumer choice of lower alcohol products, exceeding the target two years ahead of schedule. 101 companies pledged to have 80% of their bottles and cans of alcoholic drinks displaying unit content, the previous Chief Medical Officer’s lower-risk guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant by the end of 2013. An independent report (2014) found that 79.3% of labels provided all these three elements correctly, with 92.8% providing correct pregnancy information. The pledge was considered to be met.

    On food, around 75% of the retail market and 65% of major high street restaurants and contract caterers have committed to reduce salt. This includes all the major supermarkets, many big manufacturing brands, restaurant chains and contract caterers. 43 companies, including major retailers, fast food and pubs and caterers, as well as the makers of household-name brands are taking a range of actions to help us to consume fewer calories, including through reducing the sugar content of sugar sweetened beverages. 45 major out of home businesses are currently displaying calories on their menus to help consumers make informed choices when eating outside the home, and account for approximately a quarter of all out of home meals served. 23 businesses agreed to adopt the voluntary United Kingdom front of pack nutrient labelling scheme accounting for two thirds of the market for pre-packed foods and drinks.

    Employees in a wide range of companies are seeing their health and well-being taken more seriously as more and more organisations (over 500) signed up to the health at work pledges. The focus was on making occupational health more about prevention, as well as looking at improving the management of people with chronic health conditions, the workplace environment, healthier canteen food, encouraging more active travel and helping staff to give up smoking. Over 80 construction firms signed up to the health at work pledges representing over 250,000 employees. Construction is the UK’s largest industry employing 2 million workers, 6% of the entire workforce. It is also the unhealthiest industry. Construction workers are at least 100 times more likely to die from a disease caused or made worse by their work than they are to die from a fatal accident. These diseases are all preventable. This was the first sector-specific health at work pledge.

    Working behind the scenes and reaching into the heart of communities, many businesses and organisations – around 300 – made pledges to help get more people, of all ages and backgrounds, more active. Through the physical activity workplace pledge, we estimate 1.5 million more people are now supported to be more active than before in their workplaces.

    On 11 March 2016 the Department let all partners know that they will not need formally to report on the progress of the pledges that they have signed up to by submitting their annual updates this year. The Department has not separately analysed the annual reports submitted by partners to date.

    This Government has renewed priorities and it is considering how best to work with partners and other stakeholders to deliver those. This includes tackling childhood obesity and wider work on diabetes and prevention.

    The Department will keep all partners informed of any developments on the Responsibility Deal whilst the Government is considering how it should best work with industry to deliver its new priorities. In the meantime, the Government expects that all partners will want to continue to work towards the commitments they have already made and welcomes the fact that many organisations have continued to announce significant new commitments.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioner’s report entitled A blueprint for building the new deal for general practice in England, published in May 2015, if his Department will respond to the recommendations of that report on (a) necessary increases in the GP workforce and (b) the proportion of the NHS budget that should be invested in general practice.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has committed to increasing the primary and community care workforce by 10,000 by 2020, including an additional 5,000 doctors working in general practice.

    The General Practice Forward View, published by NHS England on 21 April and developed in discussion with the Royal College of General Practitioners and other general practitioner (GP) stakeholders, sets out actions to double the rate of growth of the GP workforce by introducing measures to increase recruitment, retention and return to practice.

    The General Practice Forward View states that NHS England is committed to increasing the proportion of investment going into general practice services, which should reach over 10% by 2020/21. Investment in general practice will increase by £2.4 billion per year by 2020/21, meaning that investment will rise from £9.6 billion in 2015/16 to over £12 billion a year by 2020/21.

  • Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Farrelly on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to advise smokers on the range of harm-reduction products available to help them quit smoking.

    Jane Ellison

    For the first time, from May 2016, cessation information to signpost consumers to quitting support has become mandatory on tobacco products. The Government’s advice remains that the best thing a smoker can do is to quit and quit for good. Any smokers wanting to quit, with or without the help of products available on the market, are four times more likely to stop smoking and quit for good with the personalised support offered by local stop smoking services.

    The National Centre for Stop Smoking Services has issued guidance on offering advice to those wanting to use e-cigarettes as part of their quit attempts and encouraged local stop smoking services to be open to their use.

    The Government recognises that some people have found e-cigarettes helpful in quitting smoking and that they are considerably less harmful than continuing to smoke. The forthcoming tobacco control plan will consider the role of e-cigarettes and other harm reduction products in further reducing the prevalence of smoking in England.

    The Department has no current plans to review the restrictions on advertising for tobacco products.