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Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will grant all children brought from Calais under the Dublin agreement or the Dubs amendment indefinite leave to remain.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government will process cases in line with the EU’s Dublin Regulation and Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

    The Dublin Regulation does not confer leave on individuals; it is a mechanism for transferring responsibility of asylum claims between Member States.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many directly employed government staff currently receive less than the Living Wage.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Every employer in the country will pay the National Living Wage, including all Government departments and their contractors.

    The latest data available suggests that 867 current Civil Servants will benefit directly from the National Living Wage from April 2016 as announced by the Chancellor. We estimate that over 20,000 employees will benefit by the end of this parliament.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the recommendations of the report by the Dogs Trust entitled Puppy Smuggling: The Scandal Continues, published in July 2015.

    George Eustice

    The Dogs Trust’s report highlights that responsibility for stopping the illegal movement of puppies begins in the country where they are born. The UK Chief Veterinary Officer has written to the authorities in the countries highlighted in the report to remind them of their duty to ensure that the requirements of the EU pet travel scheme must be fully complied with. This approach has previously resulted in investigations in EU Member States and appropriate action being taken, including the suspension of veterinarians’ licenses. We will continue to alert the authorities in any Member State where we become aware of issues in relation to the operation of the pet travel scheme.

    The UK carries out more checks on pets at the border than most other EU Member States. In order to carry pets, transport companies must be approved by the Animal and Plant Health Agency to ensure that they have the necessary facilities and trained staff. It is a condition of approval that the transport company check 100% of those pets declared to them for compliance with the EU pet travel scheme. Stringent penalties are in place where people are found to be breaking the rules. Defra actively shares intelligence it gathers relating to abuse of the pet travel scheme with Local Authorities (who are enforcement bodies) and other EU countries for them to further investigate and take any necessary action.

    The illegal trade is ultimately driven by demand and so we have published guidance on the steps pet owners can take to avoid buying an illegally imported pet. See: https://www.gov.uk/buying-a-cat-or-dog. Defra has also worked closely with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group to drive up standards for online advertisements.

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  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to facilitate a process of credit card transfers for people in debt.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

    The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. The market study is investigating three areas, including the extent of unaffordable credit card debt and how consumers can drive effective competition through shopping around and switching.

    On the 3rd November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers. However, the FCA expressed concern about the scale of potentially problematic debt in this sector, and the incentives for firms to manage this.

    The interim report also included the FCA’s early thinking on potential remedies which include measures to give consumers more control over their credit limits, measures to encourage customers to pay off debt quicker when they can afford to, and proposals that firms do more to identify earlier those consumers who may be struggling to repay and take action to help them manage their repayments.

    The FCA also set out potential measures to allow consumers to open access to their credit card usage to other market participants, as well as clarifying standards for price comparison websites, in order to facilitate shopping around and switching. The FCA is currently asking for feedback on the findings and potential remedies.

    The Government is looking forward to the full report in the spring, and would encourage interested parties to give their views to the FCA to assist it in addressing the issues it has identified.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage GPs to undertake out-of-hours shifts in primary care.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department and NHS England are committed to addressing the issue of increasing medical indemnity costs for general practitioners (GPs), including those working out of hours.

    Increasing costs of indemnity cover associated with out of hours work may discourage GPs from undertaking out-of-hours shifts in primary care.

    The Department was represented at a roundtable event held by NHS England on 17 November 2015 to develop a shared understanding of how to address rising medical indemnity costs. A range of stakeholders, including the British Medical Association and Medical Defence Organisations, also attended.

    On 9 December 2015, NHS England announced a winter indemnity scheme to offset the additional indemnity premium for GPs who wish to work additional sessions for their out-of-hours providers.

    Discussions are ongoing between the Department and NHS England on a long-term solution.

  • Chris Bryant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Chris Bryant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, how many contracted canteen and hospitality staff worked on the parliamentary estate in each year since 2009.

    Tom Brake

    The number of Contracted (Agency) staff is difficult to calculate due to the number of different agencies used and the often short term, varied work they are engaged to do. The number of contracted (agency) staff compared to the number of permanent staff is relatively low and accounts for less than 10% of the workforce costs with most contracted (agency) staff covering ad hoc operational requirements.

    The percentage of workforce costs that represent agency staff for the years 2009 to 2015 were as follows:

    2009/10

    2.84% of staff costs

    2010/11

    2.17% of staff costs

    2011/12

    4.11% of staff costs

    2012/13

    4.34% of staff costs

    2013/14

    6.00 % of staff costs

    2014/15

    8.11% of staff costs

    Along with growing guaranteed hours staff, contracted (Agency) staff have helped with the flexibility of the business needs since the directorate restructured to a smaller core team in 2011 and 2013 and in response to a growing banqueting and events business through income generation initiatives. As a result total staff costs have been much better controlled by being able to have a flexible resource which resources up to peaks in demand rather than having too many staff during quieter periods.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effects on the incidence of hearing loss of mobile phones and other similar devices which do not have a volume control; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has made no assessment of the effects on the incidence of hearing loss of mobile phones and other similar devices which do not have a volume control.

    The Department’s Policy Research Programme is funding COSMOS (Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health) which is conducted by Imperial College London and expected to end in 2019. This study will investigate possible health effects from long term use of mobile phones and other wireless technologies, on a United Kingdom cohort of 105,000 adults. One of the health outcomes investigated will be tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Hearing loss is one of the factors that may be involved in the development of tinnitus and this study will monitor the incidence of tinnitus in mobile phone users.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the measurement of diesel emissions from cars in the light of evidence that nitrogen oxide emissions in real time road trials are up to 12 times higher than in laboratory tests.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The UK Government has been at the forefront of action at European level to introduce Real Driving Emissions (RDE) testing for new cars. The RDE test will be conducted on public roads and will require manufacturers to ensure new diesel (and petrol) cars control nitrogen oxide emissions to below 2.1 times the laboratory test limit from 2017. From 2020 the requirement will be tightened so they must be at or below the laboratory limit (with a margin for measurement uncertainty).

  • Baroness Hollins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Hollins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hollins on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 26 January (HL Deb, col 1152), who, in addition to Sir Brian Leveson, will be consulted before a decision on Leveson Part 2 is made, and what form that consultation will take.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Criminal proceedings connected to the subject matter of the Leveson Inquiry, including the appeals process, have not yet been completed. We‎ have always been clear that these cases must conclude before we consider Part 2 of the Inquiry.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take following the demolition of a home in Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan by the Israeli authorities on 7 September.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government is concerned that there has been a large increase in demolitions since the start of 2016, compared with the monthly average in 2015.

    On 7 September, during a meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Lieberman in London, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) raised our concerns about demolitions.