Category: Speeches

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passports were processed by each Passport Office in the UK between 2010 and 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    I refer to the attached table which provides by calendar year the volume of passports issued by each passport office in the UK from 2010 to 2015.

    The number of passports issued by the Newport office dropped in 2012 and 2013 because it ceased to process postal applications during this time. Newport then restarted postal passport production in 2014.

    The number of passports issued by the Glasgow office dropped in 2011 because it also ceased to process postal applications during this time. However, Glasgow continued to utilise counter staff to process a small number of postal applications through the subsequent years.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to bring forward a revised procurement policy note for public authorities; and if he will make a statement.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to him on 1 February 2016 to UIN: 24475.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Romania about the activities of (a) Central Media Enterprise, (b) Adrian Sârbu and (c) Ronald Lauder in (i) 1995 to 1999, (ii) 2000 to 2010 and (iii) 2011 to 2015.

    Mr David Lidington

    I refer the hon. Member to my previous answers of 14 December 2015 (PQ 18601) and 17 December 2015 (PQ 19436). The information requested in the years prior to 2011 is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place copies of all responses received to NHS England’s consultation on the new Cancer Drugs Fund in the Library.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has operational responsibility for the Cancer Drugs Fund and has advised that it currently has no plans to publish all responses received on its consultation on the future of the Fund. An analysis of the consultation responses was published on 25 February 2016 and is available at:

    www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultation

    “

  • 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 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Tobias Ellwood, on 18 January (HC21629), what action they propose to take to prevent the forcible transfer of Bedouin in the West Bank by Israel.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We continue to raise our concerns with the Israeli authorities over demolitions and the treatment of the Bedouin community. We have supported Bedouin communities in Area C facing demolition or eviction through support to Rabbis for Human Rights and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) legal aid programme. This helps individuals challenge decisions in the Israeli legal system. The NRC has successfully suspended demolitions and evictions so that Palestinians can remain in their homes in 99 per cent of the cases they represent.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the additional cost of £70 to £80 per annum, at 2011 prices and based on a 50 per cent probability of cost overruns, to all Thames Water customers of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, as quoted on page 83 of the prospectus of Thames Water Utilities Cayman Finance Ltd, represents good value for money for the consumer.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The impact of the Thames Tideway Tunnel on Thames Water customer bills is expected to be £20-£25 per year (at 2015 prices) by the mid-2020s. This is about a third of the initial estimate of £70-£80 per year in 2011, assessed at an early development stage of the project, and represents good value for money for customers. It follows the successful competition by Thames Water Utilities Ltd, completed in August 2015, to procure an Infrastructure Provider to finance and deliver the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The Thames Water Utilities Cayman Finance Ltd prospectus quoted by the Noble Lord is dated 26 June 2015 and so was prior to this procurement.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Joseph Johnson

    As at 1 August 2016 (following the implementation of the 2016 pay award) there are no direct employees in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills or former Department for Energy and Climate Change) paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

    As at this date there are no agency staff in former DECC paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

    There are 5 agency staff in former BIS paid less than the Living Wage Foundation’s definition. However, all 5 are paid more than the Government’s Living Wage rate of £7.20 per hour.

    We do not centrally hold details of the pay levels of staff working for outsourced companies contracted by former BIS. Arm Length Bodies linked to former DECC have confirmed that they pay all their employees above the level set by the Living Wage Foundation.

    There are no employees on zero hours contracts.

    I have asked Chief Executives of the executive agencies of former BIS to respond directly to the Hon. Member.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many instances were recorded in which a young person was restrained physically by placing their face on the floor in a children’s mental health ward in each year from 2012.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Prone restraint data for years since 2012 is not available. NHS Digital began collecting the number of incidents of prone restraint on mental health wards for adults and for children and young people in January 2016. In line with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice, this data is undergoing evaluation.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Highways England on the appointment of a programme management partner; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The government is tripling the capital investment in the Strategic Road Network. Highways England have been given responsibility for delivery of the Road Investment Strategy and operation of the network.

    A four year term contract was tendered competitively by Highways England to a consortium consisting of CH2M Hill, Mace and PwC (CMP) in early July 2015 to help provide additional support to improve their capability and available resources to deliver an increasingly demanding and complex programme.

    This has no impact on the role, responsibilities and requirements of Highways England.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he made the decision to close 170 local tax offices and replace them with 13 regional centres.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then, it has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, talking to its employees about how and why it is changing. HMRC will be holding one-to-one discussions with each of its people to discuss next steps.