Category: Speeches

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her oral contribution of 18 October 2016, Official Report, 301WH, whether she plans for the UK’s participation in Natura 2000 to continue; and if she will make a statement.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Government is currently considering the impacts of leaving the EU, including future arrangements for existing legislation. This will include future arrangements for the Natura 2000 suite of sites.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many of her Department’s policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps she has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments that have been carried out; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Family Test was announced by my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister in August 2014, and introduced in October 2014. DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Department follows that guidance:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf.

    The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance.

    The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

    DECC has not applied the Test to date but is considering where it is appropriate to do so. In addition where relevant, DECC already publishes in Impact Assessments analysis of the impact of policies on energy bills across different types of households.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have evidence that Saudi Arabia funds Wahhabi mosques and Wahhabi communities in the UK.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    HM Government does not collect information on the denomination of religious institutions, nor of communities in the UK.

  • Lord Soley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Soley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Soley on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect any statistics on the number of children who have been attending unregistered schools who are alleged to have suffered abuse; and whether they will publish any such statistics.

    Lord Nash

    The Department does not hold any data on the number of children who are the subject of abuse inquiries, whose parents or guardians have been convicted of abuse, or who are alleged to have suffered abuse. We are taking steps to ensure that the education system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people. It is unacceptable for any child of compulsory school age not to receive a suitable education. Local authorities have a responsibility to ensure that this does not happen.

    The Department has taken robust steps to tackle unregistered schools. We are working closely with Ofsted who have agreed to take forward prosecutions for settings operating illegally as unregistered independent schools. We have also published proposals to introduce a new system to regulate out-of-school education settings which teach children intensively, and to intervene and impose sanctions where there are safety or welfare concerns. The call for evidence on out-of-school education settings closed on 11 January 2016 and responses are being analysed.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on that region of recent violence in Israel and the West Bank.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are deeply concerned by the recent violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Since the start of the current violence, Ministers and officials have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority on the urgent need to de-escalate the tensions. We understand, and share, the deep frustration on all sides at the lack of progress on the Middle East Peace Process. The current violence underlines that a just and lasting resolution that ends the occupation and delivers peace for both Israelis and Palestinians is long overdue.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Crawley on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they recognise Islamic State’s treatment of the Yazidi people as an act of genocide.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yezidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Syria and Iraq who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.

    As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and other ministers have explained in response to similar questions, it is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred should be a matter for the international judicial system rather than legislatures, governments or other non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations of International Humanitarian Law, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

    Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in a Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh’s inhumanity.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to produce an online tool to allow parents to compare the benefits of tax-free childcare with other childcare support schemes.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government will publicise the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme in good time ahead of its introduction through a range of digital and print channels. HMRC will also work with the childcare industry and representative groups who interact regularly with parents to raise awareness of the scheme.

    HM Revenue and Customs is developing an online childcare calculator to help parents understand their eligibility for government childcare support. From early 2017, parents of the youngest children will be able to enter the scheme first, with all eligible parents brought in by the end of 2017. Parents will not be able to open childcare accounts prior to the launch of the scheme.

    TFC will be straightforward and quick to apply online for the vast majority of parents. We estimate that up to 9% of the families eligible for the scheme of that population may have issues with either accessing or using the internet. HM Revenue and Customs will ensure that assistance is provided, usually by telephone, so these families do not miss out on the support available.

    Tax-Free Childcare is part of the wider government childcare offer which will be worth over £6Bn per annum and together provide generous support to families on all levels of income.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2016 to Question 35252, what the total amount paid to off-payroll staff was by (a) NHS trusts in 2014-15 and (b) NHS foundation trusts in 2013-14.

    Alistair Burt

    This information is not held centrally. Amounts paid to Board members engaged off-payroll are disclosed in individual annual reports of National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts but amounts paid to other off-payroll workers within the scope of the HM Treasury guidance cannot be separately identified.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual cost to NHS services is of purchasing products used in the management of continence care.

    George Freeman

    National Health Service trusts are responsible for managing procurement of goods or products on an individual basis. Records associated with spend collectively across the NHS are not held centrally by the Department.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS Improvement on Katrina Percy since 7 June 2016.

    Mr Jeremy Hunt

    NHS Improvement (NHSI) regularly updates me on the performance of both the organisations for which it has responsibility and those which it regulates using agreed frameworks. I meet regularly with the Chief Executive of NHSI as well as with a number of the organisation’s other senior leaders. Our discussions cover a number of issues falling under NHSI’s remit, including, where appropriate, the senior personnel in organisations for which it is responsible.