Category: Speeches

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 10 February (HL5712), what other mechanisms are available to the EU to intervene on, or influence, taxation in individual member states.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Direct tax is a Member State competence. Under the Treaties, any Directives on tax are agreed by unanimity, the effect of which is to give each Member State a veto power.

  • Lord Watson of Richmond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Watson of Richmond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Richmond on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the concerns highlighted by Fellows of the Royal Society and Cambridge academics about the impact on science if the UK were to leave the EU.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of her Department’s full-time equivalent officials are seconded to (a) France, (b) Italy, (c) Greece and (d) any other EU country in order to identify and support Dublin III asylum transfer requests; and what plans her Department has to second further staff to identify and support such requests.

    James Brokenshire

    We continue to work with a number of EU Member States and the European Asylum Sup-port Office (EASO) to ensure Dublin works effectively. We are in ongoing discussions with France, Italy and Greece, as well as the UNHCR, to ensure that we continue to have the right processes in place and the resources to make them work effectively.

    We have recently deployed two UK experts to the Greek Dublin Unit. We are currently providing bilateral support to the Italian Dublin Unit through a long term secondment. We are also due to deploy an additional UK expert to the Italian Dublin Unit shortly.

    Our work with France including the permanent official contact group and a recently sec-onded senior UK official to the French Dublin Unit to assist with the identification and transfer of cases has shown results of our collaborative efforts.

    The Home Office has a unit processing Dublin III asylum transfer requests from and to the United Kingdom. This unit comprises 78.34 full time equivalent managers, caseworkers and support staff. Staffing levels will remain in line with anticipated volumes.

    As announced on 4 May we are now looking to transfer children who were already present in Europe before the EU-Turkey deal came into force on 20 March, where it is in their best interests. It is important that we ensure we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in UK, as well ensuring we have the right support for those who may be brought to the UK from Europe. We are working with the relevant Member States, the UNHCR and other Non-Governmental Organisations and local authorities to establish the best way to implement the provisions of the Immigration Act 2016 for the transfer of unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to (a) close or (b) change the functions of the Jobcentre Plus facility in Oldham town centre.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department is in the process of reviewing all of its estates requirements as the current contract for most of the estate comes to an end on 31 March 2018. No decision has been made on the future of Oldham Jobcentre Plus by the Department.

    Commercial negotiations are underway on the entirety of our estate at this time and it is not appropriate to comment further on individual sites while negotiations are in progress.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on the UK’s status as a signatory to the Euratom Treaty after the UK leaves the EU.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government is assessing the legal and policy implications of the public’s vote to leave the EU including the UK’s membership of EURATOM.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress has been made on the application by Romford Football Club to build a stadium on Westlands playing field; and when she expects a decision on that application will be reached.

    Edward Timpson

    School playing fields are protected by Section 77 of the SchoolStandards and Framework Act 1998. Schoolsand local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval beforethey can dispose of their land. Applications to dispose of schoolplaying fields are considered by the independent school playing fields advisory panel, and are approved only when it is demonstrated that the application meets published criteria.

    We are aware of an application by Havering Local Authority to seek approval to dispose of part of Westlands Playing Field to Romford Football Club. The application is currently being processed by officials at the Education Funding Agency, who are seeking further detail from the local authority about the proposal. The application will only be considered when sufficient information is available to assess the overall benefit of the scheme against the needs of pupils and existing community users. The Secretary of State will consider the panel’s recommendation before making her final decision.

  • George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department gives to mental health trusts on (a) reducing did not attend cases and (b) ensuring risk assessments are carried out when young people fail to attend.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has issued guidance through the Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing: Guidance and Support for local areas (published August 2015) that states that services should set out a clear plan to transform the design and delivery of a local offer of services for children and young people with mental health needs in line with the Future in mind report.

    Future in mind was clear that services should monitor attendance and actively follow up families and young people who miss appointments, and that it may be necessary to find alternative ways to engage the child, young person or family. The Local Transformation Plans present an opportunity to make a step change in how agencies support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, especially the most vulnerable. This includes those who – for whatever reason – find it more difficult to engage with traditional models of service delivery and would instead benefit from seeing a clinician in a less conventional setting. Missed appointments should not lead to a family or young person being discharged from services, but instead be considered as an indicator of need and actively followed up, where necessary finding alternative ways to engage the child, young person or family.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22948, whether her Department has recorded all EU countries other than Greece as complying with the Dublin Convention.

    James Brokenshire

    The Dublin Convention no longer governs the determination of responsibility for examining an asylum claim: it was replaced by the EU “Dublin II” Regulation in 2003 for all EU Member States apart from Denmark, which implemented the Dublin Regulation in 2006. An updated “Dublin III” Regulation has applied since 2014.

    The European Commission is the body responsible for overseeing the correct implementation of EU Regulations. All EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein use the Regulation to make requests to take responsibility for asylum applicants.

    As noted in the Answer of 21 January to Question 22948 it is not possible to return asylum applicants to Greece. The Government is satisfied that it remains lawful to transfer to and from all other countries bound by the Regulation asylum applicants who qualify under its provisions.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to ensure that dualling of the A1079 between Barnby Moor and Wilberfoss goes ahead; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The A1079 between Barnby Moor and Wilberfoss is a local road and as such is the responsibility of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council. I understand that this scheme has been identified as a priority by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, but it will be for the Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership to identify future funding opportunities.

  • Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government with which groups officials from (1) Public Health England, and (2) the Department of Health have met regarding local authorities not meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services; what steps that department will take to ensure that local authorities are meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services; and what steps they will take if a local authority is found not to be meeting mandatory requirements to commission open-access sexual health services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Department of Health officials meet regularly with Public Health England (PHE) to discuss progress on sexual health, including the ambitions in the Sexual Health Improvement Framework (SHIF). Since the Framework was published PHE has developed Sexual and Reproductive Health Profiles to support local authorities, public health leads and others to monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their local population and the contribution of local public health related systems. Trends are shown at both England and local authority level for a range of indictors that match the ambitions in the SHIF where data is available. A further annual progress report on the Framework would duplicate this work. Whilst there are no current plans to update the SHIF, in December 2015 PHE published their Health promotion for sexual and reproductive health and HIV, strategic action plan, 2016 to 2019, which complements the SHIF. A copy of the plan is attached.

    Departmental and PHE officials have met with the Local Government Association, English HIV and Sexual Health Commissioners Group, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health where open access sexual health services were discussed. PHE has undertaken a survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health.

    Local democratic accountability is at the heart of the accountability of local authorities for their statutory duty to improve the public’s health. PHE has a specific role in assurance of the ring-fence grant and that local authorities are meeting the grant conditions and the terms of the associated statutory regulations. PHE publishes data on outcomes from services for each local authority in England and can provide support and advice where necessary.