Category: Speeches

  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the age requirements for the driving test were last reviewed.

    Andrew Jones

    The minimum age for driving tests were last reviewed in 2010 following a widespread public consultation in 2009 on changes to the driver licensing and testing regime. The possible changes included amongst others, minimum ages, medical requirements, driving licence security and driving test vehicle requirements. The Government currently has no plans to alter minimum ages.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which expenses have been claimed by the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam under the Public Duty Cost Allowance.

    Ben Gummer

    The purpose of the Public Duties Cost Allowance is to assist former Prime Ministers with the costs of continuing to fulfil duties associated with their previous position in public life. Exceptionally, the then Prime Minister agreed that the former Deputy Prime Minister , the Rt Hon Member for Sheffield Hallam, should be able to have access to the allowance to recognise the special position he held in the Coalition Government. Other former Deputy Prime Ministers are not eligible for the allowance. The allowance is set at a maximum limit of £115,000 per annum. The amounts paid are a reimbursement of expenses, accounted for in the published Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts. The former Deputy Prime Minister is eligible for the allowance from the date of leaving ministerial office for the duration of this Parliament.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to give local authorities the power to issue on the spot fines to commercial vehicles that disregard weight and other restrictions on the public highway.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the Police are the bodies empowered to issue fixed penalty notices for commercial vehicle offences, including for breach of weight limits.

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

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department intends to take to reduce the number of children who do not attend school due to bullying.

    Edward Timpson

    No child should be frightened of going to school because they might be bullied.

    All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying and they are held closely to account by Ofsted for their effectiveness. Inspectors consider pupil behaviour and welfare, including how well schools prevent and tackle bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour.

    We are also providing a total of £1.3 million of funding over 12 months from April 2015 to the Diana Award, Kidscape and the National Children’s Bureau to work with schools to prevent bullying and deal with its impact when it occurs. This is in addition to the £4 million provided in 2013/15. We are also providing £2 million this year to help schools tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

    Good schools create an ethos of good behaviour where pupils treat each other and staff with courtesy and respect. Where bullying does happen schools should move to tackle it and provide support for the bullied child. We issued advice to schools last year to help them identify children that may be most vulnerable to bullying and how to provide support to ensure their mental health and wellbeing. This is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.

    “

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance she has given to schools on including internet safety awareness in PSHE lessons for primary school children.

    Edward Timpson

    Internet safety has been a statutory requirement within the new computing programme of study since September 2014. The national curriculum sets the expectation that children in primary schools are taught how to use technology safely and respectfully; how to keep personal information private; and where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content on the internet.

    The introduction of internet safety content in key stages 1 and 2 reflects the fact that children are increasingly accessing the internet from a young age, and is intended to inform pupils of good practice in staying safe online from an early age.

    Schools are also able to teach pupils about internet safety in personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) lessons. The PSHE Association’s non-statutory programme of study for health and well-being includes ways of keeping physically and emotionally safe, including online.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the security services in tackling terrorism in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The PSNI do an outstanding and vital job keeping people safe from violent dissident republicans.

    That is why they will receive £160 million extra security funding over the next five years from the UK Government to tackle this threat.

    This builds on £231 million additional security funding we have provided since 2011.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) drugs of each type and (b) other items were confiscated from visitors to each prison in each year since 2010.

    Andrew Selous

    We have a range of security measures and searching techniques to prevent smuggling into prisons and to detect items of contraband including drugs. We have legislated to make smuggling New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) into prison illegal, use specially trained dogs to detect illicit drugs and will evaluate the use of Body Scanners to reveal drugs concealed within the body.

    We refer all visitors to prisons found in possession of drugs to the police. We also use closed visits, where the prisoner and visitor are prevented from physical contact, to deal with visitors and prisoners who smuggle or are suspected of conveying drugs through visits.

    The table below shows the number and type of drugs confiscated from visitors in each prison for the period 01 October 2015 to 31 December 2015. Prior to 01 October 2015 the Incident Reporting System (IRS) did not specifically record who possessed the drugs found.

    Number of incidents where drugs were found in visitor’s possession, October to December 2015, by establishment and drug type

    Establishment

    Drug type

    Number of incidents12

    Aylesbury

    Cannabis

    3

    Birmingham

    NPS: Black Mamba

    1

    Brinsford

    Cannabis

    1

    Unknown

    1

    Bristol

    Other

    1

    Bullingdon

    NPS: Spice

    1

    Cardiff

    Amphetamines

    1

    Buprenorphine/Subutex

    1

    Heroin

    1

    NPS: Spice

    1

    Other

    1

    Unknown

    1

    Channings Wood

    Heroin

    1

    Chelmsford

    Cannabis

    2

    NPS: Spice

    2

    Coldingley

    Unknown

    1

    Doncaster

    Amphetamines

    1

    NPS: Other

    1

    Other

    2

    Unknown

    3

    Dovegate

    Other

    1

    Unknown

    1

    Elmley

    Cocaine

    1

    Featherstone

    Unknown

    1

    Feltham

    NPS: Other

    1

    NPS: Spice

    1

    Forest Bank

    NPS: Black Mamba

    1

    Unknown

    1

    Guys Marsh

    Unknown

    1

    Haverigg

    Unknown

    3

    High Down

    Unknown

    1

    Highpoint

    NPS: Other

    1

    NPS: Spice

    2

    Hewell

    Cannabis

    3

    NPS: Other

    1

    NPS: Spice

    2

    Other

    1

    Steroids

    1

    Holme House

    NPS: Spice

    1

    Humber

    Amphetamines

    1

    Lancaster Farms

    Unknown

    1

    Leeds

    Amphetamines

    1

    Cocaine

    1

    NPS: Other

    1

    Lindholme

    Cannabis

    1

    NPS: Spice

    1

    Unknown

    1

    Lowdham Grange

    Cannabis Plant

    1

    Manchester

    Cannabis

    1

    NPS: Spice

    1

    Moorland

    NPS: Spice

    3

    Other

    1

    Unknown

    1

    Morton Hall

    NPS: Spice

    1

    New Hall

    Unknown

    1

    Northumberland

    Unknown

    2

    Norwich

    Heroin

    1

    Oakwood

    Heroin

    1

    Other

    1

    Unknown

    1

    Onley

    NPS: Spice

    1

    Steroids

    1

    Unknown

    1

    Parc

    Unknown

    1

    Peterborough Male

    Other

    1

    Peterborough Female

    Crack

    1

    Heroin

    1

    Ranby

    NPS: Other

    1

    Risley

    Cannabis

    1

    NPS: Spice

    2

    Unknown

    2

    Rochester

    Cannabis

    1

    Crack

    1

    Unknown

    2

    Stoke Heath

    NPS: Other

    1

    The Mount

    Cannabis

    1

    Heroin

    1

    NPS: Other

    1

    NPS: Spice

    2

    Verne

    NPS: Other

    1

    Wayland

    NPS: Spice

    2

    Wymott

    NPS: Other

    1

    (1) Number of incidents where each drug type were found.

    (2) Where establishment is not listed, no confiscations were reported in the period

    Data Sources and Quality
    These figures have been drawn from the NOMS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations his Department received on the requirements to be set for businesses in the retail and commercial enterprise sector to qualify for funding under the apprenticeship programme before those requirements were determined.

    Nick Boles

    In England, to qualify for apprenticeships funding, an apprenticeship offered in any sector must comply with the Skills Funding Agency’s funding rules: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sfa-funding-rules-2016-to-2017.

    “

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GPs were working in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) Enfield and (c) London (i) in total and (ii) per head of population in each year since 2010.

    Alistair Burt

    The attached table shows the total general practitioner (GP) headcount and headcount per head of population in Enfield and London between 2010-14.

    Information on the availability of GP appointments in Enfield North is not collected centrally.

    We have invested in the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund to test improved and innovative access to GP services. Across the two waves of the Fund, there are 57 schemes covering over 2,500 practices and over 18 million patients have benefited from improved access and transformational change at a local level. A wide variety of approaches are being tested through the Access Fund, including: evening and weekend appointments and better use of telecare and health apps; more innovative ways to access services by video call, email or telephone; and developing more integrated services with a single point of contact to co-ordinate patient services.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have not prosecuted the reported 350 Jihadis who have returned to the UK and are suspected of having fought in Syria or Iraq.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has successfully prosecuted 35 cases involving 54 defendants who have returned to the UK and are suspected of having fought in Syria and / or Iraq. It currently has 13 such ongoing prosecutions involving 30 defendants. The Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland (PPSNI) is also dealing with one ongoing Syria-related prosecution. If there is evidence that people are going abroad to engage in terrorist activity, they can be arrested and prosecuted. They can also be arrested and prosecuted if they return to the UK. There are a wide range of offences that can be used to prosecute such individuals but each case has to be considered individually on its merits and whether an arrest or prosecution can take place will depend on the evidence available. If the police refer a case to the CPS, they consider whether the test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors is met. That is, whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence and, if so, whether it is in the public interest to prosecute.