Category: Speeches

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2016 to Question 49308, on the Warm Home Discount Scheme, how a person opts out of that scheme.

    Jesse Norman

    The scheme has formal arrangements in place for individuals wishing to opt-out from the scheme.

    All Pension Credit Guarantee Credit recipients are first sent a letter with information about the scheme. Only these recipients automatically receive the Warm Home Discount rebate. Those who do not want their data shared with their energy supplier, can write to Department Work for Pensions stating their wish to opt-out from the scheme.

  • Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to promote diversity in the composition of the judiciary by reference to (1) socio-economic status, (2) ethnicity, (3) gender, and (4) age.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government fully supports a more diverse judiciary and has taken steps to improve representation, whilst still appointing the best people for the job.

    In Courts and Tribunals the representation of women has risen to 32.3% of the judiciary, compared to 28.8% in 2012. Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) representation has risen to 7.4 % from 6.8% over the same period.

    The Government works with its partners in the judiciary, the Judicial Appointments Commission and the legal professions through the Judicial Diversity Forum to take action to increase the diversity of the judiciary at all levels.

    Recent initiatives include:

    • Supporting the judiciary in the implementation of the ‘New Route to the High Court’ scheme. This offered high quality candidates support to apply for a Deputy High Court Judge selection exercise launched in July 2015. As this programme was aimed at encouraging diversity, places on this support scheme were limited to women, BAME candidates and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
    • Holding outreach events, targeted at under-represented groups, such as ‘Women in the Judiciary: Making it happen’.

    This work builds on significant legislative changes which:

    • Introduced the equal merit provision into the final stage of the judicial appointments process, which allows diversity, in terms of gender and ethnicity, to be taken into account when two applicants are of equal merit. This has already been applied in seven JAC recommendations between October 2014 and March 2015;
    • Extended salaried part-time working to the High Court and above to increase flexibility and make it easier to balance home and work life; and
    • Introduced a statutory duty for the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice to encourage judicial diversity.
  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made, if any, to the government of Turkey about the use of curfews, martial law, and the deployment of the military in mainly Kurdish towns, including Cizre and Silvan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We welcome the visit on 15-16 October of Turkey’s national human rights body to Cizre and Sirnak to conduct analysis and research on the recent events there.

    We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Turkey closely and raise concerns regularly with the Turkish authorities.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider making it an offence to lend shares for short-selling without permission of the beneficial owners.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The short selling of securities is a legitimate and longstanding investment technique that can provide a positive contribution to efficient market functioning through supporting price formation and providing liquidity to markets.

    It is already illegal to lend any property, including shares, without the consent of the beneficial owner. However, there are limited circumstances in which fund managers are able to lend shares on behalf of investors (including for purposes such as facilitating a short sale). Under the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules, fund managers are able to do so if they have explicitly set out that they will do this in fund documentation, including the prospectus. This documentation forms part of the contract, which the investors agree to when they invest in the fund. FCA supervisors monitor compliance with applicable rules in this regard. These existing rules allow the FCA to take action, where appropriate, if shares are lent without the permission of the beneficial owner.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received concerning paintings left by Sir Hugh Lane to the National Gallery.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy met with Paul McGuinness, Roy Foster and Sir Donnell Deeny in September to discuss the bequest left by Sir Hugh Lane to the National Gallery. The department has received no other representation concerning the bequest.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the geographic variation in the effectiveness of each of the UK’s NHS transplant centres for the transplantation of stem cells; and what steps NHS England is taking to reduce that variation.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England assesses providers against service specifications. Of the 46 providers assessed, 41 were assessed to be compliant with the NHS England specification. Commissioners and providers have agreed action plans to achieve compliance in the remaining five. NHS England also collects data from providers against a number of metrics. There is a process for reviewing variation in this data involving the Clinical Reference Group chair and accountable commissioner. Where variation is identified, commissioning teams hold discussions with services to determine any actions required.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29811, on further education, how many meetings have been held for area reviews in (a) Birmingham and Solihull, (b) Greater Manchester, (c) Sheffield City Region, (d) Tees Valley, (e) Sussex, (f) Solent and (g) West Yorkshire in each of the last nine months.

    Nick Boles

    A wide range of meetings are held within each area review, which is a locally owned process designed to meet the needs of each local area. Bilateral meetings will often take place, for instance, between individual colleges which might be exploring restructuring options. Local stakeholders will often meet in smaller groupings to discuss particular issues or themes, for example local enterprise partnerships and local authorities may have set up separate meetings. Additionally, some local stakeholders will seek meetings to ensure their involvement at particular points, for example local MPs once recommendations emerge.

    The number and type of meetings are likely to vary with each review, depending on local provision, circumstances and issues as well as local interest in engaging with the review work. The following focuses on the formal meetings which are a core part of the area review process and would therefore be consistent across the country.

    A number of formal area review steering group meetings have taken place in each area since September 2015. No steering group meetings were held prior to September 2015. Meetings held between September 2015 and March 2016 are as follows:

    • In Birmingham and Solihull, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, October, November, December, January and March.
    • In Greater Manchester, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, November and December.
    • In Sheffield City Region, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, November, December and March.
    • In Tees Valley, one meeting was held in each of the following months: October, November, December, February and March.
    • In Sussex, one meeting was held in each of the following months: October, December, January, February and March.
    • In the Solent, one meeting was held in each of the following months: November, December, January and March.
    • In West Yorkshire, one meeting was held in each of the following months: November, December, January and March.
  • Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of how many apprenticeships were lost as a result of the early termination of contracts by the Skills Funding Agency because the provider was at risk of failure in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    Nick Boles

    The Skills Funding Agency has not estimated the number of apprenticeships that have been lost as a result of early termination of contracts in 2013, 2014 and 2015 because the Skills Funding Agency ensures that an alternative provider is in place to enable apprentices to continue their programme should they choose to do so.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 27 May 2016 to Question 37443, what guidance her Department provides to admission authorities on how consultations should be advertised.

    Nick Gibb

    The School Admissions Code sets out the requirements that admission authorities must follow when consulting on proposed admissions arrangements.

    The Schools Admissions Code is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389388/School_Admissions_Code_2014_-_19_Dec.pdf

    “

  • Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to improve the performance of the Feed-in Tariff scheme for solar power.

    Jesse Norman

    Solar continues to be deployed under the Feed-in Tariff scheme, with over 140 MW of applications since the scheme reopened in February.

    Changes to the scheme were introduced in 2016 to manage costs and ensure value for money.

    While it is appropriate to allow for a period of stability following these changes, my rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State continues to keep the performance of the scheme under review.