Category: Speeches

  • Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the arrangements with which the Highways Agency ensures that contractors responsible for keeping trunk roads clean fulfil their obligations, and whether they use photographic evidence to record the cleanliness of trunk roads.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Highways England as a Government Owned Company, is responsible for complying with the mandatory legal requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which includes removing litter on England’s motorways and some trunk roads.

    Contractors have clear specifications, aligned to the Environmental Protection Act. Compliance is monitored by Highways England, with the use of photographic evidence as one possible method.

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her most recent assessment was of whether Hizb ut-Tahrir should be proscribed.

    Mr John Hayes

    Hizb-ut Tahrir (HuT) is not proscribed in the UK. Decisions on proscription must be proportionate and based on evidence that an organisation is concerned in terrorism as defined in the Terrorism Act 2000. Hizb-ut-Tahrir, along with other organisations which cause us concern, is kept under continuous review. As and when new material comes to light it is considered and the organisation reassessed as part of that process. Individual members of HuT are, of course, subject to the criminal law.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department and its executive agencies spent on the publications (a) Who’s Who, (b) Burke’s Peerage and (c) Debrett’s in each year since 2010.

    Matthew Hancock

    Spend on individual publications is not held centrally and is therefore only available at disproportionate cost.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential costs and benefits of changing current UK passport types to the old blue style passport first issued in 1920.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We are considering potential changes to the UK passport after the UK has left the European Union. At this early stage we have not undertaken a detailed cost benefit analysis or made any decisions about what a future UK passport might look like.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the UK received in funding from the European Investment Bank in the last three years.

    Mr David Gauke

    While the UK remains a full member of the European Union it retains all of the rights, obligations and benefits that membership brings. The long-term relationship between the UK and the EIB will need to be resolved as part of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the UK Governor of the European Investment Bank and continues to fulfil his governance duties. The Chancellor continues to meet his European counterparts on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues.

    The EIB publish all loans made to UK borrowers as well as details on all future projects yet to be financed. Between 2013 and 2015, the UK received €20.7bn in EIB financing. The link below provides full details on EIB lending to the UK.

    http://www.eib.org/projects/regions/european-union/united-kingdom/index.htm

  • David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) search and (b) surveillance warrants issued by a judge have been subject to judicial review in each of the last five years.

    Mr John Hayes

    Figures on the numbers of search warrants and surveillance authorisations subject to judicial review are not held centrally.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by when he plans for his Department to achieve its target strength for the Royal Navy Reserve.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013, (Official Report, column 124WS) on Future Reserves 2020, and the accompanying document that was placed in the Library of the House which sets out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years.

    I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists by 31 March 2019.

  • Iain Wright – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Iain Wright – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidelines are provided to broadcasters on the advertising of e-cigarettes on television; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The Advertising Standards Authority has published guidance on the advertising of e-cigarettes, which took effect in November 2014. Guidance on advertising e-cigarettes on television can be found in the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (the BCAP code).

    E-cigarettes that are licenced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will continue to be able to be advertised from 20 May 2016, when the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU is implemented in the United Kingdom, and advertising of all other e-cigarettes is no longer permitted on television.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by HM Revenue and Customs’ Pay and Work Rights Helpline in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16; and what funding was provided to that team in each of those years.

    Nick Boles

    Broadcasting Support Services (BSS) was contracted in 2009 to run the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) until March 2015.

    In April 2015 Acas took over responsibility for providing a one stop shop for workers and employers seeking advice on a wider range of employment matters.

    The budget was: 2009/10 – £968k, with 9 members of staff; and in 2014/15 it was £750k, with 7 members of staff. The cost of the service was then absorbed by Acas within their existing helpline functions when they took over responsibility for handling calls previously dealt with by the PWRH.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what financial savings she expects to result from the transfer of processing Bangladeshi visa applications to New Delhi.

    James Brokenshire

    Decision making on UK visa applications lodged in Bangladesh was transferred from Dhaka to New Delhi in September 2014. Logistical changes like this are made for operational reasons and to refine the longstanding hub and spoke structure of the visa network, where applications are decided at regional decision making centres. The hub and spoke structure increases resilience, improves security and enhances decision quality. The overall customer experience is unchanged as applications can be submitted at the same visa application centres and continue to be decided within the same global customer service standard. As result of this transfer of work we also estimate a saving of around £0.6m per year.