Category: Speeches

Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the time taken to process Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Karen Bradley

In the vast majority of cases, disclosure certificates are issued in a timely manner. Performance data relating to February 2016 indicates that average processing time for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) applications was 15 days. It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and a proportion of the applications received by the DBS need to be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process.

The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner. A small number of forces have experienced difficulties in meeting the service level agreements in place between the DBS and each force. Whilst no assessment has been made of the impact of timeliness on unemployed customers, it is recognised that delays may create problems for some people. The DBS is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. We will not compromise when it comes to the safety of children and vulnerable adults.

The number of applications to the DBS from people living in the Clacton constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in the last 12 months is listed in the table below.

Month

Number of certificates issued by DBS to applicants in Clacton constituency

Applications that took longer than 60 days

March 2015– February 2016

5,707

322

01/01/2023
Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Chairman of Committees what are the implications of the vote in the House of Commons on 20 April in favour of retaining vellum for the printing of record copies of public Acts of Parliament.

Lord Laming

The House Committee considered this matter at its meeting on 3 May. The Committee agreed that, in response to the letter from the Clerk of the House of Commons about the debate, I should write to the Chairman of the House of Commons Administration Committee in the following terms:

“I am writing further to the backbench debate on printing record copies of public Acts of Parliament on vellum. I have consulted the House of Lords House Committee in preparing this reply.

As you know, this House agreed in 1999 to move to printing Acts of Parliament on archival paper instead of vellum. We are persuaded that printing on archival paper is a more appropriate use of public funds, and that the case for continuing to print on vellum is not made.

If, in the light of the debate, the House of Commons wishes to arrange a contract for printing record copies of public Acts on vellum then the House of Lords Administration will gladly share experience of managing the legacy contract to assist you in making any such arrangements. I am sure you will appreciate that this House does not wish to contribute financially to any future printing on vellum. It is also important that we ensure the longevity of any public Acts, as the Clerk of the Parliaments must certify a record copy of them.

Perhaps at our next regular meeting it would be possible for us to discuss some of the points made in the debate. I am, as ever, grateful to you for all your help in this matter.”

I wrote accordingly on 4 May.

01/01/2023

Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the coastguard search and rescue capability for the Firth of Forth is.

Mr Robert Goodwill

HM Coastguard search and rescue capability consists of the tasking and coordination of rescue resources, the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service (CRS) and the provision of Search and Rescue Helicopters.

Tasking and Coordination of Rescue Assets

HM Coastguards ‘National Network’ enables the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) and 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast. Workload is therefore managed on a national basis enabling national capability and resource to be available to any incident, for example in the Firth of Forth, on the basis of the nature of the incident.

Volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service

There are 4 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) covering the Firth of Forth with the following operational capabilities.

CRT	Water Safety and Rescue	Land Search	Mud Rescue	Rope Rescue	First Aid
Leven	✓	✓		✓	✓
Kinghorn	✓	✓		✓	✓
South Queensferry	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Fisherrow	✓	✓		✓	✓
North Berwick	✓	✓		✓	✓

Additionally there are 5 full time Maritime Coastguard Agency employees who are responsible for the management, training and oversight of these teams.

Search and Rescue Helicopters

The Search and Rescue Helicopters based at Inverness and Prestwick provide capability for the Firth of Forth. However, it should be noted that the speed and range of the aircraft located at the four HM Coastguard bases in Scotland means that HM Coastguard has the ability to surge up to five SAR helicopters to a single incident in Scotland, should it be necessary to do so.

01/01/2023

Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with representatives of car manufacturers who have construction plants in the UK about expanding their operations in this country.

Mr Nick Hurd

The automotive sector is of vital importance to the UK. In 2015, car production hit a ten year high at almost 1.6 million units adding £14.6 billion of Gross Value Added to the UK economy. We are in regular dialogue with companies in the sector on a range of issues and work in partnership with the Automotive Council on an Automotive Industrial Strategy to deliver sustainable growth in the sector.

01/01/2023
Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many pregnant women have been offered personal birth budgets since February 2016.

Mr Philip Dunne

Personal budgets for maternity services is one of the recommendations in Better Births, the report of the independent review of maternity services. Implementation of the review is being taken forward through the Maternity Transformation Board.

NHS England is working with seven Maternity Choice and Personalisation Pioneers, encompassing 36 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in total, to develop and test ways of improving choice in maternity services. The pioneer sites, each made up of clusters of CCGs, are working to widen choice across CCG boundaries and deepen choice by providing opportunities for new providers.

The first stage of this is the development of Personal Maternity Care Budgets (PMCBs) as mechanisms to empower women to take control in choosing who provides their care. Unlike Personal Health Budgets, PMCBs do not offer the option of direct payments to women. They are intended instead to provide a visible, transparent and active mechanism for women to choose where they wish to receive their antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care and will facilitate the flow of money between providers, depending on these choices.

NHS England is working with pioneers on the design of PMCBs and the pioneers are also developing local implementation plans, including support tools for women, general practitioners, midwives and other relevant healthcare professions, to help women make meaningful choices, with the aim of rolling them out progressively in the seven Pioneer areas from November 2016. Their impact will be evaluated to inform the promotion and adoption of PMCBs across the country.

01/01/2023
David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2015 to Question 3036, whether the estimated reduction in household bills in 2030 indicated in that Answer has changed to take into account the deal on nuclear new build with the Chinese government.

Andrea Leadsom

We currently estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 (real 2012 prices) in 2030. This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further roll out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used. Earlier analysis had identified a higher saving, but other low carbon energy technologies have become far more cost competitive which has brought down the cost.

01/01/2023
Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with (a) the NI Executive, (b) business leaders, (c) third sector representatives on the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Ben Wallace

The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis.

I meet regularly with NI Executive Ministers, business leaders and third sector representatives to discuss a range of issues and will continue to do so.

01/01/2023
Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Health and Safety Executive on ensuring reductions in operators’ production costs do not adversely affect the safety of offshore workers in the oil and gas industry.

Justin Tomlinson

I have had discussions with Health and Safety Executive (HSE) officials on the range of factors affecting offshore safety. HSE has confirmed that it is placing increasing emphasis upon maintenance standards as part of its interventions at offshore installations. I support this approach.

01/01/2023
Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many persons are now officially held in detention without charge in Iraq, and their affiliations, and what steps they are taking to collect accurate data about such detainees.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We do not have accurate figures on the numbers being held without charge or their affiliations. During my visit to Iraq in November, I met the Iraqi Minister of Justice, Haider Al Zamili, and raised a number of issues relating to the justice system, prison system and rehabilitation processes. Our Ambassador in Baghdad has raised detention without charge with the Minister of Justice on several occasions.

Last year, the Iraqi Minister of Justice visited London to gain a better understanding of how the prison system operates in the UK. The Minister has committed to ensuring that the issue of detention without charge is addressed and is investigating how the process of charge and trial can be speeded up, as part of the Government of Iraq’s strategy to combat overcrowding in prisons. We will continue to encourage the Ministry to improve the prison system and offer assistance where we can.

01/01/2023
Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 8 February (HL5407), whether they were consulted before NHS England announced that it would be introducing a sugar tax by 2020, and if so, what views they expressed.

Lord Prior of Brampton

There has been a wide-ranging public debate on tackling childhood obesity. We are interested to see the results of NHS England’s consultation on these proposals.

The Childhood Obesity Strategy will be published in the summer.

01/01/2023