Category: Speeches

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role armed militias play in enforcing Sudan’s commitments under the Khartoum Process; whether they are being used to enforce border controls and to capture migrants; and what action the regime took, under its commitments in the Doha Document for Peace, 2012, to disarm militias.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are concerned by the reported use of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to tackle migration in Sudan and have raised these concerns with the government of Sudan, most recently during the visit of the UK Special Representative to Sudan and South Sudan in September. We have also made clear that our cooperation on migration will necessarily be guided by our human rights principles. The EU has also raised the role of the RSF with the government of Sudan and has made absolutely clear that no funding aligned with the Khartoum Process will be provided to them.

    The government of Sudan has undertaken some of its disarmament commitments under the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), but together with our international partners we continue to urge them to do more. The UK is a member of the DDPD’s Implementation Follow-Up Commission (IFC), which we use to press for progress on disarmament and other areas of the DDPD’s implementation. The most recent meeting of the IFC was in May 2016.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Amnesty International’s report highlighting an increase in the number of political prisoners in Burma, what steps they are taking to raise the cases of those prisoners, and to promote the rule of law and the need for reform to meet proper standards of justice in Burma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have welcomed the release of hundreds of political prisoners under the current Burmese government. But we have also spoken out vociferously about the worrying tempo of arrests, detentions and sentencing of political activists in the lead up to the elections on 8 November.

    We have regularly raised our concerns with the government of Burma at the highest levels. Most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised this issue directly with the Minister for the President’s Office, U Aung Min, during his visit to Burma in July. Officials from our Embassy in Rangoon meet regularly with civil society on this issue and we lobby on individual cases. We also raise our concerns publicly in our Annual Report on Human Rights and in multilateral fora such as the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, where the UK has co-sponsored Resolutions calling for the unconditional release of all political prisoners. We will continue to work with the incoming Burmese government to make progress on this important issue.

  • Baroness Corston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Corston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Corston on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many owners of Community Rehabilitation Companies have hired public relations companies or consultants since February.

    Lord Faulks

    The MoJ robustly manages and monitors the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), in line with Government standards, to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. CRCs are contracted to deliver services for a fixed fee. We are aware that some of the CRCs have contracted with Public Relations Agencies. However, we would not normally monitor information on how many owners hire PR companies or consultants.

  • Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff who work at Wallasey Jobcentre Plus in Liscard live within two miles of that office; and how many of those staff will be (a) made redundant and (b) transferred as a result of the closure of that office.

    Priti Patel

    Staff currently based at Wallasey Jobcentre Plus live in various locations throughout Merseyside. Travel considerations form an integral part of the One-to-One discussion process with all staff.

    No staff will be made redundant as a result of the proposed relocation of services to Birkenhead if Wallasey Jobcentre Plus were to be closed.

    There are 116 staff based at Dominick House, all of whom will be transferred to either Brunswick House or other locations depending on personal circumstances – should the closure go ahead.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprenticeship starts there were in each construction occupational area in 2015.

    Nick Boles

    Apprenticeships are categorised according to the Sector Subject Area of the apprenticeship, not the industry sector of the employer.

    The Department does not produce forecasts for apprenticeship starts by Sector Subject Area. Apprenticeships are paid jobs and their availability is dependent on employers offering opportunities and hiring apprentices.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided to the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Chairs in each financial year since its establishment.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department for Education has provided the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children Board Chairs with funding totalling £460,000 between September 2012 and March 2016, as follows:

    Financial year

    Total

    2012 – 2013

    £60,000

    2013 – 2014

    £180,000

    2014 – 2015

    £130,000

    2015 – 2016

    £90,000
  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.19 of the report, Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates, published on 16 March 2016, what consultation with industry his Department undertook when considering which technologies will be added or removed from the list of qualifying technologies for the first-year allowance scheme for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial technologies.

    Damian Hinds

    At Budget 2016, the Government announced changes to 100 percent enhanced capital allowances for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial (water-efficient) technologies.

    Each autumn, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consult manufacturers and suppliers. DECC and Defra then recommend to Treasury Ministers updates to the schemes.

    Details of the changes will be set out in Treasury Order 2001/2541 for energy and 2003/2076 for water in the next few months. As is routine, an impact assessment will be published alongside the Order.

  • Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Romanian government on the treatment of the Roma community in that country.

    Mr David Lidington

    We closely follow the treatment of the Roma Community in Romania. The UK condemns discrimination in all its forms and has on numerous occasions discussed this issue with the Romanian government. The UK was represented at the Romanian Government’s Inter-Ministerial Committee responsible for monitoring the National Strategy for Roma Inclusion on 21 March. On 12 April the British Ambassador to Romania issued a public statement regarding discrimination against the Roma community, following acts of vandalism at the National Centre for Roma Culture’s tent at the University Square. We continue to urge the Romanian government to take all necessary measures to ensure that all its citizens can fully enjoy their rights.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the annual running cost of the gov.uk website was in each year since 2012.

    Matthew Hancock

    The annual running cost of the GOV.UK website between financial year 2012/13 and 2014/15 is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/central-government-websites.

    “

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2016 to Question 35329, whether the development of a plan to progress the initial feasibility and business case work for a Euston Station masterplan has been completed.

    Andrew Jones

    Network Rail has been commissioned and is progressing initial feasibility and business case work for its ‘classic’ (conventional) station at Euston. This work is underway, and is scheduled to be concluded in early 2018. In parallel, HS2 Ltd is leading masterplanning work for the entire Euston site, involving all station operators and the local area during 2016 and 2017. The first stage of this process has been planned and is now underway. These processes will run jointly and concurrently, and integrate with plans for HS2 and associated over site development.