Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37106, whether the potential use of RAF aircraft to deliver airstrikes on Daesh targets in Libya has been discussed with the UK’s international partners.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are working closely with the new Government of National Accord and international partners to develop a comprehensive approach to defeat Daesh in Libya. Planning so far has focused on training Libyan forces to provide their own security.

  • Lord Willoughby de Broke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Willoughby de Broke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-07-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 June (HL446) and 27 June (HL808), whether when providing those answers they were aware that the payment window had already been extended to October, and if so, why that was not reflected in those answer.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The deadline for 2015 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments remains 30 June 2016 and as stated in the response of 17 June, this is the deadline the Rural Payments Agency was working towards for the remaining top up BPS payments. On 8 June, Commissioner Hogan confirmed his intention to extend the date by which Member States may make CAP direct payments without the usual reductions in the rate of reimbursement from the EU to the Member States concerned. This does not constitute an extension to the payment window. It means that, subject to a successful request, payments can continue to be made after 30 June without the application of the usual reductions for late payments on the Member State.

    We are currently assessing the UK position in terms of the value of payments made by 30 June and the expected value of payments to be made before 15 October for each of the four UK paying agencies. Once this assessment has been completed we will be in a position to decide whether the UK needs to submit a request to the Commission for such penalties to be waived.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to put in place measures to ensure that funding for atypical GP practices is ring-fenced.

    David Mowat

    NHS England is developing national guidance for commissioners illustrating the workload challenges faced by practices with atypical patient populations, to assist them in making decisions regarding sustainable support.

    There is no formal ring-fencing of primary care allocations within commissioners’ plans.

  • Edward Argar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Edward Argar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment the Government has made of (a) the condition of the port infrastructure at Hodeida in Yemen and (b) Hodeida’s ability to function as a port for the purpose of delivering and unloading international aid.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK assessed the damage to Hodeidah port in August 2015. The port is currently running but with significant constraints: cranes and warehouses have been damaged and the lack of a reliable electricity supply is affecting port operations. However, the port is still operational: it can receive and unload shipments and is capable of servicing between 3 and 5 ships at a time, dependent on size. Between 1-15 November (most recent data), 12 ships berthed in Hodeidah port.

  • John Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    John Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, how many members of (a) the House of Commons and (b) the House of Lords have offices within the historic core of the Palace of Westminster.

    Tom Brake

    193 Members of the House of Commons have their offices located in the Palace of Westminster. Provision of offices for Peers is not a matter for the Commission but is the responsibility of the House of Lords.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the financial effect on local authorities of removal of the severe disability premium.

    Priti Patel

    The fact that the severe disability premium does not feature within the structure of Universal Credit (UC) has no financial effect on Local Authorities. Under UC, the most severely disabled claimants will receive more targeted support.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5909, HL5910 and HL5960) and 12 February (HL5909), what specific licence conditions have been required by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in accordance with its Code of Practice in order to resolve any potential or perceived conflict between the demand for sufficient numbers of zygotes to perform genome editing successfully and the usual practice of transferring embryos to the uterus following assessment of their potential to develop further after at least two to three days; what reasons the person responsible provided when requesting that reference to surplus embryos should be removed from the research project title; and whether they will now place in the Library of the House copies of the patient information and consent forms submitted to the HFEA by the person responsible in order to perform genome editing in human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) publishes on its website the inspection report relating to a licence renewal application and the minutes of the Licence Committee’s decision. It does not publish other information associated with a licence application.

    The Licence Committee considering the application to which the noble Lord refers was satisfied that the requirements of General Directions 0008 were met, with the exception of evidence of ethics approval, which must be submitted to the HFEA before any licensed research can begin.

    The HFEA has advised that licence conditions R18-R27 and T97 address any potential conflict between the use of embryos in research and the use of embryos in the provision of treatment services. The person responsible did not give a reason on the application form for requesting that reference to surplus embryos should be removed from the research project title, nor are they required to do so. The removal of ‘surplus’ from the title does not reflect a change in the way embryos will be donated to the research.

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

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations her Department has received from businesses on the inclusion of design technology within the EBacc qualification.

    Nick Gibb

    The consultation on implementing the EBacc closed on 29 January. We have received responses from a wide range of stakeholders, including businesses. The Government response, including a list of responding organisations, will be published in due course.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the mean annual gross pay was for jobs in (a) manufacturing, (b) services and (c) the whole economy in each of the last five years for which data is available.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the effect on levels of food waste in hospitals of changing provision of food from in-house kitchen preparation to a cook-chill or cook-freeze system.

    George Freeman

    The Department has not conducted research on the subject requested. Data on unserved patient meals was collected through the Estates Returns Information Collection until 2013-14, but it excluded data on waste generated during food production and waste from uneaten patient meals. The question was removed from the 2014-15 collection onwards as the data did not present an accurate picture for all food waste.