Category: Speeches

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that postal votes and ballot papers are sent only to eligible voters for the forthcoming EU referendum.

    John Penrose

    The referendum will be overseen by the Chief Counting Officer, chair of the independent Electoral Commission, who is responsible for making sure the referendum is held in accordance with the legislation. The Electoral Commission made a statement on "non-eligible EU citizen voters" on the 2 June 2016 which can be found at http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/.

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  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the value of the video games industry to the UK economy.

    Matt Hancock

    Latest estimates from the DCMS Creative Industries Economic Estimates (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-economic-estimates-january-2016 ) show that Gross Value Added for the computer games industry in the UK was £426m in 2014.

    Research by Nesta and trade association Ukie (http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/map-uk-games-industry ) seeks to include the contribution of micro-businesses together with official statistics and this suggested that the contribution of video games could be substantially higher. We look forward to seeing the next iteration of this research which is due to be revealed this month and aims to further reflect the fast growing nature of the UK’s digital businesses.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that social media activity by terrorist groups both within the UK and abroad is effectively monitored.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    This Government takes extremely seriously the threat from those that post online terrorist and extremist material.

    In the UK, our dedicated police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) proactively identifies and refers online terrorist and extremist content to communication service providers for removal. Since its inception in February 2010, CTIRU has secured the removal of more than 220,000 pieces of terrorist-related content. Its work has a global impact as content is removed by industry from their social media platforms world-wide.

    Internationally, the UK assisted in the establishment of the European Internet Referrals Unit (EUIRU) which replicates the UK model at European level and services all Member States. The Unit went live on 1 July 2015 and has focused on a broad range of non-English language content, including Arabic, French and German. Since its creation, the EUIRU has secured the removal of over 12,000 pieces of terrorist-related content.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason it is her policy that scores attained through the Reception Assessment baseline will not be scaled for age; if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policy of the findings of research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in October 2013 on the academic performance in school of pupils born later in the academic year; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    The reception baseline provides a score for each child, at the start of reception, which reflects their actual attainment at that point in time. The reception baseline outcome will be used as the basis for an accountability measure of the relative progress of the school’s cohort throughout primary school. If the results were to be scaled to a pupil’s age it would not be a true reflection of the pupil’s attainment at the start of school. For pupils born later in the academic year, scaling the score by age would disadvantage the school as it would result in a higher baseline from which the pupil’s progress would be measured.

    Reception baseline criteria is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/415142/Baseline_criteria.pdf

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  • Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered training nurses in England according to the approach used for trainee paramedics who receive a salary for the work they do while studying for their degree, and if not, why not.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department has no plans to move to the system proposed. Under the current system student nurses are supernumerary in the workforce during their clinical placements. This was introduced in the 1990s following criticisms, led by the Royal College of Nursing, that the employment model used student nurses as a major part of the workforce which did not effectively contribute to their learning, education and development to become competent registered nurses.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many credit unions were subject to intervention by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in 2014 and 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Financial Services Compensation Scheme regularly publishes details of the interventions it has undertaken to protect depositors. The Scheme announced that it had protected the savings of members in five credit unions which entered default in 2014; and six in 2015.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to prevent (a) illegal drugs and (b) pornography entering prisons.

    Andrew Selous

    We use a range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. We continue to explore new methods of preventing drugs coming into prisons, including using body scanners and training search dogs to detect new psychoactive substances.

    Prisoners are allowed to purchase publications that are normally available through high street newsagents. There are strict controls over the publications available to prisoners, with prisons having the power to ban any material they deem unsuitable. Sex offenders are denied access to anything believed to be inappropriate or likely to affect their rehabilitation and governors may also confiscate items that present a threat to good order or discipline.

    All IT and IT media that prisoners have access to is checked for illicit material, including pornography. USB ports are disabled and other security measures are put in place to ensure that prisoners cannot misuse such equipment.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the effect on poverty reduction in West Papua, Indonesia, of the reported ban on non-governmental organisations working in that area.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID no longer has a bilateral poverty reduction programme in Indonesia. However, as part of UK Government action to mitigate against climate change, we work in partnership with the Indonesian national and provincial governments to help secure community access to forest land in Papua to promote a sustainable green economy, whilst supporting local livelihoods.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total contribution from the public purse to Lifetime ISAs in financial year (a) 2017-18 (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government is creating a new Lifetime ISA, providing savers with the flexibility to save towards a first home and retirement at the same time. From April 2017, people aged 18 to 40 will be able to open and save up to £4,000 each year into a Lifetime ISA and receive a 25% bonus from the Government, paid annually after the end of the tax year.

    People can make full withdrawals from their Lifetime ISA accounts for a first home purchase (subject to a house price cap of £450,000 UK-wide) or from age 60. These withdrawals will be tax free.

    An estimate of the Exchequer impact from this policy was set out in Table 2.1 of the Budget 2016 document. For further information, please see page 9 of the Budget 2016 Policy Costings document: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508147/PU1912_Policy_Costings_FINAL3.pdf

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  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make a comparative assessment of energy costs for heavy industry in the UK and in other EU countries.

    Anna Soubry

    UK industrial gas prices are among the lowest in Europe, while electricity prices are among the highest. Industrial energy use overall is split relatively evenly between electricity, gas and other fuels.

    We are addressing the fundamental causes of the UK’s relatively high electricity costs, through:

    • Short-term cost control measures, including the Levy Control Framework actions on solar and onshore wind, announced in summer 2015;

    • Longer term measures including investment in new energy infrastructure (such as nuclear); and interconnection with French, Belgian and Norwegian networks which should help to reduce the difference between the electricity prices here and in Continental Europe.