Category: Speeches

  • Lord Judd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Judd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how far they expect proposals in the report of the earlier Open Ended Working Group of 2015 in Geneva, and developed in working papers to the 2015 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, to provide a basis for identifying which of those proposals could be negotiated in time to be submitted to the 2016 UN General Assembly in order to prepare for substantial negotiations to begin in 2017.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Any Open Ended Working Group mandated to address the issue of nuclear disarmament should consider proposals and papers related to this issue from previous UN and Non Proliferation Treaty meetings and should take a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment. We remain open to an appropriately-mandated Open Ended Working Group provided that it is conducive to a constructive dialogue and we are considering whether to attend the meeting in Geneva in 2016.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues to the private parking industry on the appropriate levels of penalties for motorists.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government does not issue guidance to the private parking industry on the levels of penalties for motorists. The private parking sector currently operates on a model of self-regulation, and parking companies predominantly obtain access to DVLA data by being a member of one of the two Accredited Trade Associations. These Trade Associations set out in their codes of practice that the maximum level should be no more than £100. Both Trade Associations suggest their members offer a reduced rate of at least 40% if payment is made within 14 days of the issue of the charge notice.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet on 16 November 2015, what equipment his Department plans to procure under the £2 billion programme of new investment in the special forces.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As the Department announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review in November 2015, the additional investment in the UK Special Forces will include the acquisition of advanced communications equipment, information capabilities, specialist weapons and clothing and see upgrades to helicopters and transport aircraft. It is long standing policy not to comment on further detail of Special Forces. This programme of investment will enhance UK Special Forces’ counter-terrorism capabilities and their ability to operate covertly around the world, and allow them to deploy further and faster.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK (a) military and (b) civilian personnel are deployed on UN peacekeeping operations in each operational theatre.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The tables below show the numbers of military and civilian personnel the UK has deployed to UN mandated peacekeeping and special political missions in the last six years, as at 26 February 2016:

    Military Personnel

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    UNFICYP (Cyprus)

    271

    273

    270

    274

    274

    274

    MINUSMA (Mali)

    1

    2

    2

    2

    UNMISS (South Sudan)

    3

    2

    4

    3

    3

    MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo)

    5

    4

    5

    5

    5

    5

    UNSOM (Somalia)

    2

    2

    UNSMIL (Libya/Tunisia)

    1

    1

    TOTAL

    276

    280

    278

    285

    287

    287

    Civilian Personnel

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    MONUSCO

    1

    1

    1

    1

    1

    UNMISS

    4

    4

    2

    UNSMIL

    1

    1

    MINUSTAH (Haiti)

    3

    3

    3

    UNMIL (Liberia)

    1

    1

    TOTAL

    1

    1

    1

    8

    10

    7

    The civilian figures represent deployments from the Stabilisation Unit; other Government Departments also deploy civilians on UN Peacekeeping missions.

    The figures do not include deployments to UN Agencies.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the level of opposition from Scottish stakeholders to any repeal of the Act.

    Lord Faulks

    This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We will consider the devolution implications of our reforms and will continue to engage fully with stakeholders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and with the devolved administrations, as we develop our proposals.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s consultation on enforcing guarantor loans, GC16/2, published in February 2016, whether his Department has received representations from the (a) Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and (b) any other organisation on the consistency of the FCA’s proposed interpretation of the word enforce in section 87(1)(e) of the Consumer Credit Act.

    Harriett Baldwin

    These are matters for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and relate to FCA Guidance Consultation (GC16/2) issued on the interpretation of provisions in the Consumer Credit Act 1974, regarding whether a default notice should be given to a guarantor before payment is taken from them when a borrower defaults. The FCA is currently considering responses to the consultation and will publish a response after considering the complex issues raised.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) direct and (b) other financial support his Department provides to the Afghan Mines Protection Force and (b) local police.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides policing assistance to Afghanistan via its £70m per annum contribution to the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF), which supports the payment of Afghan National Police salaries, via the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA), administered by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The FCO does not fund the Afghan Local Police.

    The UK also deploys security advisers to the Ministry of Interior, NATO, and EUPOL, the EU’s policing mission in Afghanistan. They do not provide support to the Afghan Local Police.

    The Department for International Development’s separate financial support to policing is aimed at capacity-building the Ministry of Interior and developing the Afghan National Police. The Afghan Public Protection Force is not a recipient of this support.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has undertaken or commissioned an environmental impact assessment of a construction phase for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015, and has since been undertaking a programme of further work to support a decision on a preferred scheme. The preferred scheme promoter would need to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment as part of any Development Consent application it makes.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of staff on the payroll of her Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Caroline Dinenage

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. However, there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the extension of feed-in tariffs to Northern Ireland.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The focus of the current Feed-in Tariff review is to ensure generators are incentivised appropriately and to seek views on how to control future costs.We do not consider it appropriate at this moment to extend the scope of the scheme.