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Category: Speeches

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans he has to meet representatives of restorative justice schemes in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    The honourable Lady highlighted the work carried out in her constituency by North Down Alternatives during a recent Northern Ireland Affairs Committee evidence session. Following that debate I asked my officials to make arrangements for me to meet the accredited restorative justice groups that co-operate with the police in Northern Ireland.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nationals aged (a) between 15 and 64 and (b) over 65 from each EEA country were granted British citizenship in each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.

    James Brokenshire

    The latest available Home Office immigration statistics on grants of British citizenship by age, sex, geographical region and year of grant are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, April-June 2015’ table cz_05 for 2002 to 2014, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics

    Corresponding data for 2015 will be published on 26 May 2016. Information is not available for periods prior to 2002.

  • Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) Commonwealth, and (2) Irish, citizens they estimate are resident in Gibraltar and therefore eligible to vote in the forthcoming EU referendum.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The vast majority of Commonwealth citizens resident in Gibraltar have British nationality. According to figures provided by the Clerk to the Gibraltar Parliament, 23,278 people were registered to vote in the Gibraltar general election which took place on 26 November 2015. Those who do not have British nationality are ineligible to vote in Gibraltar general elections.

    The most recent election in which Irish and non-British Commonwealth citizens were eligible to vote in Gibraltar was the European Parliamentary election held on 22 May 2014. In that election, according to figures provided by the Clerk to the Gibraltar Parliament, 19 Irish and 22 non-British Commonwealth citizens were registered to vote.

    The British Government estimates that these figures would be similar for the forthcoming EU referendum, in which Commonwealth (including British) and Irish citizens who are registered in the Gibraltar register would be eligible to vote.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what costs Commissioning Support Units have incurred in spending, or have committed to spend, on external management consultancies in 2015–16, for (1) internal business support, and (2) providing support to Clinical Commissioning Groups, the NHS Commissioning Board and others.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As of December 2015, Commissioning Support Units spend on external consultancy for 2015/16 was £8.4 million with a further £1.4 million identified as future known commitments, by the end of the financial year.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many educational psychologists have been employed in each local authority in each year since 2013.

    Edward Timpson

    The number of educational psychologists reported as permanently employed by each local authority in 2013 and 2014 is provided in the attached table.

    Of the 152 local authorities in both 2013 and 2014, a response regarding educational psychologists was received for 72 per cent in 2013 and 66 per cent in 2014.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of child poverty in the Greater Manchester area.

    Priti Patel

    The Government is committed to eliminating child poverty and improving life chances for all children, including those in Greater Manchester.

    We know that work is the best route out of poverty and we are already making progress, with the number of children in workless households across Greater Manchester down by 13,000 since 2010. Our investment in childcare, the National Living Wage and increases to the Personal Allowance will help people increase their hours, increase their earnings, and enable them to keep more of what they earn.

    The Secretary of State will say more about the Government’s plan to tackle disadvantage and extend opportunity in a new Life Chances Strategy. This will be published in the Spring.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place to improve rolling stock as part of the rail franchise package for the North West.

    Andrew Jones

    The new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises commenced on the 1st April. By the end of 2019, they will have introduced significant improvements in Rolling Stock.

    The Northern franchise will deliver:-

    • 281 new carriages including 55 new Diesel and 43 new Electric trains – the first ever new trains specified for the Northern franchise
    • Additional diesel units cascaded from other franchises – refurbished to ‘as new’ standard
    • Removal of all Pacer trains by October 2019
    • All retained trains will be refurbished as new including Wi-Fi, media servers, passenger information systems, CCTV and accessible toilets with baby-change facilities

    This means that 30% of this expanded fleet will be new and will operate 2000 more services per week –a 12% increase. The additional trains will provide a 37% increase in morning peak capacity into the North’s 5 major cities by December 2019.

    The TransPennine franchise will deliver:-

    • 220 new carriages
    • All existing trains will be refurbished as new including Wi-Fi, additional power sockets, and real-time passenger information systems

    This means that 70% of fleet is new, the fleet size increases by two-thirds, provides 13million more seats, an 80% increase in morning peak seats by the end of 2019.

    These delivery plans as bid by the two operators during the Invitation to Tender process have been contracted within the franchise agreements.

  • 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 2016-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2015 to Question 35437, what the average length of time was recommended by respondents to his Department’s informal consultation on removing the climate change levy renewables exemption in answer to Question 3 of that consultation on transitional arrangements.

    Damian Hinds

    At Autumn Statement 2015 it was announced that a transitional period for electricity suppliers to apply the Climate Change Levy exemption on renewably-sourced electricity generated before 1 August 2015 would end on 31 March 2018. Question 3 of the informal consultation asked about the length of time for the transitional period. Some respondents suggested an end date, and others a time period without specific dates. The small sample and varied responses mean it is not possible to provide an average from this information.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many clandestine entrants of each nationality were identified within the UK in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office is improving its data collection in this area and will publish information in this area once that work is completed.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to make additional funds available to areas where specialist cerebral palsy facilities are not currently available.

    David Mowat

    Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning universal health services for their area that meet the needs of their local population. In doing so they should take account of best practice such as that set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. Funding for CCGs is allocated by NHS England using an agreed formula.

    Paediatric neurology services are provided in both out and in-patient settings. The majority of these are specialised services commissioned directly by NHS England. These specialised services are based in Neurosciences Centres which have the necessary infrastructure in terms of diagnostic services and other specialities. However, paediatric neurology provides out-patient services based in secondary care centres around the geographical region served. This allows specialist services to be provided as near to patients as is reasonably feasible

    When considering what services should be commissioned we expect commissioners to take account of best practice and guidance and, where appropriate, the local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which captures local need.

    The Department has asked NICE to develop guidance on cerebral palsy. The guideline, Cerebral palsy: diagnosis and management in children and young people under 25 is currently open for consultation and is expected to be published in January 2017. Guidance for adults is also being developed and is expected to be published in 2019.