Category: Speeches

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many horses were exported for slaughter in each of the last 10 financial years.

    George Eustice

    Horses or ponies exported to another EU member state must be accompanied by a health certificate which specifies whether they are intended for breeding and production or slaughter.

    Records for exports from Great Britain are only available from 2013. The Animal and Plant Health Agency have no record of any export health certificates where the intended purpose has been declared to be for slaughter.

    There is no information available for the intended use of horses exported to countries outside of the EU.

  • Phil Boswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the implications are for his Department’s policy of the analysis undertaken by the Resolution Foundation set out in its report, The Pinch, published on 10 December 2015, of (a) the effects of the financial events of the last 10 years on those aged 16 to 44 relative to those aged 55 to 64 and (b) the changes in that period in levels of real median weekly earnings across different cohorts of the population.

    Nick Boles

    The financial crisis triggered the worst recession in living memory. However, GDP surpassed its pre-recession level in Q2 2013 and the UK’s economic recovery is now well established. Since 2010, on average, the UK has been the joint fastest growing economy in the G7 and the labour market has continued to make strong progress.

    According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), excluding full-time students under the age of 25, the employment rate of people aged 16-49 fell from 76.9% in the three months to May 2008 to a post-recession low of 74.0% in the three months to March 2010. Since mid-2011, the employment rate for this group has increased over time and the latest data shows that it reached a record high of 77.7% in the three months to October 2015.

    While the recession had less of an impact on the employment rate of people aged 50-64, their current employment has also reached a record high for this group, of 70.0%.

    The analysis in Resolution Foundation’s report you mention looked at real median weekly earnings of various cohorts over time. While not strictly cohort analysis, more recent cross-sectional data from the ONS’s Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) shows that the increase in nominal median gross weekly pay between April 2014 and April 2015 varied across age groups as follows[1]:

    • 16-17 year olds: 8.2%[2]
    • 18-21 year olds: 4.0%
    • 22-29 year olds: 3.2%
    • 30-39 year olds: 1.1%
    • 40-49 year olds: 2.6%
    • 50-59 year olds: 2.5%
    • 60+ year olds: 1.9%

    CPI inflation over the same period was -0.1% in the year to April 2015.

    Pay, and ultimately living standards are strongly linked to productivity. That is why the Government is working hard to boost productivity, and therefore wages, with the ambitious measures outlined in our Productivity Plan. Our higher pay, lower tax, lower welfare society is the route to raising living standards for everyone in the UK.

    [1] Employees on adult rates of pay whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence

    [2] Figures for 16-17 year olds include employees not on adult rates of pay

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of prisoners who have converted to Islam in prisons in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    Information on the number of prisoners that have converted to Islam while in prison is not held centrally. The data held relates to a prisoner’s current declared religion, not any previously declared religion.

    In order to provide data relating to offender conversions to Islam in prison, it would be necessary to manually examine individual prison records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the Austrian government on a person suspected of rape in Linz, Austria, who is now resident in the UK.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not received any representations from the Austrian government on this alleged case.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on how much and what proportion of the total budget for UN peacekeeping was spent in support of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus in each of the last six years.

    James Duddridge

    The table below sets out how much the UN General Assembly allocated to the gross budget for the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for the last six UN budget years (which run from 1 July to 30 June); the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus net budget, following the deduction of voluntary contributions from the Governments of Cyprus and Greece; how much the total UN Peacekeeping Budget was for each year; and the percentage of the UN Peacekeeping Budget allocated to UNFICYP’s gross budget. The UN budgets in US dollars, therefore all the figures below are in that currency.

    UN budget year

    UNFICYP budget (gross)

    UNFICYP budget (net)

    Total UN Peacekeeping Budget

    Percentage of UN Peacekeeping Budget allocated to UNFICYP’s gross budget

    2015/16

    55,139,400

    31,027,967

    8,256,758,900

    0.67

    2014/15

    62,531,500

    36,082,233

    8,510,143,233

    0.73

    2013/14

    58,514,200

    33,332,866

    7,901,248,366

    0.74

    2012/13

    56,968,200

    32,251,867

    7,364,983,850

    0.77

    2011/12

    60,121,200

    34,506,933

    7,835,339,630

    0.77

    2010/11

    59,759,200

    34,304,608

    7,823,615,600

    0.76
  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a specific budget for advertising the Government’s position on the EU referendum; and whether he plans to advertise that position in the media, on billboards and in newspapers before 23 June 2016.

    John Penrose

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14th April to the Hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex on 14th April.

    All external suppliers used were on existing Government procurement agreements, which have been awarded in compliance with the relevant procurement Regulations.

    The Government will comply fully with the statutory restrictions in place from 27th May.

  • Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of unlicensed firearms in circulation in the UK.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The table provided contains statistics on the number of licensed firearms and shotguns, by police force area, in England and Wales as at 31 March 2015.

    At this time there was a total of 1.34 million licensed shotguns and 0.53 million licensed firearms.

    The Home Office does not centrally hold any estimates for unlicensed firearms.

    Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.

  • Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Young of Cookham on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the lower life expectancy of those on low incomes is due to the higher rates of smoking in that group.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The independent review into health inequalities in England undertaken by Professor Sir Michael Marmot culminated in the publication in 2010 of Fair Society, Healthy Lives. A copy of the review has been placed in the Library. The review identified the most effective evidence-based strategies for reducing health inequalities in England and made the following recommendation:

    “Tobacco control is central to any strategy to tackle health inequalities as smoking accounts for approximately half of the difference in life expectancy between the lowest and highest income groups. Smoking-related death rates are two to three times higher in low-income groups than in wealthier social groups.”

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which of the recommendations made by the APPG for Yemen in its report, Conflict in Yemen, the forgotten crisis, published in October 2015 have been adopted by her Department.

    Rory Stewart

    We share the APPG’s concern about the serious humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and welcome the recommendations for DFID in the report.

    The Secretary of State recently co-hosted an international event on Yemen at the UN General Assembly to shine a spotlight on the crisis. At the event, donors pledged over $100 million in additional funding to the Yemen crisis and UN agencies committed to improving the delivery of humanitarian aid on the ground.The Secretary of State announced an extra £37 million for Yemen at the event, bringing the UK’s total funding for Yemen to £109 million for 2016/2017.

    We have continued to lobby at all levels for rapid, safe and unhindered commercial and humanitarian access. Since May, we have provided £1.4 million to the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) to facilitate commercial shipping to Yemen, crucial to ensuring adequate supplies of food and fuel.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of compliance by doctors with the four-week recommended maximum prescribing period for benzodiazepines and z drugs since 2011.

    George Freeman

    No assessment has been made of compliance by doctors with the four-week recommended maximum prescribing period for benzodiazepines and z drugs since 2011. Guidance on the prescribing of benzodiazepines and “z” drugs can be found in the British National Formulary.