Category: Speeches

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of children in Calais who are waiting to be reunited with their families in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    There is no official estimate of the number of children in Calais, this is primarily a matter for the French authorities. It is only possible to assess whether an individual has links to the UK that could enable a transfer on family unity grounds once they make an application for asylum in France.

    Once an asylum claim is lodged in France the Dublin Regulation procedure requesting the UK to take charge of a child on family unity grounds takes place very quickly, often in a matter of weeks, subject to consideration of the evidence in each individual case. An average time is not available for each of the last three years.

    Since February 2016 the UK has accepted 30 family reunification applications from minors in France of which 23 have already been transferred to the UK.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    The information requested (as at 31 March in each of the two years) is presented below. The figures given take into consideration only information about staff who have formally declared their ethnicity.

    Average Hourly Rate 2015

    Average Hourly Rate 2016

    Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff

    £18.50

    £19.03

    Non-Black and Minority Ethnic (Non-BME) Staff

    £24.23

    £24.34

    17% of the Department’s staff are BME which is above the Civil Service average. The difference in average hourly rates between BME and non BME staff is due to there being a higher proportion of BME staff in junior grades at present.

    To encourage recruitment and promotion of talented individuals from a BME background, the Department has undertaken several initiatives including, but not limited to, blind recruitment forms, mandatory unconscious bias training for all staff and a suite of other Diversity and Inclusion training, such as Race Awareness, Positive Action Pathways, and Future Leaders Schemes.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to safeguard levels of research funding in universities as a result of the outcome of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government recognises the importance of our research base, which is why we have protected the science resource budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the parliament.

    The future of UK access to European research and innovation funding will be a matter for the new Prime Minister and government to decide. The Government is determined to ensure that the UK continues to play a leading role in European and international research and innovation.

  • Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Byron Davies on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations the International Corruption Unit (ICU) at the National Crime Agency (NCA) inherited from other agencies when it was first established; and how many new investigations the ICU at the NCA has started since it was established.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The International Corruption Unit (ICU) at the National Crime Agency (NCA) inherited 23 investigations. Since it was first established it has commenced 24 new investigations. (Figures have been provided by the NCA).

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential benefit of a transaction levy on internet retailers; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Online retailers pay a wide range of taxes, including corporation tax and accounting for VAT on their relevant sales. The Government is also taking action to tackle tax avoidance to ensure overseas sellers pay the right amount of VAT.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons do not accommodate workshops.

    Andrew Selous

    We want to see more prisoners working productively for longer numbers of hours. We also want to attract more employers who offer both work in prison but also guaranteed interviews and employment opportunities on release. That is why we want to reform the prison estate, building nine new prisons with better facilities for training and rehabilitation.

    All prisons provide opportunities for offenders to work and learn new skills which can help them find a job on release and support their rehabilitation. We work continuously with employers nationally and locally to create new opportunities in line with our code of practice.

    NOMS uses a specific definition of ‘workshop’ which is only used for commercial and industrial scale work and specific work activities. [1] Currently, there are 10 prisons which are not planning to offer this type of work this year [2], however other learning, vocational training and work opportunities will still be available in these establishments.

    Work in prisons continues to grow steadily, up from 10.6 million working hours in 10/11 to 14.9 million working hours in the year 14/15.

    [1] Including Enterprise/Contract Services, Engineering, Aluminium, Laundry, Newgate Furniture, Concrete, Plastics, Textiles, Woodwork, Food Packing, Commercial Land Based Activities, Braille, Charity, Printing, Data Entry, Signs, Desk Top Publishing, Retail, External Recycling and other workshops.

    [2] Excludes four establishments the Youth Justice Board (YJB) commission from the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of sponsored academies that were rated inadequate by Ofsted on conversion remained inadequate at their next inspection, and what percentage of maintained schools that were rated inadequate by Ofsted at their previous inspection, but remained maintained, remained inadequate at their latest inspection.

    Earl of Courtown

    This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many rough sleepers have been helped by the No Second Night Out Across England programme; and what proportion of those people were successfully kept off the streets.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Rapid intervention is vital to identifying new rough sleepers and ensuring that the support is in place to help them off the streets quickly. The longer someone sleeps rough, the greater the risk that they will become entrenched on the streets. That is why we invested in rolling out No Second Night Out across England through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund. Over two-thirds of rough sleepers in 20 key areas outside London did not spend a second night on the streets.

    The Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. But one person without a home is one too many, which is why we will increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We have also protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement, totalling £315 million by 2019-20.

    Data on the number of people helped through the Fund is in an independent evaluation, published by Homeless Link: http://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-attachments/Three%20Years%20of%20Transition%20-%20summary%20evaluation%20report.pdf.

  • Graham Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Graham Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the level of the threat of terrorism in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The threat level in Northern Ireland is SEVERE meaning an attack is highly likely. Threat levels are kept under constant review.

    There were 16 national security attacks in 2015 and there has been one so far this year. Many more attacks and murders by violent dissident republicans have been foiled.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to develop a strategy to support BAME specialist domestic violence charities.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government published a new Violence Against Women and Girls strategy on 8 March committing £80 million between 2016 and 2020 to protect women and girls from violence and abuse. The strategy sets out how we will support local areas in implementing tailored services for victims who experience different forms of discrimination or additional barriers to accessing support. This includes the launch of a Service Transformation Fund from 2017 which will help to meet the needs of women and girls experiencing multiple disadvantage including victims from black and minority ethnic communities.