Category: Speeches

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many infraction proceedings the EU has initiated against his Department in each of the last 10 years; what the reasons were for each such proceeding being undertaken; and what the outcome was of each such proceeding.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each member state can be found. This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be found here.

    http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of how many full-time equivalent civil servants will support the West Midlands Combined Authority in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Mark Francois

    A range of officials from across Government will work to support the West Midlands Combined Authority in the delivery of their policy outcomes. Civil Servants from my Department, including those based in Birmingham, and from the Homes and Communities Agency, will support the authorities of the West Midlands on a number of key local delivery priorities, including on planning, housing, and programmes to drive local economic growth, such as Enterprise Zones and European funding.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the concluding observations and recommendations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK’s sixth periodic report in relation to welfare support for asylum-seekers; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The report recommends that the cash allowance provided to destitute asylum seekers, currently set at £36.95 per week, is raised. The level of the allowance is reviewed regularly to ensure that it is sufficient to cover essential living needs of individual asylum seekers and we will announce the result of this year’s review later this year.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the number of Deprivation of Liberty orders sought by care home owners and the proportion which are rejected, whether they are considering taking steps to improve the system; and if so, when they will publish details of those planned steps.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department has commissioned the Law Commission to carry out a review of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The review is expected to be published at the end of the year.

    The Department will consider what steps may be necessary to improve the system in light of the review.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the size of the present stockpile of plutonium held in the United Kingdom.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    Data on the amount of civil plutonium in the UK are published each year by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. As of 31 December 2014 there was 126.3 tonnes. Detailed information can be found at http://www.onr.org.uk/safeguards/civilplut14.htm.

    Data on the amount of civilian plutonium as of 31 December 2015 will be published in the spring 2016.

    “

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools address sexual harassment and bullying.

    Edward Timpson

    All forms of bullying and harassment are unacceptable and every school is required to have in place a behaviour policy with measures to tackle all forms of bullying. They are held to account by Ofsted and inspectors will look at records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour.

    The Longitudinal Study of Young Peoplein England(LSYPE), which was published by the Department in November 2015, compared bullying among two cohorts of 14 year olds (year 10 students)from 2004 and 2014. It found that 30,000 fewer people in year 10 said they had been bullied in the last twelve months. This represents a drop from 41 per cent in 2004 to 36 per cent in 2014.

    Good schools have a whole school approach to behaviour management that fosters tolerance and respect. Schools can also choose to teach about internet safety and the safe use of social media through their PSHE and sex and relationships provision. Under the computing curriculum, children from the age of five are taught how to stay safe online and how to communicate safely and respectfully.

    All schools must have regard to the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’. This highlights the specific safeguarding issues that staff should be aware of including bullying, child sexual exploitation, gender based violence against girls, sexting and teenage relationship issues, and signposts staff to additional information and support.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of statutory PSHE education on lowering the level of violence against women and girls; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    High quality Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education has a vital role to play in ensuring that young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain, helping them develop healthy relationships and recognise unhealthy relationships. It can also give them the skills and knowledge to help keep themselves, and each other, safe. The Government has made it clear in the introduction to the framework to the national curriculum that all schools should teach PSHE. Schools and teachers are best placed to develop their own PSHE curriculum based on the needs of their pupils, drawing on guidance provided by expert organisations such as the PSHE Association.

    As stated in the Government response to the select committee report, we will take forward work with the sector to improve the quality of PSHE, and intend to make significant progress on this issue during this parliament.

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that calculation of cost estimates for the new generation of Successor Trident submarines has taken into account optimism bias in compliance with the HM Treasury Green Book and supplementary guidance.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Successor cost estimates take into account optimism bias in a way consistent with Green Book guidance.
    As announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, the level of contingency represents around 35% of the submarine cost to completion. This is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects, such as the 2012 Olympics.
    The cost estimates have been subjected to, and will continue to be the exposed to, rigorous cross-Government scrutiny.

  • Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the target timescale is for people leaving prison from application to receipt for universal credit; and how many and what proportion of applications take longer than that timescale.

    Priti Patel

    Prisoners are supported and advised whilst in prison on which benefits they can claim and how to make a claim and we are developing arrangements to enable them to make advance claims to Universal Credit.

    Appropriate support measures for prison leavers with mental health issues will be considered following the initial claim interview.

    Universal Credit is assessed and paid calendar monthly in arrears. Prison leavers will receive payment within the timescale of 5 weeks from the date of claim.

    Prison leavers who are in financial need can apply for an advance payment of up to 50% of their total Universal Credit award following their initial interview.

    The information requested in relation to the timescales for applications is not readily available for publication. To quality assure this information according to the standards of the UK Statistics Authority would incur disproportionate costs.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30500, what assistance is provided by National Crime Agency CEOP Command staff to local force investigations into child sexual abuse.

    Mike Penning

    The National Crime Agency CEOP Command assists UK police forces to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse in a number of ways. This includes providing training and advice on specialist capabilities, specialist operational support, and expert child protection advice. For example, the Command assists local police forces with advice and guidance on interview and search strategies, categorisation of indecent images of children, victim identification and victim strategies. The wider NCA, including CEOP Command, also provides support to forces as set out in The NCA Commitment to Working in Partnership with UK Operational Powers, which is available on the NCA website.