Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the Iraqi government on steps to tackle drug abuse in Iraq.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of reports of drug abuse in Iraq but we have not had discussions with the Government of Iraq on this subject. We continue to support vulnerable communities through our humanitarian assistance. Since June 2014 the Department for International Development has committed £129.5 million to the humanitarian effort in Iraq. That assistance reaches hundreds of thousands of people across the country and includes essential medicine, emergency kits and psychological support.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many grammar schools have sought to end selective admissions under sections 104 to 109 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department does not routinely collect data on significant changes to schools but we are not aware of any grammar schools that have sought to remove selection under the provisions mentioned.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of additional teachers that will be needed to accommodate the predicted population rise over the next 25 years; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education uses the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) to estimate the demand for qualified teachers in active service within state-funded schools in England each year using a range of assumptions including projections for the numbers of pupils in schools. The TSM then estimates the number of postgraduate Initial Teacher Training (ITT) places required in England to meet this demand, given the number of entrants expected through routes other than the Newly Qualified Teacher route; for example through returning to teaching.

    The TSM estimates the number of postgraduate training places required one year in advance and is updated each year to take account of the most up-to-date data – for example, the population projections published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) – which means our estimates change each year. As with any long-term forecast, the further into the future the forecast the more uncertain the estimates become. For this reason, the department does not produce 25 year forecasts of teacher demand. The forecast period of the current TSM provides the department with estimates of the broad trend in likely future demand for teachers which is sufficient for our policy development needs.

    The 2016/17 version of the TSM, which was used to inform the 2016/17 ITT recruitment process, along with a user guide explaining the methodology in detail, is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-supply-model.

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  • Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provisions the contract with Concentrix regarding child tax credits and other benefits makes concerning the time within which decisions must be made about the eligibility for such benefits once they have been withdrawn, and what assessment they have made of how the company has performed against any such requirements in respect of the number of cases in which that period has been exceeded.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) contract with SYNNEX-Concentrix UK Limited, signed in May 2014, provides additional capacity to review and correct tax credit claims that are potentially based on incorrect information.

    Full details of the contractual arrangements, including agreed performance indicators put in place in respect of the intervention service, can be found on gov.uk.

    HMRC regularly monitors the performance of contractors but, due to the commercially sensitive nature of this information, it does not disclose such information.

  • 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 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish a progress report on the 10-year PET-CT NHS England contract awarded to Alliance Medical in January 2015.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England has put in place robust governance arrangements to support the national positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET CT) contract, including regular reviews of the national contract, to ensure that services are commenced as planned, securing significant benefits for patients. As the contract was not fully mobilised until December 2015, NHS England plans to review the progress made over the first year in April 2016 and would be happy to make this report available.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22397, on park homes and smart meters, what the maximum size is of park home sites which fall within the definition of small non-domestic business sites for the roll-out of smart meters; and what steps are being taken to ensure that residents at such sites are offered a smart meter.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Electricity sites are not determined by size, but are settled on their Profile Class. Licence conditions require energy suppliers to install smart meters (or in some circumstances, advanced meters) to all electricity sites in Profile Classes 1-4, and to gas sites where average annual consumption is below 732 MWh per year. We would expect most park home sites to fall into Profile Class 3 (Non-Domestic Unrestricted Customers) or 4 (Non-Domestic Economy 7 Customers).

    I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 18 January 2016 to Question 22397: park home owners of non-domestic sites have responsibility for any secondary metering equipment within their site and the decision to install smart meters for their tenants lies with them.

  • Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of humanitarian funding goes to women’s rights organisations and local organisations with expertise in gender during emergencies.

    Baroness Verma

    Providing opportunities for women’s rights organisations to participate in humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery is one means to ensure that the unique needs of women and girls are addressed and that the capacities of women and girls are recognised and utilised. This is one of the themes of a high-level leaders’ roundtable event at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016, which the Government expects to deliver for women and girls, including on their increased participation in humanitarian assistance.

    In addition, DFID has contributed £6 million to the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, which provides grants to organisations across the world to tackle gender-based violence, including small women’s rights’ and youth-led organisations and has committing to increasing its focus on funding to small women’s rights organisations.

  • James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prudential Regulation Authority’s Draft Supervisory Statement on Buy-to-Let Underwriting Standards, published in March 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the 20 per cent growth in buy-to-let mortgage lending over the next three years on home ownership.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government is committed to supporting homeowners. One part of this commitment is ensuring that there is a level playing field between homeowners and landlords. In the 2015 Autumn Statement, we announced a 3 percentage point increase in the rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax applying to the purchase of additional residential properties, such as second homes and buy-to-let properties; and in the Summer Budget of 2015, we acted to restrict, to the basic rate of income tax, the tax relief on finance costs received by landlords of residential property.

    The Financial Policy Committee recently stated that the combination of forthcoming changes to mortgage interest tax relief and the implementation of the PRA Supervisory Statement will probably dampen growth of buy-to-let mortgage lending relative to lenders’ plans.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help create consensus at the UN Security Council for a referral to the International Criminal Court of the acts committed by Daesh in Iraq and Syria as genocide.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    It is not possible to refer Daesh itself to the ICC. Any referral would cover all potential crimes within a specified geographic area, rather than by a specified organisation or set of actors.

    We judge that a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the UN Security Council is not practical at this time. When efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014, it was vetoed by Russia and China.

    While we continue to draw the attention of the Security Council to the atrocities being committed in Iraq and Syria – on 4 May the Council held a session on the situation in Aleppo at the UK’s request – we expect that any Security Council resolution at this time seeking to refer the situations in Iraq or Syria to the ICC would likewise be blocked. Addition as per PQs 36262 and 35349.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38191 on fertility: medical treatments, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the issues highlighted in the report in that Answer; and if he will write to clinical commissioning groups in England to highlight the findings of that report and the importance of delivering IVF services consistent with the NICE guidelines.

    Jane Ellison

    It is for clinical commission groups (CCGs) to decide locally the extent to which fertility treatment is offered. CCGs’ decisions should be underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services may vary in response to local needs. NHS England has general intervention powers in relation to CCGs, should it be satisfied that a CCG is failing or has failed to discharge any of its functions, or there is a significant risk that it will fail to do so. It is also NHS England’s role to provide support and guidance to CCGs.