Category: Speeches

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has, other than devolution of business rates, to increase Birmingham’s ability to levy taxes.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government will devolve business rates to local councils in England, giving local government control of around £12.5 billion of additional revenue from business rates. Combined Authority Mayors will be given the power to levy a supplement on business rates bills to fund new infrastructure projects, so long as this has support of local businesses.

    In addition, the spending review announced that Local Authorities with responsibility for adult social care, such as Birmingham, would be given the power to introduce a social care precept to help support local adult social care services.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether an Airborne Collision Avoidance System and a Digital Advanced Flight Control System (Low Visibility Landing) were fitted to Puma helicopter XW229 at the time of its crash on 12 October 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Puma helicopter XW229 was fitted with a dual-duplex Digital Automatic Flight Control System but not an Airborne Collision Avoidance System. The Service Inquiry into the incident involving XW229 is on-going, and the report will be published in due course.

  • Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to embed the Family Test into its policy making.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Family Test does not apply to DFID’s work as its scope is limited to domestic policy areas.

  • Lord Moonie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Moonie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evaluation they have carried out of the potential cost savings from centralised procurement of common generic drugs in the light of evidence from other countries using high volume contracts.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    On behalf of National Health Service secondary care establishments (hospitals) in England the Department’s Commercial Medicines Unit undertakes a long established centralised tender programme for framework agreements for generic medicines. This is in compliance with European Union procurement regulations.

  • Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) secondary and (b) primary schools are academies.

    Edward Timpson

    As of January 2016, 18% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools are academies, including free schools, studio schools or Universal Technical Colleges.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what reports he has received of an emergency landing in Abuja by British Airways flight BA59 from Heathrow to Cape Town on 29 January 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    I believe the emergency landing in question actually took place on 25 January. In accordance with EU Regulation 376/2014, safety-related events which endanger or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person have to be reported to the Civil Aviation Authority. Consequently the CAA has received a report, and will be reviewing the contents in accordance with the requirements of the Regulation.

  • Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations regarding Tier 2 visas on trade between India and the UK.

    Lord Bates

    The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is an independent body and its recommendations are not a statement of Government policy. We thank the MAC for their report and we are currently considering the findings carefully. We will announce our response in due course.

    Doctors from overseas make a valuable contribution to the running of our NHS and we will consider the potential impacts on them in making our decisions. The Minister for Immigration met the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and the Minister of State for Home Affairs during a visit to India in February and had wide ranging and constructive talks, including discussion of the MAC’s report on Tier 2.

    The Government fully respects the UK’s international commitments and remains strongly committed to the free trade agenda. The UK immigration system continues to support inward investment and trade.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the activities of the organisation Khtame Nabuwwat for the purposes of possible proscription under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000.

    Mr John Hayes

    We keep the list of proscribed groups under regular review. We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assurances she has had from EU partners that UK law enforcement agencies could still participate in the (a) European Criminal Records Information System, (b) Schengen Information System, (c) Schengen Alert System, (d) European Arrest Warrant and (e) Europol in the event of a vote to leave the EU.

    James Brokenshire

    As set out in the Government’s White Paper on the process for withdrawing from the European Union, our arrangements for future cooperation under measures such as the European Arrest Warrant, the European Criminal Records Information System and the Schengen Information System would be brought into question. Aside from those States that are not in the EU but are in the Schengen border-free area, there are no precedents for non-Members being able to cooperate with these mechanisms fully outside the EU. We would also lose our status as a full member of Europol.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in English state schools took at least one GCSE in a foreign language at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2014-15; and whether her Department made an estimate of the number of students expected to take at least one GCSE in a foreign language under the planned 90 per cent English Baccalaureate target.

    Nick Gibb

    The number and percentage of pupils in English state-funded schools who were entered for a foreign language GCSE in the 2014/15 academic year is published as part of the key stage 4 school performance tables.[1]

    To enter the EBacc, pupils must enter an approved qualification at key stage 4 in either an ancient or a modern foreign language. This means that when 90% of pupils are taking the EBacc, at least 90% of pupils will enter at least one language qualification.

    [1] https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data?currentstep=datatypes&regiontype=all&la=0&downloadYear=2014-2015&datatypes=ks4

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