Category: Speeches

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will support changing the Air Traffic Management in the Future Airspace Strategy to give residents a higher priority than commercial interests.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    As part of the Government’s ongoing review of its airspace and noise policies, consideration is being given to ensuring that an appropriate balance exists between the beneficiaries of airspace changes and residents who may be affected by them.

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

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision by NHS England not to provide Truvada on prescription as a pre-exposure prophylaxis in the treatment and prevention of HIV.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England does not now consider pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is suitable for prioritisation of specialised commissioning spend as it is a preventative measure. However given the potential benefits in this area, NHS England is keen to build on the work to date and will be making available up to £2 million over the next two years to run a number of early implementer test sites. These will be undertaken in conjunction with Public Health England and will seek to answer the remaining questions around how PrEP could be commissioned in the most cost effective and integrated way to reduce HIV and sexually transmitted infections in those at highest risk.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 20201; what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on safe-standing facilities at higher tier sports stadia on the recent findings of the Hillsborough Inquest.

    David Evennett

    My Rt Honourable Friend the Home Secretary made a statement on the determinations and findings of the fresh Hillsborough inquests (Official Report, 27 April 2016, columns 1433-1463). The Taylor Report made recommendations after the disaster that would make sports grounds safer, which included the introduction of all-seater stadia in the top two tiers of English football.

    The Government remains of the view that that all-seater stadiums are the best means to ensure the safety and security of fans at football in England and Wales. All-seater stadiums have helped improve crowd management, crowd behaviour and policing. They also provide more comfortable facilities for spectators to enjoy football matches. We will, however, monitor the introduction of safe standing accommodation in Scotland closely once evidence from the Scottish experience is available.

  • Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s future requirement for (a) officer cadets and (b) ratings.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Under current planning assumptions the Royal Fleet Auxiliary expects to recruit the following number of Officer Cadets and Apprentice Ratings in each of the next five years:

    2016-17

    2017-18

    2018-19

    2019-20

    2020-21

    Cadet

    32

    32

    32

    32

    32

    Apprentice

    128

    128

    117

    117

    93
  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the extent to which sport and group activities are prescribed by clinicians as a form of treatment.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This information is not held centrally by the Department.

  • 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 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to make an announcement on runway expansion in the South East.

    Mr John Hayes

    The case for aviation expansion is clear – but it’s vitally important we get the decision right so that it will benefit generations to come. As well as progressing the package of further work announced previously, the government is considering the Commission’s evidence before reaching a view on its preferred scheme this month.

  • Stephen Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will support a UN Inquiry into human violations against the Rohingya.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK deplores the treatment of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State, who are subject to persecution and denied the most basic rights. We welcome the work of the highly effective UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, who has shone a spotlight on violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine. She has not characterised the treatment of the Rohingya as genocide, and neither did the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide in his 4 November statement on Burma’s elections. However, any judgement on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for international judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. A UN investigation would require high level international support for which, we assess, there is little prospect of agreement at this stage. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, irrespective of whether or not they fit the definition of specific international crimes. I and other British Government Ministers take every appropriate opportunity, both publicly and in private, to press the Burmese authorities to take urgent steps to address the situation of the Rohingya. I did this with senior Burmese Ministers during my visit to Burma in July, when I travelled to Rakhine State for the second time. Most recently, I raised the issue with the Burmese Foreign Minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, in September in New York. After the 8 November elections, the UK will continue our efforts to address the serious ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine State.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants in his Department are in the redeployment pool.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    As at 31 October 2015 the number of Ministry of Defence civil servants in the redeployment pool was 240 (rounded to the nearest 10).

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what grants have been made by the Leadership Equality and Diversity Fund; and for what purpose each such grant has been made.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Leadership Equality and Diversity Fund supports groups of schools to design and deliver bespoke leadership activity to help increase the diversity of those leading England’s schools. Programmes can target any of the nine protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010. The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

    In 2015-16 there are 40 projects. The full details and purpose of each project is available in the document, “Leadership Equality and Diversity Fund” published at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480857/leadership_equality_and_diversity_schools.pdf

    “

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Bahraini authorities on the planned execution of Mohammad Ramadan and Hussain Moosa.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Bahrain has had a de facto moratorium in place on the use of the death penalty since 2010, although we are concerned a number of individuals have received the death penalty sentence since then. The UK opposes the death penalty around the world because we believe it undermines human dignity, there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent and any error made in its application is irreversible. We regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised human rights with his Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa at their last meeting on 4 February.