Category: Speeches

  • Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total number of persons currently employed to deliver electoral services in Northern Ireland.

    Lord Dunlop

    The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is currently considering a range of options for reforming his Office. This includes capitalising on new technology by introducing on-line registration.

    The Chief Electoral Officer will have regard to the continued effective delivery of elections in Northern Ireland and ensuring that his Office remains on a sustainable financial footing. The Northern Ireland Office fully supports him in this approach. I understand that work on some options is at an early stage.

    The Representation of the People Act 1983 makes provision for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland to delegate returning officer functions to the clerk of a district council.

    Detailed questions on headcount and budget are operational matters for the Chief Electoral Officer who is independent of Government. The Chief Electoral Officer publishes all such information in his annual report which is presented to Parliament and copies are made available in the Library of the House.

    The headline budgets allocated to the Chief Electoral Office are:

    Financial Year

    Operational Funding

    Capital Funding

    2013/14

    £5.452m *

    £100k

    2014/15

    £2.336m

    £56.2k

    2015/16

    £2.296m

    £25k

    * includes £3m for the 2013 canvass

    The Northern Ireland Office has not agreed any budgets with the Chief Electoral Officer for future years pending receipt of the Department’s detailed Spending Review 2015 settlement letter from HM Treasury.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of additional perinatal specialist mental health practitioners that will be needed to meet the additional requirements set out in the Prime Minister’s speech on life chances of 11 January 2016.

    Ben Gummer

    Health Education England (HEE) is working closely with NHS England to better understand the future workforce commissioning requirements needed to deliver access for all to the right perinatal mental health services.

    The HEE Perinatal Mental Health programme aims to ensure that the maternity workforce has access to the right skills and knowledge that will enable them to provide high quality perinatal mental health care from prevention through to treatment for women throughout pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. This includes partnership working with stakeholders to meet multi professional education and training requirements.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the Sellafield workforce reform initiative on the economy of (a) Copeland, (b) Allerdale, (c) Barrow-in-Furness and (d) Cumbria.

    Andrea Leadsom

    A new model, part of a suite of changes designed to increase efficiency in the business, is being put in place at Sellafield to increase efficiency in the business. The Sellafield Change Programme is deliberately focussed on developing the supply chain for Sellafield to maximise the positive impact on the community.

    Details of the change programme are available at http://www.nda.gov.uk/contracts-and-competition/sellafield-model-change-programme/.

    “

  • Jonathan Djanogly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jonathan Djanogly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Djanogly on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the reductions in the number of people who use Stop Smoking Services in the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    Although no formal assessment has been made of the reduction in the number of people accessing Local Stop Smoking Services in the last five years, Public Health England has been working with local areas, practitioners and experts in the field to better understand the reasons for the reduction in the number of people accessing services and consider how best to continue to help people stop smoking.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people receiving jobseekers allowance were reported as having failed to turn up for job interviews in the last year.

    Priti Patel

    This information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

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

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the mental and other health services that will be needed to assist the unaccompanied children who will be brought to the UK from refugee camps (1) in Europe, and (2) outside Europe.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The United Kingdom has been operating resettlement schemes for many years and we already have established and effective networks to accommodate and support resettled people. The increase in numbers will require an expansion of current networks and the impact on local communities and infrastructure will need to be managed carefully. That is why we are working with a wide range of partners to ensure that people are integrated sensitively into local communities and that we have the right support in place for unaccompanied refugee children who arrive in the UK from Europe whilst ensuring we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK.

    The guidance, Statutory Guidance on Promoting the Health and Well-being of Looked After Children, sets out the health duties for local authorities, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and NHS England. The guidance sets out that local authorities and the National Health Service should take account any particular needs of the child, including if they are unaccompanied asylum seekers. This guidance is attached.

    Whilst there are a range of health care professionals, for example youth workers and teachers, who deliver interventions and support for children and young people with mental health conditions, clinical need should be determined by a specialist initial assessment in line with guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

    Local areas have published Local Transformation Plans that set out how mental health services will be delivered for their population. As part of their plans, local areas were asked to set out how they planned to meet the needs of more vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied refugee and asylum seeking children (UASC).

    NHS England ensures that all commissioners of health services have appropriate arrangements and resources in place to meet the physical, emotional and mental health needs of looked-after children, including UASC. They will work with local commissioners to raise awareness of the Resettlement Programme and highlight the additional numbers of children who will require their attention and support.

    Decisions about the resources needed to meet the mental health and other health needs of all children and young people, including UASC, are taken at a local level by CCGs. This may include decisions to recruit additional staff where necessary.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 27 June (HL657), whether the special status” enjoyed by the Sovereign is granted by EU law.”

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    The European Court of Justice has held that EU law must be interpreted in the light of the relevant rules of international law and that, as such, under EU law Heads of State enjoy a special status (different from that of all other Union citizens).

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many trained regular army soldiers there were in each of the Army’s regiments and corps in each year since 2010.

    Mike Penning

    The number of trained Regular Soldiers as at the 1 April, each year from 2010 to present, broken down by corps, is shown in the table below. These figures do not include Gurkhas or Full Time Reserve Service who are part of the Full Time Trained Strength but are not counted as Regular Soldiers.

    April 2010

    April 2011

    April 2012

    April 2013

    April 2014

    April 2015

    April 2016

    Total

    98,040

    97,280

    94,800

    90,530

    84,250

    79,540

    77,100

    General Staff

    840

    810

    760

    740

    730

    720

    690

    Household Cavalry & Royal Armoured Corps

    5,990

    5,840

    5,520

    5,230

    4,770

    4,600

    4,520

    Royal Artillery

    7,720

    7,550

    7,350

    7,050

    6,560

    6,220

    6,080

    Royal Engineers

    9,520

    9,630

    9,450

    8,970

    8,120

    7,810

    7,460

    Royal Signals

    7,570

    7,670

    7,540

    7,180

    6,680

    6,320

    5,910

    Infantry

    24,940

    24,210

    24,080

    23,280

    21,710

    20,130

    19,630

    Army Air Corps

    2,140

    2,120

    2,020

    1,900

    1,760

    1,690

    1,640

    Royal Army Chaplin’s Department

    140

    130

    140

    140

    140

    140

    130

    Royal Logistic Corps

    15,300

    15,020

    14,080

    12,980

    12,100

    11,130

    10,660

    Royal Army Medical Corps

    3,060

    3,010

    2,990

    3,100

    3,110

    3,030

    2,940

    Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers

    9,830

    10,030

    9,700

    9,010

    8,060

    7,770

    7,570

    Adjutant Generals Corps

    6,000

    6,050

    6,030

    5,760

    5,470

    5,210

    5,200

    Royal Army Vetinary Corps

    350

    340

    370

    400

    410

    380

    360

    Small Arms School Corps

    160

    160

    160

    150

    150

    150

    150

    Royal Army Dental Corps

    370

    370

    350

    360

    310

    250

    220

    Intelligence Corps

    1,500

    1,580

    1,650

    1,750

    1,750

    1,720

    1,700

    Royal Army Physical Training Corps

    490

    480

    470

    440

    420

    410

    430

    Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps

    900

    900

    890

    910

    890

    870

    860

    Corps of Army Music

    800

    770

    740

    720

    740

    710

    690

    Other (including SSCP)

    410

    620

    540

    460

    370

    280

    260

    The figures are for Trained Regulars only and so exclude Ghurkhas, Reserve services and Untrained Regulars.

    "Other" includes those with unknown Cap badges and those in Senior Soldier Continuity Posts (SSCP).

    Figures have been rounded to "10". Figures ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

  • Lord Truscott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Truscott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following recent atrocities by ISIL against a number of countries, including Russia, they have reconsidered the statement by the Defence Secretary on 19 February that there is a real and present danger” Russia could try to destabilise the Baltic states.”

    Earl Howe

    The Government’s position has been stated in the recently published Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cm 9161). Russia’s behaviour is hard to predict and although highly unlikely, we cannot rule out the possibility that Russia may feel tempted to act aggressively against NATO Allies. We also want to keep open the possibility of co-operation and will continue to seek to engage with Russia on global security issues, including international efforts to tackle the ISIL threat.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of car parking charges and their effect on the high street.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    We are committed to supporting our high streets and effective parking management is essential for businesses to survive and grow.

    Local authorities should be making it easier to park by looking to reduce the cost of parking in local authority owned car parks, and working with private sector providers to ensure they are providing a competitive offer that makes people want to visit high streets and town centres. This provides the best support to local shops, local jobs and tourism by increasing footfall.

    The Government has brought forward a range of measures to help motorists, including banning CCTV ‘spy cars’, introducing 10 minutes grace periods and a new guidance to challenge parking policies.