Category: Speeches

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve the diversity of (a) public appointments and (b) staffing in his Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    All public appointments are made on merit following a fair and open competition in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s Code of Practice. The Government is committed to increasing the diversity of public appointments. The Centre for Public Appointments in the Cabinet Office supports departments on all issues relating to the diversity of public appointments. Steps we are taking to increase diversity include streamlining the application process, placing an emphasis on ability over previous experience​ and increasing awareness of opportunities by using a central website, social media and engaging with a variety of diversity networks and groups.

    The Cabinet Office recruits staff in line with the Civil Service Commissioners Principles which ensures that candidates are selected based on fair and open competition and on merit. To reduce bias in selection, the Cabinet Office will be implementing name-blind recruitment methods from 1st April. In addition, recruitment and selection training, which has a core focus on raising awareness of unconscious bias, is also offered to all Chairs of recruitment panels.

    On 24 March, we published our 2016 Talent Action Plan for the Civil Service. It provides a progress update on initiatives to increase diversity in the Civil Service, including cross-Government talent programmes aimed at under-represented groups. It also sets out how we will increase social mobility in the Civil Service. The 2016 Talent Action Plan is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/talent-action-plan-2016-removing-the-barriers-to-success

    “

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has made a detailed assessment of the effect of the Government’s energy policy carbon dioxide emissions in the UK in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Provisional statistics for 2015 indicate that greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 38% since 1990 and 17% since 2010.

    Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990

    Units: MtCO2e

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015(p)

    Emissions reduction since 1990

    -24%

    -31%

    -28%

    -30%

    -35%

    -38%

    Source: DECC (2016) Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2015

    A significant proportion of this reduction is being driven by policies. For those policies where we have been able to estimate the emissions impacts, annual estimates are detailed in Annex D of our Energy and Emissions Projections, available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2015.

    “

  • Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees how much it cost to refurbish the Cholmondeley Room toilets, and why those toilets were out of service so soon after their six-month refurbishment.

    Lord Laming

    The works to the Cholmondeley Room toilets are not yet completed. They should be completed in the next month. The estimated budget is £650,000 (of which the Lords’ share is 40%).

    A number of unforeseen technical difficulties mean that the works are slightly behind schedule; although two of the toilets have re-opened, some underlying problems are still being resolved.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many sightings of unidentified flying objects have been reported in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Defence does not maintain a central record of the number of unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings reported, following the closure of the UFO Desk in 2009.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2016 to Question 43488, what the reason is for the discrepancy between the figure provided in that answer and data in recent research published by Women’s Aid on 13 September 2016 on the proportion of survivors of domestic abuse that had access to a separate waiting room in the family court.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    These two pieces of data are not comparable. Question 43488 refers to the Crown and Magistrates’ courts specifically, and family courts were not included. We are clear that security in the family courts is taken extremely seriously and we have robust arrangements in place to protect court users.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Israeli government on the eviction of the Ghaith-Sub Laban family from their home in East Jerusalem.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are concerned about the imminent threat of eviction to the Ghaith-Sub Laban family and about the forcible displacement of protected persons. An official from our Consulate General in Jerusalem attended the court hearing on 31 May. Our Consul-General to Jerusalem raised this issue with the Mayor of Jerusalem on 28 October. Most recently our Consulate General in Jerusalem expressed our concern publicly on 18 November via Twitter, calling for the eviction to be halted.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the reasons for women choosing to take a test for the BRCA1/2 gene mutation.

    George Freeman

    NHS England offers BRCA testing to individuals with a greater than 10% chance of carrying the mutation, using a model based on the individual’s personal and family history of cancers. Data is not collected centrally on reasons for women choosing to take a test for the BRCA1/2 gene mutation.

    The UK Genetic Testing Network is working with NHS England, the devolved administrations and the Health and Social Care Information Centre to collect and publish United Kingdom-wide data on molecular genetic testing activity. Data collection is expected to have been completed by the summer of 2016 with a full update prepared for publication by the end of the year. However, it is not intended that this will include specific data for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing activity.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants made redundant have been hired back in each year from 2011.

    Matthew Hancock

    Data is not held centrally on the number of individuals who have been made redundant from the Civil Service and then rehired, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    Since 2010 we have introduced into the Civil Service Compensation arrangements new provisions to prevent windfall benefits to anyone made redundant and then hired back into the Civil Service. These did not previously exist.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether benefits for people with disabilities will be exempt from the freeze on working-age benefits.

    Priti Patel

    The Welfare Reform and Work Bill introduces a four-year freeze for the main rates of most working-age benefits from 2016-17 to 2019-20, as part of the Government’s welfare reforms that are moving the country to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.

    The freeze does not apply to benefits related to the additional costs of disability, such as Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment; to the support group component of Employment and Support Allowance or the limited capability for work and work-related activity amount in Universal Credit; or to the disability premiums in Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or Housing Benefit. Carers benefits and premiums are also exempted from the freeze.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will appoint an independent commission to investigate the role of PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte in designing, selling and implementing tax avoidance schemes.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to countering tax avoidance to ensure all taxpayers pay their fair share. At Budget 2016, the Chancellor announced a comprehensive package of measures to tackle tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning, and tax evasion by individuals and businesses. Overall, this will raise £12 billion by 2020-21.

    We keep our policy on countering tax avoidance under continuous review to respond to emerging risks.