Category: Speeches

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20540, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the distribution of Syria crisis response funds in (a) Lebanon and (b) Jordan; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    To date, the UK has allocated £304 million in Lebanon and £193 million in Jordan to support Syrian refugees and vulnerable host communities. This allocation has effectively delivered humanitarian and development support where needs are greatest and most unmet across both countries. For example, as of June 2015 in Jordan and Lebanon respectively, 1,684,800 and 2,032,500 food rations have been delivered providing food for one person for one month.

    The effectiveness of the UK’s humanitarian response in Jordan and Lebanon is assessed regularly through progress reports from funded agencies monitoring their achievements against plans outlined in their funding agreements. Progress is followed up through regular discussions and periodic field monitoring visits to project sites by DFID staff based in our Embassies in Amman and Beirut and from our headquarters in the UK. In addition, projects are formally reviewed on an annual basis and in some cases we also commission independent evaluations.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have had with the Premier League on investment in grassroots sport since 2010.

    David Evennett

    Details of Ministers’ and Senior Civil Servants’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk. Through our most recent discussions we are pleased to have secured a commitment from the League to at least double what they currently invest in grassroots football over the next three years. That equates to over £100million per annum.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions in each year since 2009-10 he has directed that a planning application appeal which would otherwise be determined by a person appointed by the Secretary of State will instead be determined by the Secretary of State, using his powers under Schedule 6, Paragraph 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

    Brandon Lewis

    The attached table shows the number of S78 planning appeals that have been recovered over the last decade.

  • Baroness Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Cox on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks of the Minister of State for the Department for International Development, Mr Desmond Swayne, on 16 March (HC Deb, col 937), whether it is their assessment that the International Criminal Court has not ruled out the possibility that violence against minorities in the Middle East perpetrated by Daesh is genocide.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    I refer you to the press statement made by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor on 8 April 2015, setting out her views on the ICC investigating Daesh.

  • Lord Chidgey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Chidgey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effects of any inconsistencies in deadlines for the ratification of concluded and signed EU trade agreements established by the European Commission under the auspices of Economic Partnership Agreements.

    Lord Price

    I am not aware of inconsistencies in deadlines for the ratification of Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific partners. EU Regulation 1528/2007 of 20 December 2007 states that ratification of the agreements should take place “within a reasonable period of time.”

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many visits (a) by Ministers and (b) officials from her Department were made to Coventry in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The table below shows the total number of visits made by Department for Education ministers to Coventry for each of the last five years.

    Year

    Total Number of Visits by Ministers

    2011-2012

    3

    2012-2013

    3

    2013-2014

    1

    2014-2015

    1

    2015-2016

    3

    We do not hold data centrally on the number of visits made by civil servants to particular locations. This could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

  • Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a minimum safety standard for staff in public and privately-run prisons.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The level of violence in our prisons is unacceptable. I am clear that safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans.

    There are a number of factors including the availability of psychoactive substances in prisons which must be tackled. It will take time to address there long-standing problems. I am determined to make sure our prisons are safe and places of rehabilitation.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional resources are being provided for post-16 students who are required to resit English and mathematics GCSEs.

    Robert Halfon

    Funding for the study of English and maths, including GCSE resits, is provided through the 16-19 national funding formula. The formula incorporates disadvantage funding for providers including a funding uplift of up to £960 per full time student per year to provide for the additional costs incurred for teaching students who have low prior attainment, as indicated by not achieving English and/or maths GCSEs at grade C or above by the end of year 11 (typically age 16). This additional funding is not intended to solely fund maths and English qualifications, but to fund support for students to achieve their learning goals, including maths and English.

    For the past three years the Government has also invested in programmes to support improvements in the teaching of maths and English in Further Education (FE) settings. This year, funding will provide up to 13,000 training opportunities for FE practitioners to improve their subject knowledge and confidence in their teaching of maths or English, fund bursaries for 300 graduates to train to become maths or English teachers in FE settings and further build evidence on evidence of what constitutes effective delivery and teaching of English and maths for students aged 16 to 18 that have not yet achieved level 2 English and maths.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport.

    Tracey Crouch

    The Government supports the work ofUK Anti-Doping (UKAD)whichworkstirelessly to ensure athletes and sport are clean. Throughtesting programmes, intelligence sharing with law-enforcement agencies on supplying and trafficking,and its excellentathleteeducationinitiatives,UKAD is one of the world’s most highly regardednationalanti-dopingorganisations.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements they have made for the capital funding costs of new fluoridation schemes.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Since April 2013 Public Health England (PHE), on behalf of the Secretary of State, has recovered the operational costs of water fluoridation from local authorities served by these arrangements. The Secretary of State is required to meet the reasonable fluoridation capital and operating costs incurred by water undertakers in England and has the power to require local authorities to make payments to the Secretary of State to meet any such costs he has incurred. There are no proposed changes to the legislation affecting these arrangements.

    Funding arrangements for the capital costs of new fluoridation schemes in England will need to be agreed between local authorities and PHE, on behalf of the Secretary of State, as part of the preparatory work before the scheme can commence.