Category: Speeches

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what resources his Department has spent on HM Government Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty, revised in October 2011 in each year since its publication; and what resources his Department plans to spend in each year of the current spending review period.

    Mr David Lidington

    In the four financial years 2011-2015, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded 42 abolition of death penalty projects with a total expenditure of £2,382,237. The breakdown of expenditure by year was:

    2011-12 £516,679

    2012-13 £760,803

    2013-14 £581,945

    2014-15 £522,809

    In the current financial year, we expect to spend around £600,000 on this topic. We will be announcing an ambitious strategy for further human rights programming shortly. This strategy will offer future opportunities for abolition of death penalty projects. The amount we allocate to projects in this area will depend on the quality of bids received.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to work with schools and local authorities to promote awareness of mental health issues for young people.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department of Health is investing £700,000 this financial year to fund the largest ever campaign for teenagers and the first of its kind for parents, to raise awareness and reduce stigma about mental health issues. This was done through Time To Change, a partnership between Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, and Public Health England.

    A key part of this work included activities within schools. Free resources were made available to teachers to deliver sessions and social contact events, supported by online contact, where young people shared their personal experiences and promoted by local areas. The campaign is being refreshed this week as part of Time To Talk Day on 4 February, which aims to get as many people as possible around the country talking about mental health.

    The Government will continue to support Time To Change campaigns on young people mental health in coming years.

    Work is also underway in partnership with the Department for Education and NHS England to pilot single points of contact in schools so that young people in school have improved access to mental health advice and support. These pilots will include joint training across children and young people’s mental health services and schools to raise awareness of mental health issues, support early identification and highlight potential interventions.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Cabinet Office takes the well-being of its employees seriously and provides a range of support, including the recent launch of the Cabinet Office Listening Service, resourced by staff who have been trained in active listening and emotional support. The service can provide upfront support to Cabinet Office staff dealing directly or indirectly with specific issues in their personal or working life or to help them to cope with mental health issues of any kind including depression, anxiety or stress. Listeners can also signpost individuals onto other relevant services such as the external Employee Assistant Programme which offers counselling, impartial advice and access to online health and wellness related resources.

    The department has established an employee led WorkWell community to further develop and implement a strategy for wellness. Progress to date includes establishing resilience training for senior leaders and their teams, signing up to the Time to Change pledge on mental health, providing access to coaching and training in skills to improve wellbeing such as mindfulness. WorkWell are also seeking to increase awareness of opportunities to improve physical wellbeing at work including provision of on-site health checks.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 28404, on Independent Living Fund, if he will publish (a) the timescale and (b) the terms of reference of the research which the Government plans to conduct.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We have completed the planning for researching the impact of the ILF’s closure; we will publish the findings when the research is complete.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 136 of the publication, HM Treasury analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives, published in April 2016, whether the total net international migration figure of 185,000 per year from 2021 includes (a) Turkey, (b) Montenegro and (c) Serbia.

    Mr David Gauke

    The “HM Treasury analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives” uses the ONS central projection of total net international migration, defined as the movement of people to or from countries outside of the UK. As such, it applies to citizens of all countries outside the UK, including Turkey, Montenegro and Serbia.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the report, The Blood of People Who Don’t Cooperate, published by Human Rights Watch in November 2015, if he will review his Department’s policy of providing funding for the training of prison and security officers in Bahrain.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We believe that UK support to Bahrain’s reform programme is the most constructive way to achieve long-lasting and sustainable reform in Bahrain. While it will take time to see the full results, UK support is having a direct, positive impact on areas of concern. We continue to work with the Government of Bahrain to ensure momentum and progress on its reforms, for the benefit of all Bahrainis. All Foreign and Commonwealth Office programmes that support security reform are carefully considered in line with HMG’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance in order to assess and mitigate human rights risks. Our assistance is specially designed to improve human rights standards and strengthen the rule of law in partner countries. These programmes are routinely monitored and evaluated on a quarterly basis to ensure that they are on track for delivery.

  • Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long the average anticipated response time is for a review of a driving licence due to medical reasons.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) deals with more than 600,000 medical driver licensing applications annually. The length of time taken to deal with an individual application depends on the medical condition and whether further information is required from medical professionals.

    Between April 2016 and the end of August 2016, the average time taken for a licensing decision to be made was 38 working days. The average time for the period April 2015 to March 2016 was 53 working days.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to provide regular reports to Parliament on the withdrawal by local authorities of public services, including welfare, educational and cultural services, including explanations of how local authorities are meeting statutory obligations for the provision of those services.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    Local authorities are independent bodies accountable to their electorate and have a legal obligation to fulfil a range of statutory duties to provide key services. Within the framework of statutory duties, councillors are free to set their own priorities and determine outcomes.

    Local authorities have an important role in making their decisions on resourcing transparent. All local authorities produce public accounts, have open meetings and are required to consult the public, and all are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The public are also entitled to have access to documents relating to council meetings and documents relating to executive decisions made by executive members or officers.

    The Secretary of State can request an inspection under section 10 and intervene under section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999 where there is clear evidence that an authority is failing either to discharge its functions adequately or meet its statutory obligations.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has allocated to each local authority in London per head of population in each year since 2010-11; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    My Department does not hold the information in the format requested.

  • Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much of her Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    My Department has no funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 for research and development expenditure. Funding for research and development expenditure in Northern Ireland is allocated to NI Executive Departments.