Category: Speeches

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the availability of police dogs nationally; and what estimate she has made of the number of police forces that have introduced the recommended ratio of dogs to officers.

    Brandon Lewis

    Operational decisions on the availability and deployment of dogs are made on a force by force basis and are a matter for chief constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 7 November 2015 on broadband access, whether the Government will consult on the Universal Service Obligation for broadband.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As announced by the Prime Minister on 7th November, the Government plans to launch the consultation in early 2016.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents have taken their children off the school roll after being threatened with prosecution for their child truanting in (a) academies and (b) local authority schools in the last three years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education does not hold information on the number of parents that have taken their children off the school roll after being threatened with prosecution for their child truanting.

    The department holds information on penalty notices for unauthorised absence at local authority level. The most recently published information is available in the “Parental responsibility measures: academies year 2012 to 2013”[1] report.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parental-responsibility-measures-academic-year-2012-to-2013

    “

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why none of the Yazidi women who have escaped following enslavement by ISIS have been given refuge in the UK.

    Lord Bates

    We recognise the plight faced by vulnerable women and girls in the region, and particularly Yazidi women who have escaped following enslavement by ISIS. That is why we have funded the establishment of three community centres in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq which provide them with psychosocial and legal support, and the provision of two UN technical experts who will continue to improve the coordination of the humanitarian response to gender based violence in Iraq. Through the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund, we are also providing life-saving maternal and child health-care, child protection services, and specialised support for escapees of Daesh terror.

    We plan to continue to resettle Iraqi refugees currently in Syria under the Gateway programme and will consider any Yazidi cases that are referred by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as part of that caseload. We are also prioritising the most vulnerable refugees through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement, under which UNHCR is mandated to identify and refer cases for potential resettlement using its established vulnerability criteria, which include women and girls at risk.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to categorise houses which are overcrowded and have fewer than three storeys as houses in multiple occupation; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department has recently consulted on options for extending the scope of mandatory licensing to include those Houses in Multiple Occcupation in England with fewer than three storeys. We plan to announce our proposals and next steps in the spring.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funds and funding streams are available to member trusts for restoration of theatres in coastal areas.

    David Evennett

    The Theatres Trust administers the Theatres Protection Fund scheme, which provides funds to theatres in need and at risk. Theatres on the ‘Heritage at Risk’ Register are also able to apply for repair grants provided by Historic England.

    In addition, the Heritage Lottery Fund may also be able to fund wider projects relating to theatres, which could cover restoration costs.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The number of employees in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills HQ who have resigned, in each of the last 6 years and the proportion of the headcount, are shown in the table below.

    Year

    Number who resigned

    % of headcount

    2010-11

    0

    0%

    2011-12

    49

    1.6%

    2012-13

    70

    2.2%

    2013-14

    67

    2.2%

    2014-15

    89

    2.9%

    2015-16

    82

    2.6%

    The number of officials who have resigned in any year is in the period April – March, whilst the % is of the headcount at 31 March in that year.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will undertake a comparative assessment of levels of business rates applying to steel producers in the UK and in other EU member states.

    Mr David Gauke

    The government concluded the Business Rates Review at Budget 2016. The government consulted with stakeholders, including the steel industry.

    From April 2020, business rates for all businesses, including the steel industry, will be cut through a switch in the indexation of business rates from RPI to the main measure of inflation currently CPI.

    The government has worked hard to deliver on the steel industry’s key asks. We (a) secured state aid approval to compensate for energy costs, (b) secured flexibility over EU emissions regulations, (c) published guidance so that the true value of UK steel can be taken into account in major procurement decisions, and (d) continue to tackle unfair trading practices at an EU and an international level

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the number of small housing applications that are declined on the basis that they are unsustainable.

    Brandon Lewis

    We do not hold information centrally on why permissions for small sites are refused. Each planning application for development is determined in line with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise, taking account of the relevant planning matters and the views of the local community. Small sites play an important contribution to meeting overall housing need. In the year to March 2016, planning permission was granted for 40,000 dwellings on sites of less than 10 units, up 3% on the year to March 2015.

    The planning system has strong levers in place to support the delivery of small sites, including through strong national planning policy and extensive permitted development rights. Through the Housing and Planning Act we have introduced further proposals which will help provide greater opportunities for small-and medium-sized companies to enter the development market, promote custom build development and make effective use of developable land.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the amount in tolls, charges, penalties and fees which remain unpaid by (a) commercial and (b) domestic drivers from outside the UK in each of the last five years.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government takes recovery of non-payment of tolls, charges, penalties and fees very seriously both by UK and non UK drivers. When it is non-payment from a non UK driver a European debt recovery agency is used to support recovery of outstanding charges.

    It is not possible to identify the amount in tolls, charges, penalties and fees which remain unpaid by (a) commercial and (b) domestic drivers from outside the UK in each of the last five years without incurring disproportionate cost as this information could only be obtained by a search of all tolling, charging, penalty charging and fee systems.