Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was of residential training for officials in his Department in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department is committed to developing its staff and equipping them with the skills and knowledge to carry out their work.

    In 2011, the Department became a full subscriber to Civil Service Learning (CSL). CSL is responsible for providing a managed service for all learning and development across the Civil Service.

    Learning and development activity is typically arranged by individual teams or individuals in the Department.

    Therefore, no central records of these events are kept. To collect this information from the Department’s directorates and match this with CSL data would incur disproportionate costs.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Questions 24490 and 24491, on right of abode, what the process is for her Department’s assessment on granting the right of abode to former British-Hong Kong servicemen.

    James Brokenshire

    The assessment of the request by former members of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps that they be granted right of abode in the UK is on-going, including discussions at official level with other government departments and a review of archived material on the schemes established between 1990 and 1997. A decision will be made as soon as practicable

  • 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 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on settlement activity in the West Bank.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a statement on 16 March condemning the Government of Israel’s decision to expand settlements in the West Bank.

    On 18 February, during my visit to Israel, I discussed the issue of settlements with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reiterating the UK’s position. Our Embassy regularly raises this issue with the Israeli authorities, making clear the UK’s firm and consistent opposition to illegal construction of settlements.

  • Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many accidents were reported involving mobility scooters in 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    Statistics for 2015 will be published in June 2016.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-06-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support third-sector training providers and local authorities in reducing the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

    Nick Boles

    Third sector providers and local authority adult education services access the Adult Education Budget as prime and sub-contractors, using the funding for training which helps young people who are not in education, employment or training prepare for work, amongst other objectives. They also compete to run local European Social Fund programmes; many of these programmes focus on helping young people improve their skills levels and employment opportunities.

    Where combined authorities agree devolution deals which include devolution of the Adult Education Budget, they will assume full responsibility for decisions about what provision to commission from that budget. Nine areas have agreed such deals to date, with devolution of that budget due to take effect from 2018/19, subject to readiness conditions being met. BIS is working with those areas in advance of full devolution to help increase local influence over nationally-funded adult education provision in their locality in the interim.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what provisions there are for tenants to ensure that they able to recover security deposits that have been returned to the letting agents by the MyDeposit scheme.

    Gavin Barwell

    If a tenant meets all their obligations at the end of the tenancy, the deposit will be returned to them in full by the agent (under the insured scheme) or by the tenancy deposit scheme (under the custodial scheme).

    If there is a dispute about the amount of deposit to be returned to the tenant, both parties can either agree to use the free alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service provided by the schemes or go to court. If they decide to use the ADR service, the case will be considered by an independent adjudicator and the decision will be binding on both parties.

    The disputed amount will be held by the scheme until the court or adjudicator makes a decision on how the amount should be apportioned between the parties.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the proposed salary and permitted allowances are for the chairs of each sustainability and transformation plan body.

    David Mowat

    Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprints are not statutory bodies, but collective discussion forums which aim to bring together health and care leaders to support the delivery of improved health and care based on the needs of local populations. They do not replace existing local bodies, or change local accountabilities. Each footprint has been asked to determine governance arrangements for agreeing and implementing their STP. Individuals who are leading the development of STPs within each footprint, which include National Health Service provider Chief Executives, clinical commissioning group accountable officers and local authority senior leaders, are responsible for convening and chairing system-wide meetings, facilitating the open and honest conversations that will be necessary to secure sign up to a shared vision and plan. In the overwhelming majority of cases this is a voluntary, non-statutory role and they are not being paid over and above the remuneration they receive for their existing role. Their salary details will be available in the individual annual reports of the organisations by whom they are substantively employed.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will provide financial assistance to councils to enable them to acquire new social housing to replace properties bought through the Right to Buy policy.

    Brandon Lewis

    The 2012 Reinvigorated Right to Buy gave councils, for the first time, the ability to use additional receipts from Right to Buy sales to provide new affordable homes. Councils have up to three years to start building and if these receipts are not used within this timeframe they must be returned to the Homes and Communities Agency (or to the Greater London Authority in London), who will issue the funding as grant to provide new affordable housing.

    We urge councils to progress their building plans in order to help provide much needed affordable housing for their local communities.

  • Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they were consulted and informed about the US decision to lift its arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus, and by whom; how and when that decision is to be implemented; and what assessment they have made of the impact of that decision on the current Cyprus talks process.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We understand that, contrary to media reports in Cyprus, the United States (US) government has not decided to lift its International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions on its defence trade with the Republic of Cyprus. The US has amended Section 1276 of its National Defence Authorisation Act so that the US Departments of State and Defence are required to submit a report to Congress assessing the US-Cyprus security relationship, including the impact of US trade constraints on defence-related goods and services to the island. This does not affect the US ITAR restrictions on defence trade with the Republic of Cyprus.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of the conclusion of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, entitled Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2015, that people in the bottom fifth of income distribution saw their living costs increase faster than average because they spent more money on essential goods.

    Priti Patel

    The Department carefully considers all relevant publications.

    We know that work is the best route out of poverty and that is why we are reforming welfare and cutting taxes to make sure work always pays and people get to keep more of what they earn. The annual average income of the poorest fifth of households has risen in real terms, compared to 2007/08. Looking forward, working families can expect to see their earnings increase, with average earnings growth expected to reach around 4% a year by 2020, while the current OBR forecast is for inflation to remain relatively low over the next two years.