Category: Speeches

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK diplomats have taken secondment to the European External Action Service in each year since 2010.

    Mr David Lidington

    Since 2010, there have been 28 UK officials seconded to the European External Action Service (EEAS). Of these, 20 were UK diplomats from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO); 8 were from other government departments. The numbers of diplomats can be broken down by calendar year in which they took up their secondment as follows:

    FCO number of TAs

    2010 5
    2012 2
    2013 6
    2014 2
    2015 5

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-07-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to change the discount rate used to calculate the funding status of defined benefit pension schemes.

    Lord Freud

    The legislation governing the funding of defined benefit occupational pensions schemes is designed to be flexible, allowing the trustees or managers of these schemes to determine which method and assumptions are to be used in their schemes technical provisions. A number of factors come into play in scheme funding decisions and the Pensions Regulator provides useful guidance for trustees in its codes and supporting guidance and statements.

    In determining the discount rate to be used, trustees must act prudently taking into account the yield on assets held by the scheme and / or the market redemption yields on Government bonds or other high-quality bonds.

    There is no standard actuarial method and set of assumptions that must be used, however, should the Regulator have concerns about a funding plan it can intervene.

  • Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the budget for Health Education England (a) was in each year since 2012 and (b) will be for 2017-18.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    In 2012-13, the strategic health authorities nationally were allocated £4.879 billion to spend on education and training in the National Health Service. This budget was transferred to Health Education England (HEE) from 1 April 2013 when it assumed full operational responsibilities for workforce planning, education and training.

    From 2013 to 2016, HEE received the following annual budget allocations from the Department: £4.867 billion in 2013/14; £4.933 billion in 2014/15; and £4.912 billion in 2015/16.

    For the current year, HEE’s revenue allocation is £4.995 billion as at 31 July 2016. Further in-year capital and revenue allocations will be made to HEE later in this financial year.

    HEE’s budget for 2017-18 is yet to be determined through the Departmental business planning process.

  • Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cost to (1) small businesses, and (2) personal taxpayers, of HMRC’s delays in answering telephone enquiries in terms of lost productivity.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs has not made such an assessment.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time was for a 999 call in each of the last 10 years; and what the average response time was for 999 calls made to the Humberside Police from (a) across the force area, (b) North Lincolnshire and (c) East Yorkshire in the last 12 months.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the average response times for 999 calls. Information on average 101 call waiting times since April 2014, provided by forces, including Humberside Police, can be found at: www.Police.uk

    The Home Office does not hold information on call waiting times for individual forces which pre-dates April 2014 or about calls made to forces from local areas. This information is held by forces.

    “

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made regarding Chief Constable David Shaw’s Use of Force Data Review.

    Lord Bates

    Further to the Noble Lord’s previous question HL2559, the Home Secretary has received the conclusions of Chief Constable David Shaw’s Use of Force Review and will report on its recommendations shortly.

  • Baroness Drake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Drake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Drake on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase private pension saving by the self-employed.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The 2005 Turner Commission recommended that the self-employed should be able to join a pension in an easy and cost-effective fashion. Therefore the Government-backed pension provider, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) offers low-charge pension schemes to the self-employed, as well as to all employers.

    Automatic enrolment has been a huge success to date with almost 6 million eligible workers people now enrolled. We will be reviewing automatic enrolment in 2017. We are keen to identify issues that should be addressed within the review and will be working with stakeholders to determine its scope.

    The Government also recognises that the self-employed might benefit from saving in different ways to employees. In 2011 the Government introduced carry forward of annual allowances, which allow individuals with irregular earnings to use any unused Annual Allowance from the previous three years to contribute more to their pension in particular years, if this suits them better than making more regular pension contributions.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her (a) ministerial colleagues and (b) the European Commission on the potential effects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on (i) animal welfare standards, (ii) environmental protection and (iii) food standards.

    George Eustice

    The Secretary of State has regular discussions on a range of trade matters with Ministerial colleagues.

    BIS Ministers lead UK engagement on TTIP supported by Defra on issues including animal welfare standards, environmental protection and food standards. The Food Standards Agency considers issues around food safety. These subjects were considered during Cabinet agreement of the UK’s priorities for TTIP. I have held discussions about TTIP with the European Commission and other Member States at Council meetings.

    Ministerial colleagues and I addressed environmental protection issues in detail in the Government’s written evidence to the recent House of Common’s Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into TTIP.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department has made an assessment of how much it costs on average to fill an individual pothole; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has estimated that on average it costs £53 to repair a pothole. However, the cost of filling an individual pothole will depend on a range of variables including geography, the type of road and whether the repair is temporary or permanent.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which organisations are consulted in advance of decisions taken on how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses will be trained each year.

    Ben Gummer

    It is Health Education England’s responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient future supply of staff, including doctors and nurses, to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system.

    The Workforce Plan is built upon the needs of local employers, providers, commissioners and other stakeholders who, as members of its Local Education Training Boards (LETBs), shape the 13 local plans.

    The Workforce Plan is predominately an aggregate of the local LETB plans, but the final national plan is only agreed with the advice and input of its clinical advisory groups and Patients’ Advisory Forum, as well as the Royal Colleges and other stakeholders.