Category: Speeches

Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to publish the findings from areas piloting 30 hours of free childcare.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We are currently commissioning the evaluation of early implementation of 30 hours free childcare. An invitation to tender was published in May 2016 with a view to awarding the contract to a successful bidder by the end of June 2016.

The evaluation will focus on generating learning that can be used by Early Implementers and all local councils ahead of national implementation in September 2017.

01/01/2023
Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the security of British Embassy employees returning to Juba, South Sudan after the attacks on civilians at the Terrain hotel in July 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are appalled by reports of aid workers coming under attack at the Terrain hotel. It is completely unacceptable to target people who have themselves gone to help those in greatest need. The UN Security Council emphasised concerns about this incident during the visit to Juba in early September 2016. We take very seriously the security of all our staff overseas – both UK and locally engaged – in line with our duty of care obligations, and regularly review security at our missions. Our Embassy was reduced to only essential staff during the crisis and careful consideration is being given on numbers returning.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on the rules that will apply to foreign students seeking employment after graduating (a) during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU and (b) once the UK has exited the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The precise way in which the Government will control the movement of EU nationals to the UK after the UK has left the EU is yet to be determined and will be subject to the wider negotiations on the UK’s exit from the EU. We are not going to provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of these negotiations.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of TB in the UK.

Jane Ellison

The five year Collaborative Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy for England 2015-2020 was launched by the Department, in partnership with Public Health England (PHE), in January 2015. It lays out 10 key areas for actions needed to achieve a year on year decrease in TB incidence, a reduction in health inequalities and, ultimately, the elimination of TB as a public health problem in England.

Since the strategy was launched PHE along with NHS England have formed a TB Strategy implementation team which has facilitated the establishment of seven TB control boards covering all of England. The TB control boards will lead local TB networks in delivering the 10 key changes outlined in the Strategy.

Over the past three years there has been a year on year decline in the number of TB cases in England, from 8,086 in 2012 (a rate of 15.1 per 100,000 population), down to 6,520 in 2014 (a rate of 12.0 per 100,000 population).

01/01/2023
Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs staff at Sidlaw House, Dundee will have the same terms and conditions if they are transferred to the new regional centres.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the planned locations of its future Regional Centres based on a number of key principles. In addition to cost, HMRC has taken account of the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, and the need to retain the staff and skills they need to continue their transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC plans to open two new Regional Centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a combined total of between 5,700 and 6,300 posts.In Dundee, Caledonian House is planned to close in 2018 and Sidlaw House will transfer to the administering of Universal Credit. HMRC will be holding individual meetings with every member of staff prior to any office closures or moves, to discuss what these plans mean for them and their choices.‎

01/01/2023
Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of HM Revenue and Customs’ strategy to enforce the national minimum wage.

Nick Boles

The Low Pay Commission publish an annual report on the National Minimum Wage (NMW) which includes a full assessment of the Government’s NMW compliance and enforcement strategy. The 2015 report is available here – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-minimum-wage-low-pay-commission-report-2015 – the next report is due to be published in February 2016.

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01/01/2023
Lord Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the duration of (1) in-work, and (2) out-of-work, benefits paid to all recent EU migrants in households supported by the benefits system as at March 2013.

Lord Freud

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for Employment (Ms. Esther McVey) in the House of Commons on 20 November 2014 to Question number 211618 as below:

While the Government checks the immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud, traditionally that information has not been collected as part of the payment administrative systems.

However, the Government is looking at ways to reform the current administrative system under Universal Credit so that it will systematically record nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim.

The Government has made a radical series of changes over the last year to restrict the access by non-UK citizens from the European Economic Area to UK benefits and tax credits. This is in order to protect the UK’s benefit system and discourage people who have no established connection with the UK from moving here, unless they have a job or a genuine prospect of work, or have savings to support themselves until they do.

01/01/2023
Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has paid to staff in overtime in each of the last 24 months.

Matthew Hancock

As part of this Government’s transparency agenda, all Departments are required to publish monthly workforce statistics that includes overtime costs. This information is available from the Cabinet Office website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/payroll-costs-and-non-consolidated-pay-data

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01/01/2023

Mike Freer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-03-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many properties valued at or over £1 million were sold in October to December (a) 2014 and (b) 2015; and how much was raised in stamp duty land tax in each of those periods.

Mr David Gauke

The table below summarises estimates for the number of and yield from property transactions between October and December 2014 and 2015. The estimates for 2014 include transactions in Scotland whereas estimates for 2015 do not because SDLT ceased to be applicable to Scottish transactions from 1 April 2015. The figures for the 2015-16 financial year are provisional.

	October to December 2014	October to December 2015
Residential Transactions at or over £1m (Number)	4,800	5,300
Residential Transactions at or over £1m (Stamp Duty Land Tax)	£577 million	£674 million
Non-Residential Transactions at or over £1m (Number)	3,800	3,600
Non-Residential Transactions at or over £1m (Stamp Duty Land Tax)	£708 million	£731 million
Total Stamp Duty Land Tax	£2.87 billion	£2.91 billion

01/01/2023

Lord Radice – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Radice on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contribution they are making to Operation Sophia (EUNAVFOR MED), and what assessment they have made of the success of that operation to date.

Earl Howe

The UK is making a significant contribution to Operation Sophia, the European Union’s naval operation countering migrant smugglers in the central Mediterranean. HMS ENTERPRISE has been deployed since 4 July 2015 (with a Merlin helicopter between July and October), and was joined by HMS RICHMOND for October and November. The UK is also contributing five staff officers in the Operational Headquarters.

HMS ENTERPRISE’s work has been valuable in developing a picture of the maritime environment and smuggling routes, and UK ships have picked up almost a third of the total number of migrants rescued. HMS ENTERPRISE will remain deployed to Operation Sophia until the end of August. The UK contribution to Operation Sophia is one part of the Government’s overall comprehensive approach to tackling the migrant crisis, which seeks to address the root causes of migration as well as its consequences.

01/01/2023