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Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission an urgent review of safety on the A34.

    Mr John Hayes

    Highways England regularly reviews safety issues on all routes on the strategic road network and it currently has plans to install new technical measures on the A34, as one of the schemes in the Road Investment Strategy, to ease congestion and improve safety and incident management. The Department is not minded to carry out a further review at this time.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proposals the Government plans to put forward at the Marrakesh Climate Change Conference in November 2016 to try to protect people who are most vulnerable to loss and damage caused by climate change.

    James Wharton

    Protecting those who are vulnerable to loss and damage due to climate change includes responding to disasters, helping people adapt to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to keep global warming to manageable levels.

    The UK Government has committed to increase the UK’s climate finance by at least 50%, and will provide £5.8 billion over the next 5 years, of which half will be focused on helping people adapt to climate change including the most vulnerable. We have also committed to contributing to the G7 InsuResilience target of an additional 400 million people gaining access to insurance by 2020. The UK is actively engaged on these issues within the United Nations, including through its seat on the Executive Committee that is responsible for guiding action on loss and damage.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government’s aim to build 275,000 affordable homes during this Parliament will be in addition to the Government’s aim to deliver 200,000 new Starter Homes.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government remains committed to delivering 275,000 new affordable homes between 2015 and 2020. This means we will build more new affordable homes than during any equivalent period in the last twenty years.

    The Government is committed to building 200,000 starter homes over the course of this Parliament, to provide affordable homes for purchase with 20% discount are available to first time buyers under 40.

  • Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to promote diversity in the composition of the lay magistracy, by reference to (1) socio-economic status, (2) ethnicity, (3) gender, and (4) age.

    Lord Faulks

    The government is committed to promoting the diversity of all members of the judiciary, including a diverse magistracy which reflects the society it serves. The local advisory committees who are responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates, target recruitment activity to ensure that while we appoint on merit, local benches are representative of the communities they serve. This includes seeking applications from previously underrepresented groups.

    As of April 2015, 53% of serving magistrates were female and 9% from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background. Data on recent appointments has continued to show encouraging signs and suggests diversity will continue to improve in the future.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the contract payment for each of the principal Work Programme providers is for each six month period or quarter.

    Priti Patel

    Due to its commercial sensitivity, the information is not available.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 28 January (HL Deb, col 1405), what is the estimated cost of the next two years’ work by Network Rail that has now been cancelled on (1) the stabilisation of the cliff between Parsons and Teignmouth, and (2) breakwaters, groynes and revetments in the Dawlish area; and what are the new estimated completion dates for those works.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    No work on this study has been cancelled. Network Rail is currently progressing the Exeter to Newton Abbot geo-environmental study on the existing route via Dawlish to explore options which will reduce the chances of future route failure. The work will produce a short-list of options for further strengthening of the existing railway from Control Period 6 (CP6) (2019 to 2024) and beyond. It is due to be fully complete in May 2016 and will feed into the funding deliberations for CP6 and beyond.

    Plans for Control Period 6 will be defined through the standard industry planning processes. These will take into account the recommendations of the Bowe and Shaw reviews and the re-profiling carried out by Sir Peter Hendy, along with the views of both PRTF and Network Rail .This process is led by Network Rail, with input from a wide range of stakeholders and funders, and covers the needs of each 5-year Rail Investment Strategy (RIS) with consideration of longer term requirements up to 2043.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to respond to the European Parliament’s call for an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, and if so, how.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    It is up to individual member states, not the European Parliament, to make national arms export licensing decisions.

    The Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application.

    We are able to review licences and suspend or revoke as necessary when circumstances require.

    The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which bus operators his Department has had discussions with on the Buses Bill; and how many meetings his Department has had with each of those bus operators.

    Andrew Jones

    Bus operators attended a series of workshops in the Autumn of last year, and since then officials have engaged, on a regular basis, with both large and small bus operators via the Confederation of Passenger Transport and the Association of Local Bus Company Managers.

  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their programme for the development of the Type 26 Frigate.

    Earl Howe

    I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Philip Dunne), in the House of Commons on 11 April 2016 to Question 32497.

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-03-24/32497/

  • Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Chief Electoral Officer on proposed industrial action by electoral office staff in Northern Ireland.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    I have regular discussions with the Chief Electoral Officer, including regarding the recent industrial action.