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Category: Speeches

  • Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to improve the administration of the Rural Payments Agency.

    George Eustice

    The Secretary of State and I have regular meetings and discussions with the Chief Executive of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). The Chief Executive of the RPA also attends the department’s weekly Executive Committee.

    Around 33,000 Basic Payment Scheme claims were paid promptly and accurately on 1st December, the first day of the payment window that runs through to 30 June.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 21922, how much of the £75 million allocated to CCGs to improve local services in 2015-16 has been spent.

    Alistair Burt

    Out of the £173 million, £105 million has gone to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) directly.

    The remaining £68 million has been allocated to the below organisations to be spent centrally on workforce and system development. These are approximations to the nearest million:

    – £58 million allocated to NHS England;

    – £9 million allocated to Health Education England; and

    – £1 million allocated to the Department of Health.

    The Government are taking a targeted and phased approach to ensuring the funding allocated to workforce and system development is spent effectively and plans are in place for this money to be spent.

    The figure of how much of the £75 million allocated to CCGs to improve local services has been spent is not available. NHS England is currently collecting monthly financial information regarding the amount of spend on child and adolescent mental health services. This is being validated during January and will be made available later in the year.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prescriptions, per year, are (1) made for adults aged 70–76, and (2) not collected by adults aged 70–76.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We do not collect this information.

  • Jenny Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jenny Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure that parents are aware of his proposals on the introduction of tax-free childcare.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government will publicise the scheme in good time ahead of its introduction through a range of digital and non-digital channels.

    HM Revenue and Customs will also work with the childcare industry and representative groups who interact regularly with parents to raise awareness of the scheme.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in England are currently registered disabled as a result of having a stroke.

    Justin Tomlinson

    This information is unavailable as the department does not collect this data.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implication for his policies on a future nuclear deterrent of the development of the Boeing Echo Voyager and other new drone technology.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We dedicate considerable resources to assessing these emerging capabilities. Despite potential advancements in technology the detection of submarines will remain extremely difficult. It would not be appropriate to go into specific detail of the steps taken to mitigate against these threats but we assess that our current and future submarine fleet remains safe and secure.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to sell government-owned assets in the Newcastle upon Tyne local authority area.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is undertaking a programme to dispose of surplus Government owned land and property to improve the efficiency of the Government estate, deliver value for the taxpayer and support economic growth, in particular housing. The Government is committed to disposing of at least £5 billion of public sector land and property between 2015 and 2020 and freeing-up surplus Government owned land with capacity for at least 160,000 homes. This will involve selling surplus land and property across the country. In the Newcastle upon Tyne area for example, in the coming year, the Northumbria Probation Service Office at 6 Lansdown Terrace will be marketed for sale, and Network Rail are planning to release a former freight site at Heaton Down Yard for development. All Departments are working to accelerate the release of their surplus property and get it to market, so that it can deliver local benefits and value.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Sudan on bringing peace to South Sudan.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Whilst I have not yet personally discussed South Sudan directly with representatives of the Government of Sudan, the UK regularly engages with the Sudanese over this pressing issue. We do this both bilaterally and in the margins of international meetings on South Sudan’s peace process, such as July’s Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission Partners Group meeting, which Sudan hosted and co-chaired with China.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the potential number of eligible claimants for the warm homes discount scheme that have been contacted by a third party using data shared with them as part of that scheme; how his Department monitors the use made of information given to such third parties; and how many complaints his Department has received on such contacts.

    Jesse Norman

    The Warm Home Discount scheme uses a secure data share between the Department for Work and Pensions and participating energy suppliers in order to deliver direct assistance with energy bills each winter to eligible households.

    Suppliers already hold data on customers’ names and addresses – the only additional information they receive under the secure data share for the Warm Home Discount is which of their customers are eligible for the rebate. The Regulations under Section 142 of the Pensions Act 2008[1] only allow suppliers to use the information they obtain through the data share to provide energy bill rebates or defined relevant assistance such as energy efficiency advice and measures.

    The regulations make it an offence to disclose the information without lawful authority. Any transfer and storage of personal data by the energy suppliers would also be subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act. Energy suppliers are required (under contract) to demonstrate that they have secure measures in place for the handling, transferring and deletion of the personal data that has been supplied to them under the secure data share.

    In addition, individuals are able to ‘opt out’ of the data share for the Warm Home Discount scheme, meaning that DWP would not share any state pension credit information on that individual with energy suppliers. For Scheme Year 6 (this year), six people have formally taken up this option.

    There is a formal complaints procedure in place between BEIS, DWP and Serco, who manage the WHD contact centre. No complaints of this nature have been made under this complaints procedure against energy suppliers.

    [1] The Disclosure of State Pension Credit Information (Warm Home Discount) Regulations 2011

  • Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which (a) retired civil servants and (b) former Ministers have travelled to Libya at public expense since October 2011; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Since 2011, the Government has funded visits to Libya by current officials and Ministers as part of regular diplomatic relations. In addition, in periods when the security situation in Libya permitted it, a number of visits to Libya, including by Jonathan Powell the Prime Minister’s Envoy to Libya, have been funded by HMG.

    No retired civil servants or former ministers have visited Libya at public expense.