Category: Speeches

  • Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Leader of the House what explanation she has received from the Department for Education concerning its failure to answer by 9 September two Questions for Written Answer that were asked on 19 July (HL1338) and 21 July (HL1440).

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park):

    I regularly stress to departments the importance of giving timely answers to Questions for Written Answer. My office immediately approach departments who have not responded to questions after 10 working days, and remain in contact with them until the questions are answered. This process has been followed in both of the cases to which the noble Lord refers.

    In the case of the Ministry of Justice question, I am informed that the delay related the process of transferring it to the right department for response. After discussion it was transferred to the Cabinet Office, who will provide a substantive answer by close of play this week. As regards the Department for Education questions, I am informed that the delay related to gathering complex data spanning a long period and the need to obtain clearance from across government. Both of the questions concerned have now been answered.

    Regarding timely replies more generally, I have recently written to the three departments with the greatest proportion of late responses in the last session and I regularly set out the House’s expectations as they apply to QWAs to my frontbench team. Notwithstanding the cases referenced above, I am pleased to say that the proportion of on-time responses from the Ministry of Justice rose from 74% of questions in 2014-15 to 87% in 2015-16; while the Department for Education answered well over 90% of questions on time in both sessions.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 12956, how many of the suspicious activity reports received under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000 have been investigated; and how many prosecutions have resulted from those investigations.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Department does not hold this information in the format requested.

    All Suspicious Activity Reports received are subject to an initial assessment by the UK Financial Investigation Unit (UKFIU) in the National Crime Agency. The UKFIU Terrorist Finance Team identifies and acts upon SAR information relating to the detection and investigation of terrorist finance, whether submitted under the Terrorism Act (TACT) or the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

    Over the reporting period, the National Crime Agency received 1216 Suspicious Activity Reports under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000. These SARs were disseminated to the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) and the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) network, to make an assessment of what further action was needed and in order for the information to be available in support of counter-terrorist investigations.

    In many cases, a SAR will not merit a specific detailed investigation. However, the information remains searchable and may be used at any time to inform the development of intelligence and operational targeting.

  • Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disabled people have benefitted from the Government’s extension of the Access to Work scheme to cover work experience placements in the last two years; and how the £2 million allocated to that initiative has been spent.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We do not hold official statistics to the standard of the National Statistical Authority and so are unable to provide this information.

    Access to Work supported 36,760 disabled people to take up or remain in employment during 2014/15 (up from 35,560 in 2013/14).

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what further representations his Department plans to make to the Iranian government on securing the release of Kamal Foroughi from imprisonment.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    I have raised the case of Mr Foroughi with President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) spoke to President Rouhani in July 2015 about this case, followed up with a letter on 19 October requesting an update on Mr Foroughi’s welfare and requesting that consular access be granted. The Prime Minister spoke again to President Rouhani on the 19th of January. Mr Foroughi’s case was raised by the Prime Minister in that conversation. We will continue to raise this case, alongside our other consular cases with the Iranian government regularly, at all appropriate levels, including at Ministerial and through our embassy officials in Tehran.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many visits the armed forces made to state secondary schools in (a) Inverclyde and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Armed Forces never visit schools for recruitment purposes and would only ever visit a school after being invited by a teacher to support school activities. Similar contributions to schools are made by the Police, Fire, Ambulance and other emergency services. The Armed Forces receive numerous requests from schools each year and the three Services take these opportunities to both explain their role, and to assist schools in teaching valuable skills such as leadership, teamwork and citizenship.

    These visits can comprise presentations, citizenship talks, meetings with staff, participation in career events, practice interviews and activities with the students, such as science and maths challenges, and other indoor or outdoor exercises.

    Information on the number of visits by the Royal Navy and the Army to secondary schools is presented below, by Financial Year (FY); the category of secondary educational establishment (such as state or independent) is not recorded. Details of visits by the Royal Air Force could not be provided in the time available and I will write to the hon. Member when the information is available.

    Royal Navy

    FY

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Scotland

    267

    176

    176

    150

    88

    Inverclyde

    1

    0

    3

    4

    0

    Note: 2015-16 to 12 February 2016.

    Army

    FY

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Scotland

    191

    199

    175

    203

    279

    Inverclyde

    Not Known

    Not Known

    Not Known

    6

    1

    Note: 2015-16 includes events confirmed to the end of March 2016.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Annex on a Comprehensive Franco-British Partnership on Civil Nuclear Energy, Franco-British Summit, on 3 March 2016, what the basis is for the statement that major progress has been made in recent months with a view to confirming the project to build two EPR reactors on the Hinkley Point site.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The terms of the contractual documentation relating to Hinkley Point C (Contract for Difference, Secretary of State Investors Agreement, Funded Decommissioning Programme (FDP) and related Waste Transfer contracts) between the Government and EDF are in final form.

    EDF and CGN have confirmed major investment in HPC and are working to rapidly conclude the detailed investment documentation.

    The Final Investment Decision is a matter for EDF and we understand they will make this shortly.

    In January we gave planning consent for the National Grid connection to Hinkley Point C.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ring-fence special education funding within their new national funding formula.

    Lord Nash

    We are currently consulting on arrangements for new national formulae for schools and high needs funding (funding to provide high cost support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities). Both funding streams, along with early years funding, make up the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is ring-fenced so that local authorities can only spend it on specified elements of education. The DSG will continue to be ring-fenced when the national funding formulae are in place. We have also protected the schools and high needs budgets in this Parliament. This year we are adding £92.5 million to local authorities’ 2016-17 high needs allocations.

    At the Budget we also announced that we will provide £500 million over the Spending Review period, on top of per pupil protection, to speed up implementation of the national funding formula for schools and get extra funding quicker to those schools that need it most.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with (a) Big Six and (b) other electricity generators on the effect on the electricity market of (i) existing and (ii) new combined cycle gas turbine generation.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC officials regularly meet with electricity generators to discuss the electricity market, including the outlook for their existing gas power stations as well as prospects for any planned investment in new gas power stations.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has provided administrative support to WaterAid in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    WaterAid received over £24million of DFID funding from April 2013 to March 2016. We have so far committed £4.7million in funding for April 2016 to March 2018.

    DFID funding has contributed to WaterAid directly reaching more than 2 million people with safe water and over 3 million people with sanitation in the last year alone. In addition, our Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) funding, effective from 2011 until the end of 2016, enabled WaterAid to improve their overall organisational effectiveness by supporting them to develop stronger Monitoring and Evaluation systems; improve their Value for Money framework and supported growth and innovation throughout the organisation.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the figures released by the Office for National Statistics showing that 29 per cent of graduates earn less per hour than an average non-graduate who has completed an apprenticeship.

    Lord Nash

    The evidence consistently points to good returns both for graduates and for those who have completed an apprenticeship. According to the same statistical release from the Office for National Statistics, median gross hourly pay for graduate employees is £15.38, compared to £11.02 for non-graduates who have completed an apprenticeship.

    The Government recognises, however, that the benefits of further and higher education will differ between individuals, and between subjects and institutions chosen. It is important for young people to consider the available information and select a route through education that is right for them; whether that be an apprenticeship, higher education study or further education. They may also consider factors other than salary, when selecting their courses of study.

    That is why the Government is introducing policies such as a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) that will provide clear information to students on where the best outcomes from higher education provision can be found. The Department for Education will also continue to release information through websites such as Unistats and other channels to help young people make the right choices when considering whether to enter further or higher education. This includes taking advantage of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset to provide better information on the potential returns from different education routes.