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Category: Speeches

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on flood defences in the Leeds city region in each year since 2010; and how much she plans to spend on such defences in each year until 2020.

    Rory Stewart

    Between 2010-2011 and 2014-2015,£57.2m was allocated for flood defences in Leeds City Region. From 2015-2016 to 2019-2020, a further £50.2m has been allocated for further flood protection measures.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to commence section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015.

    Mike Penning

    The Government is committed to commencing section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 and will do so as soon as possible.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hostage incidents in which a (a) prison officer and (b) prisoner was taken hostage have taken place in each prison establishment since January 2010.

    Andrew Selous

    Violence in prisons has increased in recent years. These figures demonstrate that the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary are right and out prisons badly need reform.

    We are already trialling the use of body worn cameras in prisons, training sniffer dogs to detect new psychoactive substances and have made it an offence to smuggle new psychoactive substances into prison. However, ultimately the only way to reduce violence in our prisons is to give governors and those who work in prisons the tools necessary to more effectively rehabilitate offenders.

    Hostage incidents are rare occurrences. The table attached provides details of hostage incidents, broken down by establishment and victim type.

    Note: These figures have been drawn from the NOMS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last case the figures may not be accurate to that level.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what planning his Department is undertaking to facilitate private sector investment in the scalability of the proofs-of-work aspects of blockchain technology; and what discussions he has had with the Bank of England on that topic.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Digital currencies, and the distributed ledger technology that underpins them, have the potential to bring innovative services and products to UK customers and firms – particularly in areas like international transfers.

    The Chancellor announced in March 2015 that the Government will bring digital currency exchange firms into regulation in the UK to help the legitimate industry flourish, and to create a hostile environment for illicit actors. We will publish proposals on this regulatory regime in due course.

    As outlined in Deputy Governor, Ben Broadbent’s recent speech, the Bank of England is also exploring this emerging sector and the implications it could have for monetary and financial stability as part of its broader research agenda.

    Separately, academics at University College London’s (UCL) digital currency research centre have also been looking at how the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital currencies could be harnessed by central banks. The Government is encouraged to see this research from one of the UK’s world-leading universities. However, this a theoretical paper by an independent institution, separate from the Bank of England’s work and from Government policy.

    It is the Government’s ambition to foster the growth of legitimate digital currency firms as part of the wider FinTech ecosystem here in the UK. As part of this, the Government will consider the wider implications of a growing digital currencies sector for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole. Some parts of Government are also looking at how the benefits of distributed ledger technology can be harnessed to deliver greater innovation. However, the Government and the Bank of England do not currently have any plans to introduce a centrally issued digital currency.

    The UK has been rated as having the world’s leading FinTech ecosystem in a recent global benchmarking exercise and attracted c. £524mn in investment in 2015.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals on the Port and Marine Safety Code.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There are no plans to make the Port Marine Safety Code mandatory. The non-statutory status of the Code is vital to its success, enabling port operators to apply industry-agreed good practice flexibly in ways most appropriate to the size and operations of their facility.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel regarding the demolition of Palestinian houses in al-Sowana neighbourhood and Shu’fat village.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Whilst we have not raised these specific demolitions, our Ambassador in Tel Aviv has raised our concerns on demolitions with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 May, and urged them to provide a legal route for Palestinians to obtain building permits.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people working for her Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    George Eustice

    There are no direct employees paid less than the Living Wage in core-Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).

    There are 2 direct employees currently paid less than the Living Wage in the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), none of which are employed on zero-hours contracts. One is an apprentice and the other is about to have their salary increased to the Living Wage rate.

    There are no employment agency staff paid less than the Living Wage in core-Defra, APHA, and VMD.

    There are 95 employment agency staff paid less than the Living Wage in RPA. None are employed on zero-hours contracts. All are paid at least the National Living Wage as defined by the Government.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many enterprise zones there are in each (a) region and (b) local authority area in England; how long each zone has been in existence; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Percy

    There are currently 36 Enterprise Zones in England. The attached table provides a breakdown by region, local authority area and when each Enterprise Zone was established.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimates her Department has made of the amount of carbon dioxide displaced as a result of the introduction of the (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department has made projections of carbon dioxide savings (MtCO2) from the domestic and non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme in the Updated Energy & Emissions Projections (EEP), last updated Sept 2014. In the absence of funding arrangements after 2015/16, these carbon savings assume an extrapolation of RHI deployment to 2020.

    The projected savings will be updated if required for any RHI scheme changes following the Spending Review outcome.

    The EEP, which include the relevant carbon saving projections from the RHI, are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/406805/Copy_of_Annex_D__corrected_17-Feb-2015_.xls.

    “

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are holding discussions about reducing EU regulation of UK business.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Reducing the burden of EU regulation is a critical element of stimulating jobs, competitiveness and growth in Europe. We welcome the European Commission’s recent progress in this area, but want them to go further. Together with other like-minded Member States, we are pressing the Commission to bring forward proposals for an EU target to cut the total burden on business, in line with the Prime Minister’s EU reform letter to European Council President Tusk.