Category: Speeches

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the total capital and current spending on (1) drainage, and (2) flood prevention, by (a) local authorities in England, and (b) the Environment Agency, in each of the past ten years and in the current year.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Local authorities decide what to spend on drainage and flood prevention depending on local priorities. The Department for Communities and Local Government publishes statistics on local authorities’ revenue expenditure and capital expenditure outturns on GOV.UK. They are currently published from 2007/08 until 2014/15 with budget and forecast figures for 2015/16. Figures in relation to defences against flooding and land drainage are included in the statistics.

    The Environment Agency invests in flood and coastal erosion risk management. Whilst in some cases there may also be secondary drainage benefits of this work, the Environment Agency does not measure those benefits and so cannot report on spending on drainage.

    The table below shows the Environment Agency’s expenditure on flood and coastal erosion risk management in each of the past ten years, with budget figures for the current year. All figures are in £m, with real terms figures given at 2015/16 prices.

    Year

    Total

    Total Real Terms

    2005/06

    445.1

    549.7

    2006/07

    439.7

    528.7

    2007/08

    459.4

    536.7

    2008/09

    565.6

    644.6

    2009/10

    620.1

    688.9

    2010/11

    651.6

    704.4

    2011/12

    548.5

    582.5

    2012/13

    537.1

    561.4

    2013/14

    535.9

    548.8

    2014/15

    569.3

    575.0

    2015/16

    601.4

    601.4

    In addition to the above, exceptional funding of £30m; £180m; and £60m was provided to the Environment Agency in financial years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 respectively (cash terms), following the winter 2013/14 flood event.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that creative subjects are included in the new Ebac; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    This Government’s aim is to have at least 90% of pupils taking GCSEs from the English Baccalaureate subjects of English, maths, science, humanities and languages.

    These subjects are part of a broad and balanced curriculum. There is space in the wider school curriculum to teach other subjects alongside these subjects.

    On 3 November 2015 the Secretary of State for Education launched a public consultation seeking views on the government’s proposals for the implementation of the English Baccalaureate[1]. The consultation closed on 29 January 2016 and the government will publish its response in the spring.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-the-english-baccalaureate

    “

  • David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to meet Mr and Mrs Timmins to discuss the death in 2013 of their son from meningitis B and the future provision of a vaccine for that disease on the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Meningococcal B (MenB) disease is a devastating disease which can have tragic consequences. We understand that in March 2014 Mr and Mrs Timmins met consultants at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust to discuss their son’s care following his tragic death in December 2013.

    In September 2015, we became the first country in the world to offer a national and publicly funded MenB immunisation programme using the Bexsero vaccine to protect infants. The programme follows the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the independent, expert body which advises Government on all immunisation matters. Infants are vaccinated at two months of age, with further doses offered when they reach four and 12 months of age, thereby protecting groups with the highest risk.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29390, what definition of principle of proportionality his Department uses to assess whether an incident counts as a violation of international humanitarian law.

    Penny Mordaunt

    International Humanitarian Law is founded in customary international law but now extensively codified in international agreements, most notably the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols. The UK’s interpretation of the principles of proportionality, military necessity, humanity and distinction is set out in the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Service Publication (JSP) 383, the Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, which is available online (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jsp-383).

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure changes to supported housing will not adversely affect vulnerable people.

    Brandon Lewis

    We understand the importance of ensuring that those people living in supported accommodation, who are generally the most vulnerable members of our society, receive appropriate protections.

    The supported housing sector provides valuable support to some of our country’s most vulnerable people.

    We have commissioned an evidence review of the supported housing sector which we expect to report shortly. Building on this review, we will continue to work with and listen to providers as part of developing a long-term sustainable funding regime.

    In the meantime we have put in place a one-year exception for all supported accommodation from the social rent reduction measures and the Local Housing Allowance cap, so there will be no material change in this financial year.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving the fraudulent use of personal information have been reported to Staffordshire Police in each year since 2006; and how many such reports led to a (a) prosecution and (b) conviction.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office do not hold the information requested. The responsibility for recording fraud offences transferred to Action Fraud from individual police forces between April 2011 and March 2013. Therefore, no fraud offences should have been recorded by Staffordshire police since then.

    The Ministry of Justice do not hold the information requested on prosecutions and convictions.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many British citizens in each of the last five years travelled from the UK to China for organ transplant operations.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This information is not collected centrally. NHS Blood and Transplant co-ordinates the matching, allocation and retrieval of organs for transplantation carried out in the United Kingdom only.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is the Government’s policy to negotiate to continue participation in the European Patent Office after the UK leaves the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The UK’s participation in the European Patent Office will be unaffected by leaving the European Union. The European Patent Office and the European Patent Organisation are established by an international treaty, the European Patent Convention, to which the UK is a contracting party. The European Patent Convention is not restricted to EU countries and it currently comprises 38 Contracting Member States.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Frontex and Europol in countering terrorism.

    Mr John Hayes

    The UK undertakes parliamentary scrutiny of activity when appropriate, and works closely with other European Member States to ensure that both organisations conduct their roles effectively. In 2015 the UK supported the implementation of the Europol Internet Referrals Unit and Europol Counter Terrorism Centre, while emphasising that national security remains a reserved matter under Article 4(2) of the Treaty for European Union.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students are supported by universities through the Student Opportunity Allocation fund.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocates the Student Opportunity Fund to Higher Education providers as part of the teaching grant.. Although the different elements of the fund are calculated on the basis of the number of students within an institution with particular characteristics, institutions have been able to use the funding in whichever way they feel is most appropriate for their students. Therefore, there is no centrally collected data on the numbers of students supported by the fund.