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Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterpart on trafficking of Yesidi girls from IS-controlled territories.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all communities throughout the areas under its control. We are working closely with our international coalition partners to assist and protect civilians wherever we can.

    The human rights situation for many living in areas under Daesh control is gravely concerning, including for Yezidi women. We have received reports of the ordeal faced by these women and others abducted by Daesh including rape, sexual abuse, forced marriage, forced conversion and women being sold as slaves. Through the Department for International Development we are funding activities to protect vulnerable civilians including through legal assistance and support groups for women.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what dates since the Belfast Agreement in 1998 they have discussed with the government of the Republic of Ireland (1) human rights in the UK, and (2) human rights in the Republic of Ireland; who took part in those discussions; what were the issues discussed; and what were the various outcomes.

    Lord Dunlop

    The UK and Irish Governments meet regularly at ministerial and official level to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. These include matters relating to human rights in Northern Ireland and Ireland as contained in the Belfast Agreement of 1998.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many enquiries regarding self-assessment originating from each constituency were handled by HM Revenue and Customs call centres in each of the last three tax years.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs does not hold data by constituency and regularly publishes general performance reports at Gov.uk.

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the risk provision is in the cost estimate announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review for the Successor submarine programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, our latest cost estimate for manufacturing the four Successor submarine programme is £31 billion, plus a contingency of £10 billion. This includes an assessment of the likely inflation over the lifetime of the programme and the risks appropriate for a project at this stage.

    I am withholding the specific estimate for inflation and risk, as to do so would prejudice the Department’s commercial interests.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of non-EU citizens who face being deported after 6 April because they earn less than £35,000.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    No migrant workers will be deported from April 2016 as a result of the £35,000 settlement threshold.

    The threshold only applies to those who entered Tier 2 (General), the skilled work route, from 6 April 2011. Tier 2 workers sponsored in shortage or PhD-level occupations are exempt. Skilled workers may remain in Tier 2 (General) for up to six years in total, after which they are expected to meet the settlement criteria or leave. For those who entered in April 2011, the six year maximum period of stay will expire in April 2017.

    Those who are paid below the threshold may apply to switch into any other routes for which they are eligible. Those workers who cannot extend their stay will be expected to leave the UK voluntarily when their visa expires. The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that nationals of other EU member states who have taken out student loans but do not reside or work in the UK make their loan repayments.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Student Loans Company (SLC) has arrangements in place to collect repayments from borrowers who move away from the UK. SLC establishes a 12 month repayment schedule based on the borrower’s income and provides information on the methods of repayment available.

    SLC sets up fixed repayment schedules for borrowers who do not remain in contact and will place those borrowers in arrears. Further action, including legal action, can then be taken to secure recovery. EC regulations allow the SLC to obtain judgments in UK courts, which can be enforced by courts in other EU countries.

    The Department published a Joint Repayment Strategy in February 2016, which sets out how action will be taken to trace borrowers and act to recover loans where avoidance or evasion is identified. This publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/student-loan-repayment-strategy

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  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5970), how many of the 8,000 planned reports in 2016 will come from (1) the rare disease programme, and (2) the cancer programme.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    At this stage, Genomics England cannot provide an exact breakdown of the 8,000 planned reports. This will depend on the participants that NHS Genomic Medicine Centres recruit.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to ban the promotion of high-risk credit products through unsolicited direct marketing mail and telephone calls.

    Simon Kirby

    The Government has, as part of its action plan to address nuisance calls, made it easier for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to take action against nuisance callers. The Government has removed the legal threshold requiring the ICO to prove a firm has caused ‘substantial damage or substantial distress’, and increased the level of fine available to punish rogue companies.

    The Financial Conduct Authority is also committed to ensuring that cold calling by phone, text or email makes clear the identity of the firm, and the purpose of the communication, so the consumer can decide whether to proceed. Such promotions are also required to include a representative example or APR. Regulated firms must comply with data protection and Telephone and Mail Preference Service requirements.

    In addition, the FCA has committed to review its rules on unsolicited marketing calls, emails and text messages from consumer credit firms, including payday lenders. The review will include specifically looking at whether these unsolicited communications should be banned, given the potential for causing significant distress to consumers. The FCA will publish the outcome of that review by the end of the year.

  • Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many written complaints her Department received about academy brokers in each year since 2010.

    Edward Timpson

    All of the contractors offering specialist educational advice are now defined as ‘Education Advisers’. Some of the Education Advisers work as academy brokers but may undertake other functions. All complaints made against Education Advisers have been recorded centrally since June 2011.

    Since then, the Department has received 13 written complaints in total. Investigations have been concluded and resolved to the Department’s satisfaction; the majority were found to be without basis.

    In each case the complainant was given feedback on the investigation and was informed of how they could pursue their complaint further if they were not satisfied with the outcome. In two cases, complaints were partially upheld; and another was upheld.

    Providing further information about the nature of the complaints, and the grounds on which they were partially or fully upheld, would risk identifying individual cases and therefore jeopardise the confidentiality afforded to the complainant and subject, and be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs.

  • Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department takes to monitor the number of gypsy, traveller and romany children in (a) secure training centres, (b) secure children’s homes and (c) young offenders’ institutions using the 2011 census ethnic group classification.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    The Youth Justice Board (YJB) and HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) publish an annual report on ‘Children in Custody’ that monitors the number of gypsy, traveller and Romany (GRT) children in youth offenders’ institutions (YOIs) and secure training centres (STCs). The reports are available on the HMIP website.

    The survey does not cover young people in Secure Children’s Homes (SCH). This is because Ofsted are responsible for inspecting SCHs, not HMIP.