Category: Speeches

  • 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 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of new contracts placed by his Department’s core departments during 2014-15 were with UK suppliers.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    In 2014-15, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) placed 2,128 new contracts; a breakdown of whether these were with UK or overseas suppliers is not held centrally.

    The MOD does, however, routinely publish statistics on contracts it places on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015. This includes an overall estimate of MOD expenditure for work undertaken in the UK. For 2013-14, this figure is £19.5 billion. The estimate for 2014-15 will be available in due course.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will offer tax relief on home insurance payments for occupants of council housing.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government’s preferred policy is to take people out of tax through higher personal allowances, and to lower tax rates when it is affordable to do so.

    The Government has already pledged to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 by the end of this parliament.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 25 April (HL7517), what is the timescale for the forthcoming review of British nationality law; and whether that review, and subsequent changes to citizenship legislation, will include the position of those of British Overseas Territories descent born before 1 July 2006 whose unmarried fathers automatically gained full British citizenship under the British Overseas Territories Act 2002.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The review of citizenship will look at how citizenship should be obtained in the future, both within the UK and the overseas territories. The overseas territories will be consulted as part of that review, and will have the opportunity to provide their views on a number of citizenship matters. The date for this consultation has not been finalised and details will be published in due course.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what EU directives related to his Department’s responsibilities are awaiting transposition into UK law.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The following EU directives are undergoing transposition by the Department for Work and Pensions:

    • Directive 2014/50/EU on minimum requirements for enhancing worker mobility between Member States by improving the acquisition and preservation of supplementary pension rights.
    • Directive 2013/59/Euratom on laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation.
  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to change the staff headcount across the Civil Service in each of the next four years; and what the projected expenditure on staff is in that time period.

    Ben Gummer

    Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each department to determine based on their individual operational and policy requirements. Each department has their own spending agreements with HM Treasury for this Parliament and are responsible for ensuring they have the right workforce and capability in place to deliver their commitments.

    Earlier this year, departments published their Single Departmental Plans, setting out the key programmes of work required to deliver the Government’s Manifesto commitments. Departments have been developing plans to ensure they have the workforce capacity and capability required to deliver their Single Departmental Plans.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 448, on Death of political prisoners in Iran in 1988, tabled on 13 September 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 17 October 2016 (PQs 47087, 47085 and 47084).

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an estimate of the number of additional hospitals that will be required to accommodate the predicted population rise over the next 25 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS planning must be centred around the changing health needs of patients and the population. Because of this, the way the NHS delivers health and care in 25 years’ time may look very different from the way health and care is delivered today.

    The NHS will take advantage of science and technology to deliver healthcare in different ways, in care settings appropriate to people’s needs. This will include hospitals but also new primary and community settings and in people’s homes, where that suits patients and their families. The NHS will of course also need to change the way healthcare is delivered as people live longer lives, with longer term, more complex, multiple health issues. Many of these needs will be best met by supporting people to live healthier as well as longer lives, in their own homes and communities, rather than admitting them to a hospital. The Government has set a priority to transform out-of-hospital care in every community.

    The NHS Five Year Forward View sets out how the NHS will need to develop to deliver care in new and innovative ways. Different local health communities are being supported as part of the New Care Models Vanguard programme to develop a small number of new care delivery options and models. It is likely that the concept of distinctive health settings, such as within the hospital sector, or within community or primary care, will become less important, as healthcare is delivered in closer partnership with people and coordinated around their needs.

    Allowing successful innovations to be spread throughout the NHS is integral to the design of the healthcare delivery models the Vanguard programme is developing. This will facilitate the continual development of new NHS services, working in partnership with the people using them.

  • Lucy Frazer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lucy Frazer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Frazer on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that the Deaflympics are recognised as equal to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Tracey Crouch

    Government recognises the importance of deaf sport to those who take part at both grassroots and elite level. Sport England is investing £365,872 in UK Deaf Sport between 2014 and 2017 in recognition of this.Questions of official recognition at an international level are a matter for the International Olympic Committee.

  • 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 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to answer Question 15306, tabled on 6 November 2015, on his Department’s public expenditure.

    Caroline Dinenage

    I refer the honourable member to the answer which I gave in PQ 15306, answered on 17th February 2016.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre is taking to protect children and young people from grooming through social media sites.

    Karen Bradley

    The National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command leads, supports and coordinates the law enforcement response to the threat from child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) which has been designated one of the highest priority crime threats facing the UK.

    CEOP Command works closely with social media companies, and law enforcement agencies in the UK and overseas, to identify victims and pursue offenders engaged in grooming children on the internet. CEOP Command has developed a comprehensive education programme, called Thinkuknow, which provides targeted advice to children, parents and carers, including on how to use social media safely.

    In 2014/15, over 3 million children saw the NCA’s Thinkuknow educational material. Further detail on the Thinkuknow campaign can be found online at: www.thinkuknow.co.uk