Category: Speeches

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which (a) organisations and (b) individuals responded to the public online consultation his Department held on the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR); and for what reasons the SDSR does not mention such responses.

    Michael Fallon

    The Government received more than 2,000 full responses from members of the public to the online form, as detailed in section 7.5 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). All comments were considered by officials as part of the SDSR process.

  • Lord Norton of Louth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Norton of Louth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Norton of Louth on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which minister is the lead minister in ensuring that departments comply with section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act is a requirement of the Civil Service Code. It is for individual Ministers and their Permanent Secretaries to account for civil servants’ compliance with the Code.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Bourne Report on the incidence of bovine TB in badger cull areas been updated since 2014.

    George Eustice

    Cull zone results published in the Independent Scientific Report on the Randomised Badger Culling Trials (RBCT) (chaired by Professor John Bourne) were last updated with data up to March 2013. There are no plans to do any further analysis of TB incidence in the RBCT areas

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their technical or legal definition of a rogue landlord”.”

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The term "rogue landlord" is widely understood in the lettings industry to describe a landlord who knowingly flouts their obligations by renting out unsafe and substandard accommodation to tenants, many of whom may be vulnerable. The Housing and Planning Bill contains a number of measures to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords and force them to either improve or leave the sector.

  • Lord Touhig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Touhig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Touhig on 2016-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many service personnel they estimate will be trained under the UK Military Flying Training System contract, and how that number compares to previous programmes.

    Earl Howe

    The current contracted requirement is for 180 pilots and 110 rear crew to be trained as new entrants under the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS).

    The UKMFTS solution has been designed to meet the training requirement agreed across all front line commands. This is the same process as employed for historic provision of military flying training, where the requirement has fluctuated over time. Pre-SDSR 2010, the new entrant training requirement was for 280 pilots and 170 rear crew.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that the £500 million Access Fund is spent on sustainable transport projects.

    James Wharton

    The £500 million Access Fund is part of the Department for Transport’s overall contribution to the Local Growth Fund in this spending review period. As with the majority of the Local Growth Fund it is available to Local Enterprise Partnerships to bid for and spend in line with their own priorities. LEPs are already planning to spend considerably more than £500 million on sustainable transport and we would encourage them to propose ambitious sustainable transport measures in their further growth deal bids this year.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Blue Badge concession to include off-street parking.

    Andrew Jones

    We have no plans to extend Blue Badge concessions to off-street parking. The scheme is designed to ensure that disabled people can find suitable parking on public roads – whether it be in bays, at meters or on yellow lines – close to where they need to go. Off-street parking is a completely different matter; these are often privately owned and their terms of use are a matter for the car park owners, but disabled parking bays are usually available.

  • Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Angola on freedom of human rights activists and organisations in Angola.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK Government continue to have concerns over the freedom of human rights activists and organisations in Angola. We followed the case of the 15+2 closely. The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) raised his concerns over the handling of the case and length of sentencing with the Minister of Justice and Human Rights during his visit to Luanda on 8 June. During the course of the trial, UK staff in Luanda discussed the promotion and development of human rights with the Angolan Minister of Justice and Human Rights; the Public Prosecutor; the Secretary of State for Human Rights; the Minister of Foreign Affairs; and the Minister for Presidential Affairs.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of her Department.

    Caroline Dinenage

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. However, there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the benefits cap applies to Syrian migrants.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Syrians entering the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme are able to work and have access to some benefits on arrival. Like other claimants they will be subject to the benefit cap.