Category: Speeches

Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many assaults there were on staff working for (a) London Underground, (b) London Overground, (c) London buses, (d) Docklands Light Railway and (e) Tramlink in each hour of the day in 2014.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport does not collect this information.

However, I am able to say that the British Transport Police will shortly be launching Project Servator, which aims to detect and deter crime on the railways. It deploys highly visible and unpredictable police patrols to prevent a range of criminal activity, from pickpocketing and theft to more serious crimes including terrorism.

01/01/2023
Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations have they made to the Palestinian Authority following the seizure by Israeli customs of 4,000 incitement dolls, allegedly designed to encourage stone throwing, destined for the West Bank.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not raised this specific issue with the Palestinian Authority. Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, urging them to use their influence to de-escalate the tensions. We continue to support the reinstatement of the Tripartite Committee as the appropriate channel to deal with allegations of incitement from either side.

01/01/2023
Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects the decommissioning of Sparrowdale School to be completed.

Edward Timpson

School playing fields are protected by Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Schools and local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval before they can dispose of their land. Applications to dispose of school playing fields are considered by the independent school playing fields advisory panel, and are approved only when it is demonstrated that the application meets published criteria.

The Department is aware of an application by Warwickshire County Council to seek approval to dispose of the former Sparrowdale Special School. The application is currently being processed by officials at the Education Funding Agency; a final decision should be expected in the summer. The application will only be considered when sufficient information is available to consider how the sale proceeds will be invested to benefit other local schools. The Secretary of State will consider the recommendation of the panel before making her final decision.

The Department has published a list of decisions since May 2010 on applications for consent to dispose of school playing field land: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals

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01/01/2023
Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to decide on whether to support prosecutions for people suspected of committing electoral or financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets; and when he plans to announce that decision.

Mr Marcus Jones

Decisions on whether to charge or to prosecute individuals suspected of electoral and financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are matters for the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

01/01/2023
Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mancroft on 2016-03-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review their hepatitis C strategy in the light of other European countries’ strategies for tackling hepatitis C.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has been rapidly working on their plans for access to treatment during 2016/17 following enactment of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence technical appraisal guidance and has committed to produce an operational framework for the treatment of hepatitis C during 2016/17. This will set out NHS England’s commitment to improving outcomes in hepatitis C across England.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many instances of (a) illegal and (b) unregulated fishing have been recorded in Antarctic waters by the UK in each of the last five years.

James Duddridge

Over the last five years the UK has not identified any instances of illegal or unregulated fishing within the Convention Area. This is in part due to the reduction in the global illegal, unreported and unregulated fleet and the stringent measures put in place by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (the Commission). Where other States Parties have identified illegal, unreported and unregulated operations, the UK has worked within the Commission to take steps to combat those activities.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what expertise on Russia is required of members of the 77th Brigade; what the operational deployment standards are of that brigade; and how many members of that brigade were recruited from the Reserves.

Penny Mordaunt

Russia is just one of a wide range of different nations that elements of 77th Brigade are studying in order to develop a deep understanding of their approach to operations. The focus is on specific aspects of these countries’ operational concepts and doctrine including information warfare and the use of non-military means.

As is normal for operational deployments overseas, personnel will only deploy once they have met standards laid down for each theatre by the Joint Commander.

There are currently 141 reserve personnel serving with 77th Brigade.

01/01/2023

Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to implement the actions identified for it in the Government’s Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2020, published in March 2016; and when a member of staff from her Department last attended a Violence against Women and Girls Stakeholder Meeting chaired by the Home Office.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government is committed to delivering the Strategy published in March. The table below shows the progress made in delivering the actions allocated to the Department for Education (DfE) or the Government Equalities Office (GEO).

REF	DfE/ GEO	ACTION	PROGRESS
1	GEO	Develop new guidance in consultation with teachers for PHSE lessons specifically about gender equality (Apr 2016).	GEO has been working with the PSHE Association to consult teachers on how best to deliver this commitment.
2	GEO	Fund the Freedom Charity to expand the ‘Train the Trainers’ project…. (Apr 2016).	GEO funded the Freedom Charity to expand their ‘Train the Trainers’ project to reach a greater number of communities and empower teachers to deal with the topic of forced marriage sensitively and confidently. This funding enabled an additional 3,620 students and 1,230 staff to learn about forced marriage with Freedom.
3	DfE	Publish a consultation report on updated statutory safeguarding guidance for schools, Keeping Children Safe in Education, to come into force in September 2016 (May 2016).	DfE published the Government response to the consultation in May, and published a draft of the revised guidance for information at that time. The guidance came into force on 5 September 2016.
5	HO/ GEO	Launch the second phase of the national prevention campaign to challenge abuse in teenage relationships and promote understanding of health relationships and consent – including among LGB&T teenagers (Feb 2016).	GEO, in partnership with the Home Office, launched Disrespect Nobody, the second phase of the national prevention campaign to challenge abuse in teenage relationships. This included a TV advert, along with a dedicated website, blogs and guidance for teachers.
6	DfE	Launch a communications campaign to encourage the public to report all forms of child abuse to help address people’s fear of reporting (Mar – autumn 2016).	In March 2016 DfE launched the national Together we can tackle child abuse campaign to encourage members of the public to report any concerns they may have about a child, in particular about suspected child abuse and neglect. Over 100 councils have engaged with the campaign so far, and our findings indicate that it is giving people a sense of confidence to report their suspicions. We know it takes time to change opinions and behaviours, which is why we plan to run the campaign again in 2017.
8	GEO	Update Media Smart resources (with the Advertising Association) to help teachers and parents improve primary school children’s understanding of how gender is represented in the media and their resilience to negative content (Sep 2016).	GEO commissioned the charity Media Smart to develop a new resource to help teachers and parents improve primary school children’s understanding of how gender is represented in the media and their resilience to negative content. The resource was published in August 2016 and will be disseminated to schools this term.
10	GEO	Conduct or commission mapping of the evidence base and initiatives that engage men, boys and bystanders in VAWG prevention to identify how Government can build on these initiatives to further social change (Apr 2017).	GEO is currently mapping the evidence base and initiatives that engage men, boys and bystanders in VAWG prevention, as well as meeting with stakeholders working in this area.
18	DfE	Raise standards in social work and overhaul social work education and practice to improve the recruitment, retention and development of social workers under-pinned by a new regulator…. (all social workers assessed and accredited by 2020).	DfE is continuing to develop our plans for the assessment and accreditation of child and family social workers and will consult this autumn. We expect the first social workers will begin assessment in spring 2017. The Children and Social Work Bill includes provision to establish a new regulator for social workers.
19	DfE	Establish a What Works Centre, with up to £20m of funding, which will be an evidence-based resource to support social workers and work alongside the Chief Social Worker (by end 2016).	It is expected that the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care will be established in 2017 – we are currently considering options for the model and set-up process and carried out early market engagement in June/July 2016 to inform our thinking.
28	GEO/ HO	Establish an official Government working group to map out current issues, prevalence, initiatives and barriers to addressing gendered online abuse to improve understanding and coordinate the response to online manifestations of VAWG (Dec 2016).	In partnership with the Home Office, GEO has established an official Government working group to do this. This work is ongoing.
30	GEO	Continue to ensure victims of revenge pornography have access to bespoke support and advice about their right to have the images removed from websites (review Apr 2017).	GEO has funded the Revenge Porn Helpline for a further year to continue its important work supporting victims of revenge porn and working to have such images removed from websites.
68	DfE	Carry out an urgent review of Local Safeguarding Children Boards and take forward plans to centralise serious case reviews so that lessons from serious incidents can be learned more quickly and effectively (review completed by Mar 2016).	The review was completed in March 2016 and published in May 2016. Provisions to cover the key recommendations on LSCBs and reviews are included in the Children and Social Work Bill.

Department officials are in regular contact with their Home Office counterparts to discuss relevant policy issues, including those raised by stakeholders. Such discussions run alongside inter-ministerial meetings, the most recent of which I attended in June.

01/01/2023

James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department had on the candidates for appointment for the post of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth before the most recent appointment to that post made at the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting in November 2015.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We demand a lot of the Commonwealth and had high expectations for the new Secretary-General. The UK wanted the strongest possible candidate to steer the Commonwealth through reform, to ensure that it has a voice on the most pressing global challenges and to unite countries behind the Commonwealth’s values such as the protection and promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. We assessed candidates for the position based on this criteria. We welcomed Patricia Scotland’s appointment as Secretary General in November 2015.

01/01/2023
Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many officials in her Department are working on matters related to High Speed 2; and what the grades of those officials are.

George Eustice

Technical and policy specialists contribute to the Department’s work on HS2. Within the core Department a policy team (1 Grade 7 and 1 SEO) co-ordinates input from specialists from across the Department as required. This forms one part of the team’s role.

The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE) provide input through the roles of the following officials:

3 Grade 7s (2 EA, 1 NE)

1 Grade 6 (EA)

7 SEOs (5 EA, 2 NE)

3 HEOs (1 EA, 2 NE)

In addition, one Grade 7 and two SEOs from the Forestry Commission and members of local EA and NE teams provide specialist advice as required.

01/01/2023