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Category: Speeches

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 2.21 of the Summer Budget 2015, what arrangements he has put in place to enable the funding provided for defibrillators to be disbursed.

    Jane Ellison

    Following our 2015 Budget commitment on defibrillators, we have awarded the British Heart Foundation (BHF) £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England.

    More information can be found on the BHF’s website:

    https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/nation-of-lifesavers/about-defibrillators/apply-for-a-defibrillator-in-england

    “

  • Baroness Gardner of Parkes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Gardner of Parkes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gardner of Parkes on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to legislate in connection with the right to manage in order to provide a limited time within which non-resident leaseholders who fail to respond can be deemed to have agreed to a proposal.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The maintenance and repair of a block of flats containing leasehold properties is normally the responsibility of the landlord and will be set out under the terms of the lease. This responsibility can pass to a Right to Manage Company where leaseholders have exercised and acquired that right, allowing them to exercise direct control over how their block is maintained.

    Landlords, or those who have acquired the Right to Manage, have a contractual obligation under the terms of the leases to carry out necessary works to the properties that they are responsible for maintaining. Where works are suggested by a majority of leaseholders that are not essential to the repair or maintenance of the property, we would expect landlords to engage with their leaseholders to discuss the feasibility of the suggested works, but there are no plans to legislate to obligate landlords to carry out such work.

    There are also no plans to legislate to provide a limited time within which non-resident leaseholders who fail to respond to a proposal for qualifying works, are deemed to have agreed to the proposed works. The statutory consultation process (known as section 20) gives leaseholders the ability to have a greater say on proposed works to their property by making observations. It does not require leaseholders to make observations, but any observations that are made must be made within a specified time limit. The landlord (or Right to Manage Company) is therefore in the knowledge that subject to observations made, they are able to proceed with necessary works.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many persons were paying National Insurance contributions in the most recent period for which data are available, and how many of those were citizens of the EU10 countries at the time they first registered for a National Insurance number.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    In 2012-13 it is estimated that 26.8m individuals are liable to National Insurance Contributions from earned income or self-employed profits across the different classes of National Insurance.

    This is estimated using the latest available outturn from the Survey of Personal Income (SPI) for 2012-13. The SPI does not contain information on the nationality of individuals in the sample.

    Calculating the number of individuals in 2012-13 who were paying National Insurance Contributions who were citizens of the EU when they first registered for a National Insurance number is complex and cannot be done quickly.However, HM Revenue and Customs are planning to produce more data early in 2016 on this issue.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to counter Russian propaganda directed at the UK or at NATO.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is leading a cross-government and international approach to counter Russian misinformation and provide positive, alternative narratives. The UK Government is employing a range of measures to do this, including: strengthening the BBC’s Russian service; setting up and co-ordinating a “Friends of Ukraine” communication hub; leading successful lobbying to create an EU Strategic Communication team in Brussels that is focussed on Eastern Europe; leading the charge to set up the NATO Centre of Excellence for Communication in Riga; helping set-up a NATO trust fund to ensure impactful strategic communication interventions by NATO; and training EU and NATO teams to increase their capacity to rebut Russian misinformation.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what account the police takes of mental health conditions when deciding whether to prosecute people under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

    Mike Penning

    The police and Crown Prosecution Service work together to take decisions on whether to pursue a prosecution under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, applying the evidential and public interest tests set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The Code provides that prosecutors should have regard to whether the suspect is, or was at the time of the offence, suffering from any mental or ill health as, in some circumstances, this may mean that it is less likely that a prosecution is required.

  • Anne Marie Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Anne Marie Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Marie Morris on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has paid in fines to the EU as a result of the Common Agricultural Policy since 2010.

    George Eustice

    As from financial year 2010/11 Defra has accrued £336m for disallowance following the conclusion of EU audits, broken down by financial year as shown in the table below. This relates to a number of different Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Schemes over a number of historical scheme years as disallowance is paid in arrears. These are the only fines that have been imposed on Defra by the EU since 2010.

    Disallowance (*) £m

    10/11

    11/12

    12/13

    13/14

    14/15

    181

    42

    2

    30

    81

    (*) Reflects the sums the European Commission have ruled cannot be reimbursed (i.e. the amounts they have “disallowed”).

    “

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent representations (a) his Department and (b) the Information Commissioner’s Office have received on the failure of organisations to register as data controllers with the Information Commissioner’s Office under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998; and what steps (i) his Department and (ii) the Information Commissioner’s Office have taken to ensure that organisations (A) are compliant with such terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 and (B) pay their notification fees.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.

    At the end of 2015/2016 there were 441,000 data controllers registered with the ICO, which generated a total income of £18.3 million. Due to the very broad range of exemptions from the need to notify, and because these exemptions do not need to be actively claimed, there is no recognised figure for the number of notifiable data controllers in the UK. It is for data controllers to seek registration; the ICO periodically reminds organisations of the requirement to notify.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2016 to Question 37198, how many of the leaflets entitled Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK have been returned to her Department; and what the postage cost to the Government has been of such returns.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    I refer the Hon Member to the Prime Minister’s response of 25th May 2016. This information is not collated centrally by the Department.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the implications are for his Department’s guidance to local authorities on Gypsy and Traveller Assessments of the recommendations of the report by the Traveller Movement, Impact of insecure accommodation and the living environment on Gypsies’ and Travellers’ health, published in January 2016.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This report was commissioned by the Department to inform the work of the inclusion health programme and the local and national bodies which address the health needs of Gypsies and Travellers, and it provides support to the Department for Communities and Local Government guidance on local Gypsy and Traveller accommodation needs assessment.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of making the wearing of cycle helmets compulsory for cyclists on UK roads.

    Andrew Jones

    Government policy is that cycle helmets offer a degree of protection for cyclists in the event of a fall from a bicycle and some types of collisions. This is in line with the Highway Code rule 59 which states “you should wear a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened”

    We encourage the use of helmets by all cyclists and in particular by children.

    However, people and parents are free to choose whether to follow this advice and we have no plans to legislate to introduce a mandatory requirement for the wearing of cycle helmets.