Category: Speeches

  • – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Faulks on 18 November (HL Deb, col 176), which scientific studies informed the comments that there is a considerably held view” that the adult brain reaches maturity at age 25

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The age of majority is a complex subject and one which requires careful consideration. A range of differing academic views on adolescent brain development exist, for example those set out by Professor Laurence Steinberg or Dr Jay Giedd. In ‘Changing Prisons, Saving Lives – Report of the Independent Review into Self-inflicted Deaths in Custody of 18-24 year olds’ (published in July 2015), the Harris review panel comment that ‘research shows that brain structures continue to mature and develop well into the twenties’(citing ‘White Matter Development in Adolescence: A DTI Study’ by Dr Miya Asato et al).

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, whether any businesses in receipt of funding from the apprenticeship programme for the creation of apprenticeships in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area have participated in the Government’s work experience programme for those on jobseeker’s allowance.

    Nick Boles

    We do not hold this information.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the proposed outcomes of the renegotiation of the UK’s membership of the EU would require the approval of the European Parliament to be legally binding.

    Mr David Lidington

    An agreement reached by the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, reflecting the outcomes of the renegotiation, would not require the approval of the European Parliament to be legally binding.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contribution she made at the meeting of EU interior ministers on the refugee crisis on 25 February 2016; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    A meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council took place in Brussels on 25 February, which my Rt. Hon Friend the Home Secretary attended on behalf of the UK.

    It is protocol for a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) to be made in Parliament after each JHA Council, reporting the meeting and setting out the position taken by the UK. In this instance, a WMS will be made in both Houses on Thursday 3 March, which is within the agreed timescale.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has for future provision of the collective passport service.

    James Brokenshire

    As indicated in my replies of 23 February 2016 [27190] and 15 March 2016 [30705], a review on the future use of the Collective passport is underway. The outcome of that review will be announced on completion of stakeholder engagement.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much the Northern Ireland Executive has been allocated for the improvement of broadband delivery for 2016-17.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The UK government will provide funding of £1,101,613 for superfast broadband projects in the financial year 2016-17 to the Department of Enterprise Trade & Investment Northern Ireland. In earlier years, the government has transferred a total of £4,712,552 of BDUK funding to the Northern Ireland Executive for investment in superfast broadband.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of starts in Scotland on the Work Choice programme in each of the last three financial years for which such information is available.

    Priti Patel

    For all Work Choice providers excluding Remploy, there have been 2,070 starts in Scotland in the financial year 2013/14, 1,780 in 2014/15, and 1,210 in 2015/16.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 June (HL402), when they expect to complete their estimate of the financial impact that the decision by the Office of Road and Rail to allow competition on the East Coast Main Line will have on the existing Virgin Trains East Coast franchise.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has estimated the financial impact of the Office of Rail and Roads decision on the franchise. However, in light of the potential impact on the franchisee, this information is considered to be commercially sensitive.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of the recommendations made by the HS2 Ltd Residents’ Commissioner in her published reports have been adopted in full by HS2 Ltd.

    Andrew Jones

    HS2 Ltd continues to use all feedback and recommendations made by the Residents’ Commissioner, including those made in published reports, to help improve the quality of its communication and engagement with communities affected by HS2 proposals.

    In response to recommendations made by the Residents’ Commissioner HS2 Ltd has, for example, expanded its community engagement teams to provide more localised support and information to affected communities, introduced a mobile unit which will have a wider reach where residents not able to attend HS2 Ltd-run events, and raised awareness of the package of HS2 property compensation and discretionary assistance schemes which are available.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 14136, what work the Government has undertaken to implement the commitments made in paragraphs (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, (d) 8 and (e) 10 of the 2013 Lough Erne G8 Leaders’ Communiqué since January 2014; and what assessment he has made of the level of progress against those commitments.

    Mr David Gauke

    Since January 2014 the Prime Minister has updated the house on 11 June 2014 and 10 June 2015 following the G7 Summits. The UK presidency focused on 3 Ts: tax, transparency and trade.

    On tax there has been significant progress on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) the major international agreement to realign taxation with economic activities and value creation. In October 2015 the OECD issued the final BEPS outputs, which were endorsed by G20 Finance Ministers. The UK has made significant progress including: consulting on implementing rules to address hybrid mismatches arrangements and issuing draft secondary legislation to implement Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting, a template for multinational companies to report profit and tax information to tax authorities, in the UK in line with the internationally agreed timetable. In addition, in February 2014 G20 Finance Ministers endorsed the OECD’s new global standard for Automatic Exchange of Information of tax. All G20 Finance Ministers committed to first exchange by end-2018 in September, with 10 G20 countries including the UK committing to begin exchange in 2017.

    With regards to transparency, in March 2015 the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act received Royal Assent, establishing a public registry of company beneficial ownership that will show who ultimately owns and controls in-scope UK companies. The register will be operational from June 2016 and the UK is undertaking a wider review of corporate transparency.

    On trade, the Government has furthered international free trade agreements (FTA), with negotiations on an EU-Canada FTA finalised in August 2014. The EU and Japan held a constructive round of Free Trade Agreements negotiations in October 2015. The EU-US FTA 11th Round of negotiations took place in Miami 19-23 October 2015.