Category: Speeches

Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates’ courts opened in each local justice area in each year since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The tables below show magistrates’ courts that have opened since 2010. Each of these new courts replaced multiple smaller facilities, providing modern and efficient premises in place of buildings which were unfit for purpose.

2011

Westminster Magistrates Court

2012

Aberystwyth Justice Centre

Chelmsford Magistrates Court

Colchester Magistrates Court

Newport Magistrates Court

It is not possible to present the above sites by their local justice areas as many local justice area boundaries change over time.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans to invest any unallocated funding held by the Green Investment Bank at its point of privatisation into green projects in the UK.

Anna Soubry

The Government has put paying down our debt while investing in infrastructure at the heart of our long term economic plan. Proceeds from a sale of UK Green investment Bank plc (GIB) will help us deliver on both those objectives. Any proposal to allocate Government funding to other types of intervention to achieve green policy objectives would need to be considered individually on its merits.

GIB’s remit has always been to invest in green projects on fully commercial terms to help demonstrate green investment can be profitable and attract additional private sector investment into green sectors from mainstream finance providers. GIB will continue to perform that role in private ownership. Details of the other Government policy mechanisms in place aimed at promoting investment in more high risk projects and early stage technologies are provided at paragraphs 31 – 36 of our November 2015 policy statement on the future of GIB which can be found on the GIB pages of the GOV.UK website.

01/01/2023
Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-02-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had on the implementation of the ring-fence between retail and investment banking since May 2015.

Harriett Baldwin

Since May 2015, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of ring-fencing, ministers and HMT officials have met with regulators, banks, banking organisations, trustees of bank pension funds and HMRC.

01/01/2023
Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel concerning the right of return of Syrian refugees who were originally displaced from their homes in Palestine when the state of Israel was formed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities on this issue. It is the British Government’s policy that a final status agreement between the two parties should include a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees.

01/01/2023

Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 8 March 2016 to Questions 30341 and 30342 and with reference to the Answers of 5 December 2013 to Question 179450 and 21 January 2014 to Question 182897, when his Department (a) decided to stop collecting the required information and (b) began to collect information in such a way that it can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

For questions 179450 and 182897 volumes of prosecutions and number of errors identified were provided, however these were not all fraud cases, including cases where the error was not deliberate. This did not explicitly answer the enquiry, however was given to provide helpful context. It is not possible to separate cases into those which are a mistake and those where fraud has been accepted without individual case by case analysis.

Again, we cannot directly answer 30341 and 30342 but have provided the below extra information to assist;

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Total Fraud Investigations (1)	125,140	116,480	171,730
of which total positive outcomes (2)	20,800	20,050	24,600
of which total fraud cases (3)	15,350	12,870	13,600
over which total prosecuted (4)	11,390	8,490	7,150

(1) Total cases investigated by Local Service or complex criminal Investigations.
(2) Total cases where an error has been identified and corrected.
(3) Prosecutions + admin Penalties + cautions: cases where fraud has been proven or accepted.
(4) Cases accepted by CPS for prosecution.

“

01/01/2023

Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ráad al Hussein, of 10 May 2016, what his policy is on the government of Turkey giving independent investigators, including UN staff, unimpeded access to South East Turkey to investigate alleged violations of human rights.

Mr Philip Hammond

We are aware of several public reports regarding alleged events in Cizre. We agree with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ráad al Hussein that it is essential that authorities respect human rights at all times while undertaking security or counter-terrorism operations.

We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, a terrorist organisation which has killed hundreds of innocent people in the past year. A PKK offshoot – the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK – has also claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks, including an indiscriminate suicide car bombing in central Ankara on 13 March that killed over 30 people. Our thoughts are with the victims of PKK attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the recent conflict.

Our Ambassador to Turkey and I have discussed with the Turkish government the importance of respecting human rights and avoiding civilian casualties in the fight against terrorism. We believe the first responsibility for investigating any alleged violations falls to Turkey. And that the PKK needs to cease violence in order to create the conditions for political resolution of the difficulties in the south east.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Multi Academy Trusts have closed down in each year since 2010.

Edward Timpson

The Department has a role in monitoring the performance of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and the academies within them. This includes transferring an academy where there are significant concerns about performance from one MAT to another.

MATs are charitable trusts and companies limited by guarantee. It is for its board to decide whether or not to dissolve the trust; the Department has no role.

01/01/2023
Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment his Department has made of the costs and benefits to the UK of leaving the EU Customs Union; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker

We are confident that we will secure a successful outcome and deliver the best deal for Britain in the upcoming negotiations. The relationship we build with the EU will be bespoke to the UK. There are of course a number of different models for EU trade relations from which we can learn. We understand the advantages and disadvantages of those models, and are analysing closely the impact which adopting them would have on the UK economy and UK trade.

01/01/2023
Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the consequences for the UK’s capability of the retirement in 2018 of the 53 Typhoon aircraft purchased in tranche 1; and if he will reverse this decision in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Strategic Review.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence is reviewing the potential utility of all its current platforms, including its fleet of Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft, as part of the ongoing Strategic Defence and Security Review. Where there is clear merit in extending the life of existing equipment in terms of both military utility and value-for-money, the opportunity to do so will be considered in the context of the wider Review. It is therefore not appropriate to anticipate decisions on the Typhoon Tranche 1, or other capabilities, that have not yet been made.

01/01/2023
Nusrat Ghani – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the implementation of the National Living Wage on (a) the financial position of employers in the care sector and (b) the level of employment in that sector.

Alistair Burt

The Government has engaged with the care sector, including care providers, to understand the impact on the market arising from amongst other things, local authority commissioning behaviour and the introduction of the National Living Wage. This has included a number of deep dive sessions held with both care home businesses and providers of home care services.

As part of its spending plans for the next four years the Government is giving local authorities access to £3.5 billion of new support for adult social care by 2019/20. Local authorities will be able to introduce a new Social Care Precept, allowing them to increase council tax by 2% above the existing threshold. The Government estimates this could raise nearly £2 billion a year for adult social care by 2019/20.

Councils will need to increase the price they pay for care to cover costs for care providers such as the National Living Wage. To support this, the Social Care Precept puts money raising powers into the hands of local authorities which are best placed to target resources based on their understanding of their local care market.

In terms of the levels of employment in the sector, the Department believes that effective recruitment and retention of a caring and skilled adult social care workforce has a central role to play in delivering high quality care and support to people who need it.

Our challenge is to ensure the workforce has the right number of people to meet the demands of the future, with the right skills, knowledge and behaviours to deliver quality, compassionate care.

DH will continue to work in partnership with delivery partners and key stakeholders to support effective recruitment practices and improved retention of the adult social care workforce.

01/01/2023