Category: Speeches

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Iranians have been executed since the visit of the Foreign Secretary to Iran and the re-opening of the UK embassy in Tehran last year, and what assessment they have made of whether that figure indicates any improvement in the human rights position of Iranian citizens.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran believes that between 966 and 1,025 people were executed in 2015. The UK repeatedly calls on Iran to bring an end to the use of the death penalty.

01/01/2023
Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to provide financial support to coastal communities to develop their capacity to manage local fishing waters after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice

The precise nature of our relationship with the EU is still being determined and will be subject to negotiation. We will be looking at a future package for fishing, including potential support measures, and will work closely with industry and other key interests to develop these new arrangements.

01/01/2023
Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make the punishment of people traffickers more severe to increase its deterrent effect.

Sarah Newton

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 increased the maximum sentence for modern slavery offences from 14 years to life imprisonment. The Act also gave law enforcement agencies the power to seize traffickers’ assets and introduced risk and prevention orders which restrict the activities of traffickers outside prison if they are judged to pose a serious threat.

Earlier this year, the Government commissioned the barrister Caroline Haughey to carry out an independent review of the operation of the criminal justice provisions in the Modern Slavery Act. Ms Haughey found that the Act had set an international benchmark to which other jurisdictions aspire, and recommended that we do more to ensure that law enforcement agencies use the Act to full effect.

The Government agrees and the Prime Minister recently announced that she will be chairing a modern slavery taskforce to ensure that we leave no stone unturned in bringing the perpetrators of this vile crime to justice.

01/01/2023
Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools facilitate highly-able pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds accessing the best universities.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Widening participation in higher education (HE) is a priority for this government, building on the real progress being made in the last 5 years. In England the entry rates for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were at record levels in 2014, rising from 13.6 per cent in 2009 to 18.2 per cent in 2014. Applications from this group also reached a record high in 2015, with the latest data showing a 21 per cent application rate. As set out in the Green Paper on Higher Education, published on 6 November, this government has set a goal to double the proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering HE by the end of this Parliament from 2009 levels. Schools have a critical role in delivering on this commitment.

We have introduced compulsory study of the key English Baccalaureate subjects to make sure more pupils get the rigorous academic education they need to succeed in getting a place at university.

We are also committed to continuing the pupil premium, protected at current rates, so that pupils from the poorest backgrounds get the help they need, including the most able.

Work is underway to implement collaborative national networks that will provide single points of contact to help teachers and advisers to find out about HE outreach activity in their area, and give general advice about progression to HE. A total of £22 million is being provided in 2014-16, and 35 networks will cover schools across England.

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that lower limb amputees are able to access microprocessor-controlled knees through the NHS via a specialised commissioning policy before June 2016.

Alistair Burt

The commissioning of prosthetics is the responsibility of NHS England as a specialised service. The rehabilitation and re-ablement of patients is provided at a local level by specialised Multi-Disciplinary Teams which should be consultant led. The NHS Standard Contract for Complex Disability Equipment – Prosthetics, sets out how the specialist centres should operate and the required level of prosthetic services to be delivered.

A revised policy proposal for the routine commissioning of microprocessor controlled knees was considered by NHS England’s expert Clinical Priorities Advisory Group which recommended its adoption for routine commissioning. The proposal was then considered by NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group at its meeting on 9 December where it was agreed that NHS England would support this service development as a possible call on its resources. However given the potential scale of investment and the need to consider its priority relative to other treatments which would also have a possible call on the specialised commissioning resources, it was decided that the policy should go forward for consideration as part of NHS England’s next annual prioritisation round in June 2016.

01/01/2023

Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will estimate the number of deaths and serious injuries of cyclists that were attributable to poorly-maintained local roads since 2010.

Andrew Jones

There were 211 pedal cyclist KSIs (killed or seriously injured casualties) in reported road accidents allocated the contributory factor “Poor or Defective road surface” on local roads (for England) or all non-motorway roads (for Scotland and Wales) from 2010 to 2014. A local road has been defined as a road maintained by the local authority. The following table shows the totals for each of the separate years:

GB	A¹	B	Other²	Total
2010	10	3	17	30
2011	13	9	23	45
2012	11	6	27	44
2013	10	7	22	39
2014	16	8	29	53
*Total*	60	33	*118*	*211*

¹ Includes A roads maintained by Transport Scotland and the Welsh Government.

²Includes C and unclassified roads.

The contributory factors reflect the reporting officer’s opinion at the time of reporting and are not necessarily the result of extensive investigation. Moreover it is recognised that subsequent enquires could lead to the reporting officer changing their opinion. It is important to note where some factors may have contributed to a cause of an accident it may be difficult for a police officer attending the scene after the accident has occurred to identify these factors.

01/01/2023

Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of a UK withdrawal from the EU on the (a) number of EU students in the UK university student body, (b) ability of UK universities to recruit EU staff into the academic workforce and (c) number of UK students participating in the European exchange programme.

Joseph Johnson

The Prime Minister has delivered on the commitment to renegotiate a better deal for the United Kingdom in Europe.

Based on this deal the Government has reached a clear view: The UK will be safer, stronger and better off by remaining a member of a reformed European Union.

I recently spoke about the important academic links between the UK and the rest of the EU. The speech is available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/making-britain-the-best-place-in-the-world-for-science.

“

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the effect on electoral registration rates of introduction of a requirement to pass on electoral roll data to credit reference firms.

John Penrose

Copies of the electoral register have been made available for sale in one form or another since at least 1832. Credit reference agencies purchase the electoral register because it provides proof to lenders that applicants for credit do in fact live at the address given and that they are not attempting to obtain credit fraudulently using a false name and address. Given the importance of credit in a modern economy, the then Government concluded in 2002 that this was in the public interest. The credit reference agencies are precluded by law from doing anything else with the electoral data, unless the data is also included in the edited register, from which individuals can opt out.

01/01/2023
Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many small nuclear reactors her Department plans to order over the Spending Review 2015 period.

Andrea Leadsom

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a relatively new technology for civil nuclear power generation and whilst a small number of bespoke “small” reactors have been built and operated, no true SMRs have yet reached demonstration or deployment.

At Autumn Statement 2015 Government announced it would launch a competition to identify the best value SMR design for the UK. In March 2016 the first phase of the competition was launched. This phase will include structured engagement with technology developers, utilities, potential investors, funders and other parties interested in developing, commercialising and financing SMRs in the UK to inform subsequent stages of the competition. This is the beginning of a process that will enable bids from interested parties in subsequent phases of the competition.

As we are still in the early stages of the competitive process no decision has yet been made on a potential SMR design or levels of deployment.

01/01/2023
Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many primary school sites in London exceeded EU limit values of NO2 due to diesel train emissions in each of the last five years.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

We do not hold information on the number of primary schools sites in London exceeding NO2 limit values due to diesel train emissions.

01/01/2023