Category: Speeches

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on support for the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Government shares the concerns of the UN Commission of Inquiry regarding human rights in Eritrea, in particular shortcomings in the rule of law and indefinite national service.

    We have made clear to the Eritrean Government the tangible improvements we want to see, including amending its national service system and fully implementing its own constitution. We are also urging the Government of Eritrea to increase further its engagement with international human rights bodies, such as the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which recently visited Eritrea and was allowed access for the first time to a place of detention. We are supporting UN and EU programmes set up to address recommendations made by the Universal Periodic Review on human rights, and are funding a programme on strengthening the rule of law implemented by the Slynn Foundation.

    The mechanism of the Special Rapporteur is an important tool for the international community to strengthen its engagement with Eritrea. The UK Statement to the Human Rights Council on 21 June called on both the Special Rapporteur and the Government of Eritrea to consider ways that they might work together constructively to enhance the progress Eritrea has begun to make in its human rights observance.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the average annual energy bill for domestic customers of (a) Scottish Power, (b) SSE, (c) Eon, (d) British Gas, (e) EDF, (f) NPower, (g) First Utility, (h) Ovo and (i) Cooperative Energy in 2014.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC collect data from the energy companies in order to provide estimates of the average annual domestic bills. Data is provided in confidence and therefore DECC do not disclose this data. DECC do not calculate or publish estimates of average annual bills by supplier.

  • Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) target, (b) average and (c) longest time taken to approve individual funding requests are for diseases in the last 12 months for which data is available.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that its standard operating procedures published target to process individual funding requests is 40 days. This is for all cases no matter what their outcome.

    In the last 12 months for which data is available, NHS England has advised that the average approval time was 20 days, with the longest approval time being 66 days and the shortest being two days.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2015 to Question 14627, what estimate her Department has made of the total funding available to the Waste and Resources Action Programme in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    No final decisions on budget allocations have been reached and Defra’s Business Planning process is due to conclude at the end of February. Until this time it would not be appropriate to comment on planning assumptions, including total funding for the Waste and Resources Action Programme.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress he has made in reducing the rate of unemployment.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for the completion of projects funded in England by EU structural funds in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 9 July 2015 (HL Deb, col 243), what action the City of London Police and Action Fraud have taken to enforce the ticket touting controls set out in the Consumer Rights Act 2015; and what action is being taken in cases where the law is being broken.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    The City of London Police is working closely with the Society of Ticketing Agents and Retailers and is actively part of a number of initiatives they are taking to raise standards within the ticketing industry. They are also engaging directly with organisers of major ticketing events in an attempt to stop ticketing touts obtaining tickets on a large scale and proactively search for new websites set up to sell tickets which are in high demand. The City of London Police is also actively engaged with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in their review of secondary ticketing platforms.

    All ticketing fraud reports received through Action Fraud, where viable lines of enquiry can be identified and links between cases can be seen, are disseminated by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau to the local police force for investigation.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the safety of helicopter operations in the UK offshore oil and gas sector.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    No such discussions have taken place. Helicopter operations in support of the offshore oil and gas sector are regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority and must comply with the safety requirements established by the European Aviation Safety Agency.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many time tasers were deployed in psychiatric wards in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    Data is not recorded centrally on the number of times the police have deployed Taser devices on psychiatric wards. A Taser record is completed by police officers each time a Taser is used. However, this record does not currently show the detailed geographical or type of location.

    Police Use of Taser statistics are published by the Home Office and most recently on 28 April 2016. These provide a snapshot of Taser use.

    We have been very clear that the public need greater transparency and that is why the Home Secretary asked Chief Constable David Shaw to lead an in-depth review of the publication of Taser data and other use of force by police officers.

    The review recommended that the police record and publish the ethnicity, age, location and outcome of all serious use of force by police officers, including physical restraint and Taser. Pathfinder forces started to collect this data from April this year, and it is anticipated that the collection will form part of the 2017-18 Home Office Annual Data Return.

    A copy of Chief Constable David Shaw’s review will be placed in the House library. The review contained no data on the number of times the police have used Taser in mental health settings.

  • The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the average annual cost or saving to the public purse when a British citizen chooses to retire abroad rather than remain in the UK, assuming a continuing increase in the state pension.

    Lord Freud

    The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so – for example in countries where a reciprocal agreement is in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this or to assess the impact of British citizens’ choosing to retire abroad.