Category: Speeches

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK (a) military and (b) civilian personnel have been deployed on UN peacekeeping operations in each of the last six years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The tables below show the numbers of military and civilian personnel the UK has deployed to UN mandated peacekeeping and special political missions in the last six years, as at 26 February 2016:

    Military Personnel

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    UNFICYP (Cyprus)

    271

    273

    270

    274

    274

    274

    MINUSMA (Mali)

    1

    2

    2

    2

    UNMISS (South Sudan)

    3

    2

    4

    3

    3

    MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo)

    5

    4

    5

    5

    5

    5

    UNSOM (Somalia)

    2

    2

    UNSMIL (Libya/Tunisia)

    1

    1

    TOTAL

    276

    280

    278

    285

    287

    287

    Civilian Personnel

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    MONUSCO

    1

    1

    1

    1

    1

    UNMISS

    4

    4

    2

    UNSMIL

    1

    1

    MINUSTAH (Haiti)

    3

    3

    3

    UNMIL (Liberia)

    1

    1

    TOTAL

    1

    1

    1

    8

    10

    7

    The civilian figures represent deployments from the Stabilisation Unit; other Government Departments also deploy civilians on UN Peacekeeping missions.

    The figures do not include deployments to UN Agencies.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the views of Scottish stakeholders on the argument that the Human Rights Act 1998 undermines the sovereignty of the UK Parliament and democratic accountability.

    Lord Faulks

    This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We will consider the devolution implications of our reforms and will continue to engage fully with stakeholders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and with the devolved administrations, as we develop our proposals.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to apply the agent of change principle to pubs which play live music.

    Brandon Lewis

    Elements of the agent of change principle already exist within planning policies and guidance. The planning guidance supporting the Framework is clear that the potential effect of a new residential development being located close to an existing business giving rise to noise should be carefully considered. The guidance underlines planning’s contribution to avoiding future complaints and risks to local business like live music venues from resulting enforcement action. To help avoid such situations, local councils are encouraged to consider appropriate mitigation including designing the new development to reduce the impact of noise from the local environment and optimising the sound insulation provided by the building envelope.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department’s policy is on the use by HM Ambassadors of their official Twitter accounts to promote arguments for staying in the EU ahead of the referendum on 23 June.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government has published official guidance for Government departments on activities during the period 27 May to 23 June 2016, which is publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526184/eu-referendum-guidance-for-uk-government-departments-on-activities-during-the-period-27-may-to-23-june.pdf

    The guidance states that: “Updates to government websites or social media feeds must not deal with any issues raised by the referendum question or put any arguments for or against any outcome, or be designed to encourage voting at the referendum. Civil servants may respond to specific online queries by providing links to published material. Material that has already been published before 27 May will be regarded as part of the public record and does not need to be removed from websites and social media sites, although links to these sites should be removed.”

  • 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 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will estimate the number of long-haul business passengers that will terminate at Heathrow Airport in 2050 (a) with and (b) without a third runway at that airport; and what proportion of those passengers will be (i) UK residents and (ii) foreign visitors.

    Mr John Hayes

    The estimated numbers of total passengers that will terminate at Heathrow Airport in 2050 are as follows:

    • without airport expansion: 88.0 million terminal passengers. Of these, the estimated number of long-haul business passengers is 16.08 million, of which 59.75% of these are estimated to be UK residents and 40.25% foreign visitors;
    • with a third runway at Heathrow: 114.8 million terminal passengers. Of these, the estimated number of long-haul business passengers is 16.29 million, of which 59.81% of these are estimated to be UK residents and 40.19% foreign visitors.

    These estimates are based on the Airports Commission forecasts of July 2015, Assessment of Need/carbon traded scenario.

    These estimates include both departures and arrivals at Heathrow airport and exclude transfer passengers.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what definition of underperforming local authorities, or other measures of performance her Department will use in a decision to convert a school to academy status.

    Edward Timpson

    We have been clear that we want to see all schools, over time, become academies. But our focus is on schools where standards need to be raised. So we will continue to convert all schools that are judged inadequate by Ofsted, and work with those that are coasting or otherwise underperforming to identify the support they need to improve. We expect that in some cases this support will be through conversion to become a sponsored academy. No new legislation is required for these purposes.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with animal welfare groups on the mandatory use of CCTV in slaughterhouses.

    George Eustice

    On 3/2/15, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) published a report entitled “Opinion on CCTV in slaughterhouses”. I have had discussions with a number of animal welfare groups on the topic.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Egypt about the alleged involvement of Egyptian forces in the death at sea of Firas Miqdad, a fisherman from Gaza.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of reports of an incident on 5 November involving an Egyptian naval vessel and a Palestinian fishing vessel, leading to the death of the fisherman Firas Miqdad.

    Details of the incident remain unclear. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials will continue to monitor this case.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of claimants of universal credit who will be affected by the changes to benefits taking effect from April 2016.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available.

    However, the latest statistics indicate that the majority of existing Universal Credit claimants will see no change in entitlement as a result of the April 2016 changes. This is either because they are not yet in work or because they are already in work with earnings above the relevant threshold.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government has provided for post-conflict resolution in Papua New Guinea and Bougainville.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Through our support to the United Nations Development Programme, we continue to provide funding for peace-building and post-conflict socio-economic recovery in Bougainville and more widely in Papua New Guinea. Earlier this month, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office invited a delegation of senior Bougainvillian leaders to London, Belfast and Edinburgh to share the United Kingdom’s experience of the Northern Ireland peace process and the Scottish referendum. The visit included a valuable discussion with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on these issues.