Category: Speeches

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to encourage other donors to fund Education For All: the fund for education in emergencies at its launch at the World Humanitarian Summit.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK has played a leading role in the development of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23rd May. The UK has committed to provide £30 million in support over two years to the new fund as a founding donor, which was announced by the International Development Secretary at the fund’s launch. The UK is working closely with UNICEF and other partners to encourage a broad funding base to Education Cannot Wait, including funding from non-traditional donors, private sector and philanthropic organisations. An example is UK technical support to the fund’s case for investment and other key communication and outreach products, to raise awareness of the fund with others.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to create a new independent system operator to remove any potential conflict of interest between National Grid and its electricity balancing and management responsibilities.

    Jesse Norman

    There is a case for greater independence for the system operator to promote more competition and flexibility in our electricity system. We are working alongside National Grid and Ofgem to this end, so that the electricity system continues to be operated in the best interest of consumers.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of staff on the payroll of her Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    George Eustice

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact of the changes proposed in the Housing and Planning Bill on supported housing schemes.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    A full impact assessment of the Housing and Planning Bill has already been published (attached) and can be accessed at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-010.pdf.

    “

  • Lord Condon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Condon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage the full-time employment of adults with special learning needs, and what assessment they have made of how successful those measures have been in 2015.

    Baroness Altmann

    Increasing disability employment is a key part of the government’s aim to achieve full employment. That is why this Government has an ambition to halve the disability employment gap by creating the opportunity for a million more disabled people to work.

    The Government has a variety of initiatives and programmes in place to support and encourage people with special learning needs to find and retain work. Performance statistics are published for a number of these.

    For example:

    • Access to Work provides on-going personalised in-work support for disabled people who are in work or about to start work on a full or part-time basis. Access to Work has had a Hidden Impairments Specialist Advisory team since September. We are also considering whether the Mental Health Support Service model of support could benefit those with hidden impairments other than mental health conditions. Last year Access to Work supported record numbers of people with a Learning Disability or Dyslexia recorded as their Primary Health Condition (6,580 people supported – 520 more people than in 2013/14).

    • The most recent Access to Work statistics are attached at Annex A.

    • Work Choice is a specialist disability employment programme which provides tailored support for disabled people who face the most complex employment barriers to find and stay in work. DWP has improved the referral process for Work Choice to ensure that information about candidates’ hidden impairments is shared with Work Choice providers. In 2014/15, 5,670 people with a Mild or Moderate to Severe Learning Disability recorded as their Primary Disability were referred to Work Choice. Since 2010, 19,410 people with a Mild or Moderate to Severe Learning Disability recorded as their Primary Disability have started Work Choice, of whom 8,600 have started work – giving a job outcome rate of around 44% for this group.

    • The most recent Work Choice statistics are attached at Annex B.

    • The Government’s Disability Confident campaign works with employers at a national and local level to help them to understand the benefits of employing disabled people, and promote good practice in recruitment and employment of disabled people, including people with special learning needs.

    • DWP also works in close partnership with the Hidden Impairment National Group (HING), a national network of disabled people, medical professionals/ academics and disability specific organisations. This collaboration has produced an ‘Uncovering Hidden Impairments’ toolkit, which supports organisations in both the private and public sectors to confidently recruit and retain talented individuals with hidden impairment conditions, such as special learning needs.

    • Jobcentre Plus continues to offer a range of support, including a free helpline for claimants who have difficulty making claims for benefit online because of dyslexia or similar conditions. DWP is working in partnership with Autism Alliance UK to build an autism network across Jobcentre Plus by training nominated autism leads, including Work Coaches and DEAs.

    • We have worked with Community Service Volunteers to introduce the Job-Shadowing Work Placement Initiative for young disabled people, including those with special learning needs. The first tranche had a 65% participation rate for young people having autistic spectrum conditions
  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the 450 million euros of funding from the EU allocated to carbon capture and storage projects in Yorkshire and the Humber will be spent in the UK following the decision to reduce spending on carbon capture and storage announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Don Valley Carbon Capture and Storage project was awarded a €180m European Energy Programme for Recovery grant in 2009 which contributes towards the feasibility and design phase of the project’s development. The award remains in place.

    In 2013 the White Rose CCS project was awarded up to €300m in potential funding from the European Commission’s NER300 fund. Officials in the Department are in regular contact with the European Commission about this award and related issues.

  • Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason his Department decided not to renew funding of the extension of the Number 14 bus service to Peel Park.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The commitment at the time of the relocation of staff to Peel Park was to provide a bus service for three years. The cost of the current contract to provide the bus service is £216,955.50 per year and the actual usage of the service is low.

    Blackpool Transport have made it clear any new contract will be at an increased amount and a decision was made that it was not possible to justify public expenditure and subsidy on this scale.

    We are exploring alternatives which would offer better value for money, but no decision has yet been made.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 22 January 2013 (WA194–5) and by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department of Health, Mr George Freeman, on 8 March (HC29426), what control the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has over the contents of any external website, such as that maintained by the Francis Crick Institute; what prior examples they can provide in which (1) either centre 0157 or 0206, or (2) any other licensed centre, has immediately and voluntarily altered the publication on their websites of clinical success rate data or information on costs in response to a request from the HFEA to do so; and what assessment they have made of how any expectations that licensed centres would comply with such requests might be affected by the Francis Crick Institute’s claim that it is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a private body that has hitherto not provided copies of the patient information and consent forms directly for that reason.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) Code of Practice, at section 4.5, sets out the obligations on a licensed treatment centre regarding information provided on its website; other relevant marketing communications; and in relation to associated satellite and transport centres. This is in line with the Advertising Standards Authority Code. This guidance does not apply to licensed research centres.

    Assessment of the websites of licensed treatment centres is made during inspections undertaken by the HFEA, or in response to ad hoc instances where information has come to us suggesting breaches of these requirements. There have been a number of examples where clinics have voluntarily and immediately amended the content of their websites and it would not be proportionate to set out all such examples. The HFEA has no statutory powers relating to the costs of treatment.

    The fact that the Francis Crick Institute is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 has no impact on the HFEA’s expectations of licensed centres’ websites.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) full-time equivalent civil servants work in his Department and (b) civil servants work full-time on the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Data for full-time equivalent Civil servants working in HM Treasury are published on .gov.uk and can be found using the link below.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmt-workforce-management-information-december-2015

    We are unable to supply information on employees who may work on the Northern Powerhouse agenda as our system does not give a breakdown of staff to that level. Therefore to supply this information would be at a disproportionate cost.

    “

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 10 May 2016 to Question 36679, which of those specific groups of people referred to in that Question he has shared a speaking platform with in an official capacity.

    Mr David Cameron

    Details of my official speeches are available on the gov.uk website.