Category: Speeches

Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Matthew Hancock

As has been the case under successive Administrations, civil servants, including special advisers, may routinely accompany their Ministers on official visits.

Information relating to Ministers’ overseas visits are published on my Department’s website, as part of the Government’s wider transparency agenda.

All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code

01/01/2023
Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 that were initially refused by her Department were subsequently granted in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb

Quarterly and annual statistics on Freedom of Information requests received by a number of central government monitored bodies (including all departments of state), including the number and outcomes of internal reviews of FOI responses, are published by the Cabinet Office at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

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01/01/2023

Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many fires there have been in each prison and youth facility in each month since May 2010.

Andrew Selous

Information on the number of fires there have been in each prison and youth facility in each month since May 2010 is recorded in attached excel document PQ26250 Annex 1. The reporting of fire incidents has significantly improved, which has led to a greater number being reported in 2015.

The total number of fire incidents recorded in table 1 below refer to those in England and Wales recorded on the NOMS Incident Reporting System. They include accidental and deliberately set fires and those where the cause is unknown.

Total Number of Fires.

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Jan	82	100	77	85	114	73	84	78	98	110	102
Feb	76	80	103	92	68	55	73	82	97	70	122
Mar	84	84	93	87	98	62	75	99	83	92	144
Apr	97	89	89	81	72	69	70	81	94	113	159
May	97	89	99	81	65	86	86	84	102	125	150
Jun	108	100	77	82	86	68	91	87	74	94	176
Jul	89	101	84	104	76	84	82	90	123	119	181
Aug	89	99	104	79	75	102	89	80	114	134	195
Sep	73	93	100	83	106	85	72	77	81	82	190
Oct	94	64	87	90	75	73	65	69	98	103	180
Nov	102	91	80	90	92	82	85	114	82	101	156
Dec	75	87	89	76	69	68	86	63	104	93	180
Total	1066	1077	942	1030	946	907	1111	1004	1150	1236	1935

01/01/2023

Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether his Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.

Brandon Lewis

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 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.

01/01/2023
Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Government remains committed to the success of the deal. The IAEA’s 26 February report on Iran’s nuclear activities concluded that Iran was complying with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). We have been working to help businesses take advantage of new commercial opportunities and to ensure that Iran benefits from sanctions relief.

01/01/2023
Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice he received from senior nurses before the decision to replace NHS bursaries with student loans was announced in the Autumn Statement.

Ben Gummer

The Government received and considered a broad range of representations from a number of stakeholders during the Spending Review process including discussions with leading nursing professionals in the Department and its arm’s length bodies.

01/01/2023
Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-06-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any requests have been received from the devolved administrations to raise their borrowing limits; and if so, what increases were requested, when such requests were made, and whether any have been agreed to.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Treasury Ministers are in regular contact with Devolved Administration Ministers on a variety of matters.

Each of the Devolved Administrations has a range of capital and resource borrowing powers set out in legislation.

In addition to these, the Stormont House Agreement provided flexibility to use £700m of capital borrowing to fund a voluntary exit scheme over a period of 4 years with £200m in 2015-16, £200m in 2016-17, £200m in 2017-18 and £100m in 2018-19 as well as up to an additional £350m borrowing for infrastructure projects with a profile over four years with £100m in 2015-16, £100m in 2016-17, £100m in 2017-18 and £50m in 2018-19.

The Fresh Start Agreement and Implementation Plan provided assurances that the NI Executive could access the full amount of additional borrowing provided by the Stormont House Agreement even if it is able to realise agreed efficiency savings from Voluntary Exit Scheme without switching the full amount of existing borrowing for that purpose.

The Government is working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to implement the Fresh Start Agreement.

In response to a specific request from the Welsh Government, the Government has provided early access to the capital borrowing powers in the Wales Act 2014 in order to support the delivery of the M4 relief road.

Again, the Government is working closely with the Welsh Government on this matter.

01/01/2023
Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of women who are in hardship as a result of the decision to change women’s state pension age.

Lord Freud

The welfare system provides a safety net for those of working age and there are a range of benefits tailored to individual circumstances. The system is designed to deal with the problems which affect those most in need and takes into account difficulty in finding work, disability and caring responsibilities. No figures are available as to why claimants apply for help to the benefits system.

Independent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown that the rise in women’s State Pension age since 2010 has been accompanied by increases in employment rates for the women affected.

01/01/2023
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in The Gambia.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are deeply concerned about the human rights situation in The Gambia. Although the Gambian Government has taken some steps to address human rights concerns, including a ban on female genital mutilation and child marriage, much more needs to be done. We are following closely the cases of opposition members who have received severe custodial sentences and the deaths in custody of two members. We have voiced these concerns directly with the Gambian Government and in UN and EU fora and continue to apply pressure alongside other countries.

01/01/2023
Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of superfast broadband in (a) Warrington North constituency, (b) Culcheth and (c) Burtonwood.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Warrington, Culcheth and Burtonwood are covered by the Connecting Cheshire project. Over 62,000 homes and businesses in Cheshire have been upgraded to superfast broadband as a result of the project and we expect coverage to reach over 95 per cent in Cheshire by the end of 2017. It is estimated that the Warrington North constituency will have 98 per cent of premises able to connect to superfast by the end of the programme. Data is not collected below this scale.

01/01/2023