Category: Speeches

  • Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on infrastructure projects currently in receipt of TEN-T funding of the UK leaving the EU.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government supports the TEN-T programme and its successor (from 2014) the Connecting Europe facility (CEF), as a means of providing funding for transport infrastructure projects on the TEN-T network.

    It is unclear what would happen with funding to EU programmes, particularly if the UK were to leave the EU in the middle of the EU budget cycle (2014-2020).

    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.

  • David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost to the public purse is of civil servants seconded to the Cabinet Office Referendum Unit.

    John Penrose

    I refer my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden and the hon. Member for Clacton to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for St Albans on 18 April 2016 to UIN: 32678.

    The cost of the secretariat, including the Referendum Unit, will be accounted for in the Department’s annual report and accounts.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he make representations to the Ethiopian government on establishing an independent inquiry into the reported use of excessive force during protests in the Oromia region in December 2015.

    James Duddridge

    The UK Government remains deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and has repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the ongoing situation in Oromia. Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for International Development, raised our concerns with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 21 January, as did I, with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Dr Tedros, at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 27 January. Our Ambassador did the same in a meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 26 April.

    The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been appointed to look into the handling of the protests in Oromia, and we await the publication of its report. We will continue to urge the EHRC and the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that their report is credible, transparent and leads to concrete action.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the result of the EU referendum, what is the current position of the British members of the European Parliament.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While the UK remains a member of the EU, we retain the rights and obligations of membership.

    British members of the European Parliament were elected to serve their constituents and will be able to do so until the UK leaves the EU.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many business cases for infrastructure projects submitted in previous years by his Department were accepted in the 2015-16 financial year in each region; and what the (a) value was of (i) public and (ii) private funds allocated to those projects in total in each region and (b) average length of time taken was for the Department to accept those cases.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) provides expertise, practical help and independent assurance of major projects, working with all partners in infrastructure and major projects (government departments, project teams, HMT, Cabinet Office, and the private sector). The remit of the IPA does not include providing formal approval and as such departments do not submit business cases to the IPA for approval.

    The IPA publish an annual comprehensive forward-looking assessment of the current and planned investment in UK economic infrastructure across both the public and private sectors (The National Infrastructure Pipeline). This document contains financial information of the level of public and private infrastructure investment broken down by region currently in development and planned to 2021 and beyond. The Spring 2016 update can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-2016.

    “

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to implement the family test.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Officials in my Department have liaised with Department of Work and Pensions as the lead department for the Family Test on cross government activity to embed and encourage routine use of the Test. This has included training officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant learning materials and best practice.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pregnant women, new mothers, and children under four have applied to the Healthy Start scheme in each year since that scheme started.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The specific information requested is not available as the Healthy Start Issuing Unit records numbers of applications, rather than numbers of individuals claiming, and an individual or family can make more than one claim for Healthy Start within a year.

    The following table outlines the number of applications received each year since the scheme was started and is made up of the number of claims/applications per year.

    The Healthy Start Scheme initially started in Devon and Cornwall and was rolled out United Kingdom-wide in November 2006.

    Financial Year

    Number of applications/claims

    2005-06

    2,445

    Healthy Start Scheme introduced initially in Devon and Cornwall

    2006-07

    104,920

    Extended United Kingdom wide in November 2006

    2007-08

    197,388

    2008-09

    298,077

    2009-10

    338,113

    2010-11

    316,711

    2011-12

    320,043

    2012-13

    316,277

    2013-14

    271,244

    2014-15

    226,805

    2015-16 (Up to 15 November)

    132,633

  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on how many occasions his Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials in each of the last two years.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s Security and Business Continuity team does not collect this information centrally and therefore does not hold this information.

    The Department includes terms and conditions in its contracts that require suppliers to inform us of any such breaches that may have taken place. Any occurrences would have to be reported directly to all local contract owners and to identify these would require trawling across all the Department’s branches that would incur a disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Bates on 8 February (HL Deb, col 1980), what steps they are taking to persuade the government of Turkey to open the border at Oncupinar to enable Syrian refugees fleeing Russian aerial bombardment of the Aleppo Province to reach safety; what assessment they have made of how many refugees are at that border; and how many of those are estimated to be women and children.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We condemn the recent actions of the Syrian regime, driving civilians from their homes in and around Aleppo, and question the role of Russia in supporting this offensive. We are appalled by the humanitarian impact of these developments and the ongoing war in Syria. We assess that there are over 30,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as a result of this action. On 8 February 2016, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released an initial assessment which estimated 80 per cent of IDPs to be women and children. We welcome Turkey’s generosity in hosting over 2.5m Syrian refugees in Turkey, a commitment reaffirmed by Prime Minister Davutoğlu at the 4 February London Syria Conference. The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have made clear that Turkey will continue to allow refugees to enter Turkey. The UK continues to work closely with the Turkish government, including through implementation of the EU-Turkey Action Plan, to ensure refugees continue to receive support and protection.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what analysis they have carried out of the average annual earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

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