Category: Speeches

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many early service leavers received the increased settlement package in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    We do not recognise the term increased settlement package, but have interpreted this as meaning the Early Service Leaver provision (termed the Future Horizons Programme with effect from October 2013):

    FY 2013-14 (October 2013 – March 2014) – 806

    FY 2014-15 (April 2014 – March 2015) – 2,254

    FY 2015-16 (April 2015 – 15 December 2015)

    (includes CTP Future Horizons with effect from 1 October 2015) – 1,906

  • Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has produced to assist police forces in apprehending foreign-born minors and their transfer into the care of local authorities; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    Guidance to the police on the identification and support of unaccompanied minors from overseas currently exists in two complementary guidance documents, both produced by the then Association of Chief Police Officers and currently supported by the National Policing Lead and the College of Policing: Guidance on the Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons (2010) and Interim Guidance on the Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons (2013). Advice to practitioners, including the police, is also contained within two pieces of statutory guidance from the Department for Education: Care of unaccompanied and trafficked children (2014) and Safeguarding Children who may have been trafficked (2011).

    The College of Policing ran a public consultation in 2015 on revisions to the Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guidance to the police on the handling of missing persons investigations. This is currently being developed following consultation. The APP is expected to contain reference to unaccompanied foreign children, highlighting their vulnerabilities and the potential danger of exploitation, and re-affirm the need to investigate these cases effectively, considering the risks to the child, particularly from adults who may purport to be relatives.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government recognises the killing of the Yazidis by Daesh as genocide.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    I condemn the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yezidis and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Iraq and Syria who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.

    It is a long-standing policy of successive governments that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred are a matter for the international judicial system rather than governments or other non-judicial bodies.

    Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many warrants for the purposes of establishing whether women are being trafficked have been excluded by her Department in each local authority in Lancashire in each month in 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office does not hold this information centrally.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Flood Resilience Review is considering the findings of London Underground’s flood risk review which identifies 85 stations, tunnels and shafts as at high risk of flooding.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    As set out in evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee on 13 April, the National Flood Resilience Review is looking across infrastructure in a number of sectors to identify those assets which the Government thinks need to be more resilient against extreme river or tidal flooding

    Separately to the national review, London Underground is in the process of reviewing their own vulnerability to all forms of flooding: this includes river and coastal but also the risk of burst water mains, which can be a much bigger threat in an urban area. This work is primarily for London Underground to agree with Transport for London and the Mayor, but Department for Transport and Cabinet Office officials will stay abreast of the London Underground work to ensure it is coherent with the National Flood Resilience Review.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what obligations private hospitals and NHS foundation trusts have to share the medical records of patients who have used both services (a) in general and (b) when such trusts have referred patients to private hospitals.

    George Freeman

    We expect that all of the organisations involved in providing direct care to a National Health Service patient, irrespective of whether they are an NHS provider or a private sector provider under contract to the NHS, will share information that is relevant to the safe and timely provision of treatment and care.

    The only exception should be if the patient objects to information about them being shared. This approach is consistent with the Caldicott Principles which state that “the duty to share data can be as important as the duty to protect confidentiality”. The duty to share information as described in Section 251B of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

  • 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 2016-07-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of the Philippines regarding the enforcement of the Anti-Child Pornography Act 2009, in particular the provisions requiring internet service providers to filter and block images of child abuse.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Philippines is a committed partner in the WePROTECT Global Alliance and is serious about tackling child sexual exploitation online and offline. We have ongoing and regular dialogue with the Philippine Government on child sexual exploitation, including the implementation of the Anti-Child Pornography Act 2009. The Philippine Government is working to ensure the Act is fit for purpose. The Philippine Interagency Council against Child Pornography has requested that the Department of Justice order internet service providers to comply with the Act.

    In April 2016, the British Embassy participated in an Online Child Sexual Exploitation technical working group, hosted by the Philippine Committee for the Special Protection of Children. Experts from the Philippine Department of Justice, prosecutors, representatives from UNICEF, other diplomatic missions and foreign law enforcement also participated. The Act and other legislation formed part of the discussion. In June 2016, the National Crime Agency participated in further discussions on the Philippine Government’s strategy and the WePROTECT national model.

    We have supported the Philippine Government’s participation at the WePROTECT Summits in London and most recently in Abu Dhabi. The National Crime Agency also works closely with Filipino partners in the fight against child sexual exploitation and provides training on the forensic analysis of digital media.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the next Carbon Plan.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    We are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and other government departments in order to meet the shared challenge of moving to a low carbon economy. The Emissions Reduction Plan will set out how we will meet our carbon budgets through the 2020s (the period covering the fourth and fifth carbon budgets).

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken that children who have experienced abuse wait to receive support from therapeutic services.

    Jane Ellison

    In line with guidance published by NHS England in August, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have produced Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children and young people’s mental health with their local partners as proposed in Future in mind. These include plans for how CCGs will ensure that the needs of vulnerable groups, including children who have been sexually abused or assaulted, are met and will address the need for improvements and reduced waiting times, which will make it easier for children and young people to access high quality mental health care when they need it. All LTPs were received by 16 October 2015 and they are now being considered by NHS England. In addition, standard waiting times for mental health are being introduced for the first time, starting with standards on Early Intervention in Psychosis (came into force April 2015) and on Eating Disorders in Children and Young People (published in August 2015 and included in the local transformation plans produced by CCGs and now being assessed by NHS England).

    NHS England also published a Commissioning Framework for Adult and Paediatric Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) Services in August 2015 which outlines the core services in SARCs and referral pathways to other services. These are now being rolled out throughout England.

  • Keith Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many lorries were scanned by lorry body scanners in Calais before entering the UK in each month of 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    To ensure the integrity and security of the UK border, Her Majesty’s Government cannot provide port specific statistics.

    Border Force operates a multi-layered search regime using a range of interventions to screen all freight vehicles entering the UK through the juxtaposed ports. This includes the use of specialist technologies such as Passive Millimetre Wave Imaging devices, heartbeat monitors and carbon dioxide detectors as well as physical searches by sniffer dogs, Border Force staff and specialist search contractors.