Category: Speeches

  • 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).

  • Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on the effect of the increase in the state pension age on women.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Ministers regularly discuss matters of policy that span their responsibilities.

    Reasonable mitigation for those worst affected by changes in State Pension age was introduced in 2011. A concession was made prior to the passing of the 2011 Act which reduced the delay that anyone would experience in claiming their State Pension, relative to the previous timetable, to 18 months. This concession was worth £1.1 billion in total.

    This Government is committed to better outcomes for pensioners. However, the several billions of pounds that it would cost to make further policy changes in this area, that prolong the gender inequality in State Pension provision, cannot be justified.

  • 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.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many beds are (a) funded for and (b) provided by the Youth Justice Board at Medway Secure Training College.

    Andrew Selous

    The Youth Justice Board funds all 76 beds at Medway Secure Training Centre. The beds are provided by the contractor, G4S.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the effect of sugary drinks on obesity.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no such recent discussions.

  • Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken by the Independent Police Complaints Commission to resolve complaints.

    Mike Penning

    Home Office officials work closely with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to monitor how they are delivering their objectives. The IPCC provide regular performance information to the Home Office, including information on the timeliness of completed cases, which are scrutinised closely by my officials as part of the business and corporate planning process. The Home office is working with the IPCC to develop appropriate performance measures for 2016-17, including more streamlined public access to IPCC timeliness information.

    On 7 March, the Home Secretary announced plans to reform the IPCC’s Governance, to make it more effective and more responsive to the public. These plans were published on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-the-independent-police-complaints-commission-structure-and-governance We continue to provide additional funding to support the IPCC to expand to deliver an increased volume of timely, high quality investigations. I will ask the IPCC to write to the Honourable Member in response to the request for average times to complete the complaints process, and will ask for this response to be made available in the House Library.

  • Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 9 November 2015 (HL3053), whether the three sous chefs who left via a voluntary exit scheme were offered voluntary redundancy pay.

    Lord Laming

    There have been no redundancies in House of Lords Catering and Retail Services. In June 2015 three sous chefs applied to take Voluntary Exit following a restructuring of back of house services and received a Voluntary Exit package.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to hospital trusts on the discharge of frail elderly patients.

    Alistair Burt

    In this Parliament, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a guideline on “Transition between inpatient hospital settings and community or care home settings for adults with social care needs” in December 2015. The guideline aims to improve people’s experience of admission to, and discharge from, hospital by better coordination of health and social care services.

    NHS England’s “Quick Guide: Improving Hospital Discharge into the Care Sector” also provides practical advice for local health and care systems on how to improve hospital discharge for people with packages of care at home or with care home places.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the immediate effect of the vote to leave the EU on UK research (a) in general and (b) funding.

    Joseph Johnson

    As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made clear, while the UK remains a member of the EU, current EU funding and collaboration arrangements continue unchanged, including those that apply to students, researchers, and businesses. I am in close contact with Commissioner Moedas on the topic of Horizon 2020 funding, and I met with the Italian Minister for Education, Universities and Research on 11 July.

    The UK is world-class in research and innovation and we play a leading role in major European and international collaboration, including ESA and CERN.