Category: Speeches

  • Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the potential effect of the introduction of the soft drinks industry levy on the cost of the average weekly shop in real terms in each year to 2018-19.

    Damian Hinds

    The tax rates for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy have not yet been set. The levy has been designed to encourage producers to reformulate their overall product mixes, and it is up to the industry how they respond to it. For example, if producers reformulate, they will pay less.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been forcibly removed on chartered flights in 2016 to date; and how many of those people had a criminal conviction in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    Home Office records indicate that 718 individuals have been forcibly removed on charter flights in 2016. In at least 194 of these cases the primary reason for return was a criminal conviction in the UK.

    This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues to clinical commissioning groups and NHS trusts on recommended travel times to local health services.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    It is for local commissioners to ensure services are provided in a manner that combines quality of provision with timeliness of access, taking into account local geography and other issues.

    When considering service reconfiguration, NHS England has issued guidance on Planning and Delivering Service Change for Patients, and as part of this guidance specify that: ‘Based on evidence and national clinical reference groups’ advice, commissioners need to determine the appropriate range of providers and interplay of key access requirements such as travel time.’

    The guidance can be found at:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/plan-ass-deliv-serv-chge.pdf

    “

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the prevalence of child obesity and (b) whether there is a correlation between child obesity and deprivation; and what steps his Department is taking to address that issue.

    Jane Ellison

    We know obesity rates in children are far too high and children in lower income groups are more likely to be obese than the rest of the population, but it is an issue across all groups.

    Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. Progress has been made in recent years, but we know we have much further to go. We will announce our plans for tackling childhood obesity in the new year.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates there were on 1 April (a) 1989, (b) 1994, (c) 2000, (d) 2005, (e) 2010, (f) 2014 and (g) 2015.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The requested information that is recorded is provided in the table below. Data for 1989 is not recorded. The reduction in the number of magistrates reflects the reduction in the workload in the adult criminal court. The role of a magistrate remains a sought after one and competition for vacancies tends to be strong.

    1994

    30,054

    2000

    30,308

    2005

    28,253

    2010

    28,607

    2014

    21,626

    2015

    19,634
  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 6 January (HL4745), on what evidence the forecast in Health Education England’s (HEE) commissioning and investment plan for 2016–17 of a rise in podiatry workforce demand of 1.5 per cent between 2015 and 2020 is based; and why HEE decided to reduce the number of commissioned education and training courses in podiatry in 2016–17 by 9.7 per cent compared to 2015–16.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    National Health Service future workforce demand is based on a comprehensive collection of NHS provider forecasts taken up by Health Education England (HEE) and discussed both locally and nationally with commissioners and professional leaders as to likely direction of travel.

    In order to afford the expansion of priority areas such as adult nurse, paramedic and mental health training numbers, HEE has taken a risk assessment based approach to deciding on where to focus commissions for training places in 2016/17.

    The HEE commissioning and investment plan – 2016/17 includes a forecast increase in the level of podiatry commissions of 36.4% by 2020.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many family courts have special access measures in place for victims of domestic violence attending the court for child contact cases.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Every family court has a system to support vulnerable court users. Protective measures are put in place whenever this is considered to be appropriate. These can include separate waiting areas, additional security and the use of separate entrances where appropriate. Parties can also request special measures such as the use of protective screens in the hearing or the use of a video link.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding his Department provides to academic research on new prisoner rehabilitation methods.

    Andrew Selous

    The Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) are committed to developing the evidence base to support prisoner rehabilitation and prison reform. NOMS allocates an annual budget for research undertaken by external organisations. NOMS research reports, including those undertaken by external contractors, are published on the gov.uk website here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=research-and-analysis&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=ministry-of-justice&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all

    “

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will increase its political and economic support for the UN Human Rights Office in Bogota to increase the capacity of that office to observe the human rights situation in that country; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK is one of the top ten donors to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) giving £2.5m annually in global un-earmarked funding, in addition to our assessed voluntary contributions. We will also give another £1m in earmarked funding towards Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) and conflict prevention related work globally in 2016/17. I announced a contribution of £4.2m to the UN Post Conflict Trust Fund for Colombia and £1.1 for an EU Trust Fund. Both will be an important part of the multilateral effort once the peace deal is signed.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the likely effect of the extension of right-to-buy and the sale of council properties on the total cost of housing benefit in each year to 2020.

    Brandon Lewis

    The voluntary Right to Buy will give 1.3 million housing association tenants the opportunity to purchase a home.

    For every home sold through the voluntary Right to Buy or the sale of higher value vacant housing, at least one additional home will be built and for every higher value property sold in London, two will be built, increasing overall supply.