Category: Speeches

Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect removing the family premium from new claims for housing benefit the ability of claimants affected to move outside their local authority area in order to take up better paid work.

Justin Tomlinson

This policy alters just one premium added to Housing Benefit for working families: support continues through the Child Benefit disregard and for families in receipt of Child Tax Credits.

January 1, 2023
Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) secondary and (b) primary schools are academies.

Edward Timpson

As of January 2016, 18% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools are academies, including free schools, studio schools or Universal Technical Colleges.

January 1, 2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Midland Expressway on the proposed sale of the M6 Toll road.

Andrew Jones

The Government has regular discussions with Midland Expressway Limited as the operator of a key part of the country’s road network.

January 1, 2023
Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-03-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Security Council has been involved in establishing the national requirement of 19 destroyers and frigates, and whether close allies were also consulted.

Earl Howe

The National Security Council was consulted at each stage of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). It gave direction on the full strategic approach required from Defence, rather than individual capability planning decisions. This Review also featured unprecedented levels of consultation with our closest allies.

January 1, 2023
Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Government minister will be responsible for distributing the £80 million Violence Against Women and Girls Transformation Fund.

Karen Bradley

The Government is providing £80 million of dedicated funding up to 2020 to tackle violence against women and girls. This funding will provide core support for refuges and other accommodation-based services, a network of rape support centres and national helplines, and from April 2017 will also include a new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Service Transformation Fund.

The VAWG Service Transformation fund will support local programmes which encourage new approaches that incorporate early intervention, establish and embed the best ways to help victims and their families, and prevent perpetrators from re-offending. Criteria for applications to the fund will support these aims. Full details of the how the fund will be administered and the criteria for applications will be published in due course.

January 1, 2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether purdah arrangements for the EU referendum apply to policy statements to be published by NHS England on the commissioning of treatments.

George Freeman

Whilst the pre-election guidance for the European Union referendum has yet to be published, it is not anticipated that it would prevent the routine publication of clinical commissioning policy statements which are a ‘business as usual’ function of NHS England.

The Cabinet Office publishes pre-election guidance for civil servants which also applies to NHS England and other arm’s length bodies. This can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants

“

January 1, 2023
Margaret Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Greenwood on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the internal guidance that his Department issues to staff on the safeguards that those staff must observe when consideration is being given to (a) suspend or withhold payment, (b) make a substantial change to the level of entitlement or (c) terminate a claim in the case of a claimant of personal independence payment who has a mental health condition.

Damian Hinds

There is no intention to publish the internal guidance as it is for Department use only.

January 1, 2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department takes to ensure that government projects are delivered on time and within budget.

Ben Gummer

All projects are ultimately the responsibility of individual government departments. However, with £400 billion in the Infrastructure Pipeline and £400 billion in the Major Projects Portfolio, the Cabinet Office has a central team, the Infrastructure Projects Authority (IPA), to support departments to deliver on time and within budget. The IPA provides expertise and practical help, a supportive environment to enable major projects to succeed, and manages an independent assurance process to ensure projects are delivered to time and within budget.
- IPA deploys expert commercial, financial and delivery support
- IPA delivers independent high quality assurance and oversight
- IPA develops standards, insights and tools, developing the project leadership and project finance professions
- IPA delivers key finance schemes (PF2 & guarantees) to enable key projects to proceed
The IPA works with all partners in infrastructure and major projects – government departments, project teams, HMT, Cabinet Office, and the private sector – to do this. The IPA reports jointly to HMT and Cabinet Office Ministers.
January 1, 2023
Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children in each parliamentary constituency are diagnosed with ADHD.

Alistair Burt

That information is not available centrally.

January 1, 2023
Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2015-12-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the validated results for 2016 (1) Key Stage 2 assessments, and (2) GCSE and equivalent qualifications, to be available in order to calculate whether a school will need to be notified that it is coasting.

Lord Nash

The 2016 key stage 2 results will be published in December 2016 on GOV.UK. These results will be used to identify coasting schools, in conjunction with corresponding data from 2014 and 2015.

The 2016 key stage 4 (GCSE and equivalent) results will be published in January 2017 on GOV.UK. These will also be used to identify coasting schools, in conjunction with corresponding data from 2014 and 2015.

January 1, 2023