Category: Speeches

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether the National Crime Agency plans to investigate the UK office of the law firm Mossack Fonesca.

    Mr John Hayes

    On 10 April 2016 the Prime Minister announced a new cross-agency taskforce to obtain, analyse and take action on the information that has been made available from Mossack Fonseca and to take rapid action on any form of illegality that emerges.A number of investigations are underway, and the taskforce, which is led by the National Crime Agency and HM Revenue & Customs, and which is accountable to the Home Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will report on its progress later this year.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2016 to Question 42791, if she will publish the list her Department holds of the registered social landlords being used as at 30 August 2016 for the provision of compass accommodation to asylum seekers.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Since 2012 UKVI has discharged their statutory duty to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and transportation via a suite of contracts known as COMPASS Contracts.

    There are six COMPASS Contracts delivered by three providers: G4S deliver services in the North East, Yorkshire & Humberside Region and the Midlands and East of England Region; Serco deliver services in the North West Region and Scotland and Northern Ireland. Clearsprings Ready Homes (formerly known as Clearel Ltd) deliver services in London and the South of England Region and Wales.

    Whilst none of the COMPASS accommodation providers are registered social landlords, all are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the standards outlined within Housing legislation (regardless of whether the provider is registered as a social landlord).

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent health visitors were employed in each of the last six years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent health visitors employed in National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England in each of the last six years. Data for July 2016 will be published by NHS Digital on 25 October 2016.

    As at 30 June each year full-time equivalent

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    7,643

    7,393

    8,084

    8,887

    10,042

    9,491

    Source: NHS Digital NHS Hospital and Community Health Service monthly workforce statistics

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are encouraging supermarkets to abandon strict cosmetic specifications for farm products that result in edible food being wasted.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government, through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), is working with food manufacturers and retailers, including all the major UK supermarkets, to meet targets to reduce food waste from the grocery supply chain under the Courtauld Commitment. Signatories have reported a 7.4% reduction in supply chain waste between 2009-2012, with interim results for Courtauld 3 showing a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

    WRAP has worked with supermarkets and consumers to support acceptance and use of ‘imperfect’ fruit and vegetables. Work is also in progress with signatories, trade bodies and redistribution organisations to build a better understanding of the amounts and causes of waste in the supply of food and drink. WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which will build on this progress.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when further peace talks in Vienna on Syria will take place.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The next meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) will take place before Christmas. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), will represent the UK. The ISSG agreed in Vienna on 14 November 2015 on the need “to convene Syrian government and opposition representatives in formal negotiations under UN auspices, as soon as possible, with a target date of January 1.”

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the humanitarian consequences in the acute winter season, especially for children, of the destruction by the Israeli Civil Administration of Bedouin homes and communities in Area C near East Jerusalem, including that of Abu Nwar on 6 January; and what discussions they have had with the Israelis about whether such actions accentuate counter-productive security consequences.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    An official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised our concerns on this issue with the Israeli Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories on 13 January. Officials from our Consulate General in Jerusalem and the Department for International Development visited Abu Nwar on 19 January alongside EU colleagues. The UK is deeply concerned by Israeli proposals to relocate the Bedouin population from the E1 area, which the UN have said could constitute forcible transfer. These plans could have a devastating impact on the communities concerned and will likely open the way for further settlement expansion – endangering the viability of a two-state solution. Our position is clear: demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; are harmful to the peace process; and are, in all but the most exceptional of cases, contrary to international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that the destruction of any real or personal property in Occupied Territory is not justified unless it is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations. We also make clear to Israel that forcible transfer would be a breach of international humanitarian law and would have serious ramifications on Israel’s international standing.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 January 2016, WS499, how much the Government spent on work on the criminal legal aid tendering process before deciding not to go ahead with that process.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 24 of the Accelerated Access Review, published in October 2015, what steps he is taking to ensure that drugs that target the genetically validated targets (a) PCSK9 and (b) BCL2 are introduced into routine NHS care; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include drugs that target genetically validated targets such as PCSK9 and BCL2.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Housing Survey, how many household reference people (HRP) of each nationality held housing of each tenure type in each of the last five years; and what proportion each nationality represents of the overall number of HRPs for each tenure type in each such year.

    Brandon Lewis

    The department collects details on the nationality of all household reference persons in the English Housing Survey. However, the sample size of the English Housing Survey does not permit us to report detailed nationality statistics.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons 60 per cent of appeals made in personal independence payment cases have resulted in the initial decision being overturned.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department gathers information on the reasons why PIP decisions have been overturned from its Presenting Officers and the summary reasons it gets back from the Tribunal hearing. Internal Management Information for 2015/16 indicates that either new oral or documentary evidence supplied at the hearing are the leading reasons for PIP decisions being overturned in 75% of overturns recorded.

    These figures are from internal DWP systems, where only one of possible multiple reasons can be recorded, and are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.