Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on implementation of the recommendations of the Bonfield report on public procurement of food; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    The Government is committed to providing food produced to British standards or their equivalent in all its canteens, restaurants and cafeterias by the end of this Parliament. Defra is working closely with other Departments and businesses to implement Dr Peter Bonfield’s Plan for Public Procurement of Food, including a balanced scorecard. The Ministry of Justice recently launched a tender for supplying food to prisons, worth £500m, which requires bids to use the balanced scorecard. Their current supplier has agreed that the 30 million portions of UHT milk served in prisons each year will be sourced from UK producers. All new Central Government food and catering contracts will use the balanced scorecard approach.

  • Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of speculation around the EU referendum on UK gilt auctions.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The average amount bid by wholesale Gilt-edged Market Makers (GEMMs) at gilt auctions between 14 May 2015 and 7 April 2016 was £202.17 million per GEMM per auction.

    As the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have said, the civil service is working to support the Government’s position that Britain is stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. Gilt auctions are expected to proceed as normal in the build up to the EU referendum, in line with UK Debt Management Office (DMO) plans published on 31 March 2016.

    As customary, the DMO will publish precise details of gilt auctions for July-September 2016 one month before the start of the quarter on 31 May 2016.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 27 April 2016 to Question 34978, what resources his Department plans to allocate to local authorities in Northamptonshire to develop their capacity to deal with flash floods in the next three years.

    James Wharton

    The Government provides funding to lead local flood authorities to carry out their duties in relation to managing and co-ordinating local flood risk under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. Local flood risk includes surface water run off. Previously this was paid through a special grant by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. In 2016-17 this funding transferred into the Local Government Finance Settlement, which distributes Revenue Support Grant to local authorities.

    Revenue Support Grant is an unringfenced grant. We have however protected the visibility of a number of named elements of funding within the Local Government Finance Settlement, including funding for lead local flood authorities, in order to signal the priority we attach to these issues and encourage local prioritisation.

    This funding will be supplemented by a new section 31 grant to ensure that these elements of funding for lead local flood authorities are protected in real terms in each year of the Parliament. Ultimately it is up to each local authority to set its budget taking into account local priorities.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support disabled passengers and passengers of reduced mobility on the Tees Valley Line for the duration of operation of Pacer trains.

    Andrew Jones

    The Northern franchise was recently awarded to Arriva Rail North, who took over operations in April 2016. Arriva Rail North sets out its policy for providing assistance to disabled passengers and passengers of reduced mobility in its Disabled People’s Protection Policy (DPPP). Publishing commitments to on-board assistance in a DPPP is a passenger train operating licence requirement and is approved by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). Arriva Rail North is also required to participate in the national Passenger Assist scheme for pre-booking assistance.

    ‘Pacer’ trains operated by Arriva Rail North on the Tees Valley Line will be replaced ahead of the 2020 accessibility compliance deadline. From that date, all trains operated by Arriva Rail North will have to be compliant with the accessibility standards mandated by the Persons of Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability (PRM-TSI). While Pacers do not meet the standards set out in the PRM-TSI, they do offer wheelchair spaces, audio announcements and manual boarding ramps to assist disabled passengers and persons of reduced mobility when travelling.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made towards ending child marriage in the UK.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Government is committed to tackling the practice of forced marriage, including child marriage, and providing the best protection possible to victims. We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK. The offence relates to where a UK resident or national forces a child into marriage overseas as well as in the UK.

    Our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leads efforts to combat forced marriage both at home and abroad. Where cases involve a minor in the UK, the FMU work with the relevant statutory agencies to provide advice and expertise to ensure that appropriate safeguarding measures are taken.

    Where a case involves a minor overseas, the FMU work with consular officers overseas and statutory agencies in the UK to ensure safeguarding obligations are fulfilled and appropriate action is taken where necessary. Last year the FMU provided advice or support in 1,220 cases. The FMU also carries out a range of activity, including delivery of a comprehensive programme of outreach, provision of an e-learning tool and guidelines for professionals to help them recognise the warning signs and ensure the right action is taken to protect those at risk.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with National Grid after it gave its notification of inadequate system margin on 5 November 2015.

    Andrea Leadsom

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State spoke with Steve Holliday, National Grid’s Chief Executive on 5November to discuss the Notice of Inadequate System Margin which National Grid issued on 4 November.

    Following the call, the Secretary of State has written to National Grid requesting a more in-depth analysis of some the factors contributing to the issuing of the notice and an assessment of the potential implications on future decisions.

    We take security of supply very seriously and we are working with National Grid to make sure there is always sufficient generating capacity available to meet demand even in challenging conditions, such as extremely cold weather.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many general licences for pest control have been issued in each of the last five years.

    Rory Stewart

    In each of the last five years, four general licences have been issued for the purposes of pest control.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 January 2016, Official Report, column 18, what the evidential basis is for the statement that changes to nurses’ training will allow for training 10,000 more nurses over the course of the current Parliament.

    Ben Gummer

    As set out by the Chancellor in the Spending Review in November 2015, universities will be able to provide up to 10,000 additional training places by the end of this Parliament. This is for nursing, midwifery and allied health subjects.

    In 2014, 57,000 applicants applied for 20,033 nursing places on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) system. Nursing, midwifery and the allied health subjects are popular to study with British students, with nursing the fifth most popular subject on UCAS in 2014. Universities want to train more students for these professions and have the capacity to expand moderately quickly if allowed. There are already examples of universities, such as The University of Bolton and Keele University where these institutions have expanded to deliver additional places for nursing and physiotherapy respectively; with other universities also looking to expand.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received from civil society organisations on the admissions criteria of faith schools; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    It is the role of the Schools Adjudicator, not the Secretary of State, to consider concerns about school admission arrangements. Where a person or body has concerns that a school’s admission arrangements do not comply with the School Admissions Code, they may refer an objection to the Adjudicator. The Adjudicator must consider whether the arrangements comply with the Code and the law relating to admissions.

    It has been possible for groups such as civil society organisations to refer objections since 2012. Since then, the Adjudicator has received objections from a range of groups or organisations about the admission arrangements of faith schools.

  • 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 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many organisations have withdrawn from the Responsibility Deal since May 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    Two organisations have withdrawn from the Responsibility Deal since May 2015.

    Information about the Deal and the partners that have signed up to it can be found at:

    https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/

    “