Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to improve the security of mobile devices that are used to access internet banking.

    Mike Penning

    Through the National Cyber Security Programme, the Government committed £860 million in the last Parliament to increase the cyber security of the UK. This has included a range of work with industry to increase their cyber resilience. For example, the Cyber Essentials scheme sets out the basic technical controls organisations should have in place to protect against common cyber attacks. As the Chancellor also announced on 17 November, spending on the UK’s cyber security programmes will be almost doubled over the next five years, with £1.9 billion funding. Although Government is making a significant investment, partnership between the public and private sector is crucial to making the UK one of the safest places to do business online. By identifying and closing down vulnerabilities in their systems and processes, the private sector can make it much more difficult for criminals to operate. That is why we are working closely with the private sector to drive up standards. In the coming months we will also publish, in collaboration with industry, information to help the public better understand key cyber security principles of devices to help them to make more informed decisions. This work will be a part of the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, which I intend to Publish next year.

    At the same time, through our Cyber Streetwise campaign, we are helping to inform the public of simple security measures, such as installing security software, which in themselves can protect them and their devices against fraud.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement of 4 January 2016, on which 500 new sites the Government plans to directly build affordable homes, at least 30,000 new starter homes and up to 30,000 market homes by 2020.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government expects to secure at least 500 sites for starter homes through the use of the new £1.2 billion starter home land fund. These sites will be identified over the next three years, working closely with local planning authorities and developers. Further details about the operation of the fund will be announced in due course.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions the Breast Cancer Clinical Reference Group has had with organisations in the devolved administrations on the sharing of best practice.

    Jane Ellison

    The Breast Cancer Clinical Reference Group (CRG) was recently set up, by the NHS England National Clinical Director for Cancer, to provide whole pathway consensus clinical advice to commissioners in England. Although the CRG has no formal remit to liaise with the devolved administrations, we recognise the benefit of sharing best practice throughout the United Kingdom and the important role this has in improving services.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Israel concerning recent anti-Christian vandalism at the Dormition Abbey.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    While we have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities over this specific incident, we understand that the Israeli police have arrested two Israeli teenagers for the attack. This attack was widely condemned by Palestinian and Israeli leaders. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv is in regular contact with representatives of Churches on a range of issues, including to discuss concern about attacks on places of worship.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment he has made of which of his Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires. The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

    The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Care Quality Commission on the findings of its mock inspection of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Slade House site in 2012.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not conduct mock-inspections. The CQC compliance report on Slade House, published in 2012, was conducted under its previous inspection methodology. The inspection found that the facility was meeting the essential standards of care it looked at. The Department did not discuss the report’s findings with the CQC.

    From 2014, the CQC started introducing a new inspection methodology to mental health services which makes use of a higher-skilled inspection team that includes specialist inspectors, clinical and other experts, and people with experience of care. The findings of these new inspections give patients and the public a more authoritative and comprehensive view of the quality of care provided by health and adult social care providers.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average fine is for people found guilty of breaking the law by not allowing the transport of blind people and their guide dogs in licensed taxis under the Equality Act 2010.

    Dominic Raab

    It is an offence under section 168 of the Equalities Act 2010 to refuse to take an assistance dog in a taxi or private hire vehicle. The maximum penalty is a level 3 fine (up to £1,000).

    The number of offenders sentenced at all courts (with fines and average fines specifically identified) for failure to comply with a section 168 duty in relation to an assistance dog for a disabled person, in England and Wales, from 2011 (earliest separately identifiable information available) to 2015 can be viewed in table 1.

    The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for failure to comply with a section 168 duty in relation to an assistance dog for a disabled person, listed by local authority prosecuting the case in England and Wales, from 2011 (earliest separately identifiable information available) to 2015 can be viewed in table 2.

    Centrally held data by the Ministry of Justice includes information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. Data on whether a guide dog for the blind or a different type of assistance dog was involved in such a case is not held centrally, or reliably recorded where there is no operational reason to do so.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his policy that existing money laundering regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 should remain in force in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

    Simon Kirby

    Tackling money laundering and terrorist financing is a priority for the Government. The UK is a leading member of the international standard setter for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing, the Financial Action Task Force, and supports full compliance with the standards which we implement domestically. The UK will continue to cooperate closely with our international partners to improve the effectiveness of the standards, and to ensure the global anti-money regime is robust and responsive to emerging threats.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether high frequency trading has utility and is in the national interest.

    Lord Young of Cookham

    The Government sponsored the Foresight Project, which reported in 2012, to analyse the role, development, and impact of computer-based trading – including high frequency trading – in financial markets. The Future of Computer Trading in Financial Markets report highlighted the benefits of computer-based trading for the operation of markets, in particular relating to liquidity, transaction costs, and the efficiency of market prices, while also considering the implications for financial stability.

  • Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the establishment of a UN body to lead the re-writing of tax rules to help prevent multinational companies from avoiding paying tax in developing countries.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to supporting developing countries access sustainable sources of revenue and collect the taxes they are due. However, it has concerns that the establishment of a UN body with responsibility for agreeing international tax rules would lead to duplication with the ongoing work of the G20 and OECD, and would make it more difficult to achieve agreement on international tax reforms.

    The UK has been at the forefront of recent international efforts to ensure that taxing rights are closely aligned with economic activity through the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. Developing countries have been directly involved at working and decision-making levels in BEPS discussions and all countries will be able to benefit from the changes resulting from this work.

    The Government is also working through the G20 Development Working Group and with international organisations to produce practical toolkits that will assist developing countries in implementing the BEPS recommendations. In addition, the Government funds tax capacity building in the vast majority of our priority developing countries bilaterally and multilaterally, as well as through peer-to-peer technical assistance from HM Revenue and Customs.