Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Helic – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Helic – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made since the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in February in implementing loans by multilateral development banks and bilateral donors to help vulnerable Syrians and host communities in the Middle East.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Syria Conference raised a record amount of more than $12 billion – the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. This was supported by Multilateral Development Banks and donors’ pledges of around $41 billion loans, including $1.7 billion on highly concessional terms.

    The World Bank launched the MENA Finance Initiative to support Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan and Lebanon at the Spring Meetings in April. Donors pledged $140 million in grants and over $1 billion in concessional loans. Grant pledges have since increased to $225 million.

    As part of this initiative, the UK is providing an £80 million concessional loan to the World Bank MENA Finance Facility to support employment opportunities for Syrian refugees in Jordan. In July, a successful first meeting of the Steering Committee saw two Jordan projects approved.

    The UK continues to urge donors to deliver on the commitments made at the London Conference in London. The Department for International Development has set up a tracking mechanism that will report on the delivery of the financial commitments made at the London Conference, including humanitarian and development funding and loans. The first report from the tracking mechanism will be published in September.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will list the members of the neuroscience clinical reference group of NHS England.

    David Mowat

    Clinical Reference Groups (CRG) are currently undertaking a process of recruitment. Once all appointments have been made, a full list of members for each CRG will be published on NHS England’s website. However, for the Specialised Neurosciences CRG, the Chair and Lead CRG Commissioner have been confirmed as Adrian Williams and Jacquie Kemp respectively.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the Resource Account and Budgeting charge of outstanding debt which will be written off for 24+ Advanced Learner Loans in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

    Nick Boles

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) models the proportion of loans which we expect will not be repaid – the resource accounting and budgeting charge (RAB charge). The RAB charge is estimated to be 50% in 2013-14 and 55% in 2014-15. BIS is collecting data on learners as it emerges and based on this data we regularly review and update the RAB charge estimate.

    We publish the RAB charge once a year in BIS’ accounts.

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to vote in the affirmative at the 7 December plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on (1) Resolution L13 Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations, and (2) Resolution L.37 Humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    At the UN First Committee in November, the UK voted against the Resolutions “L13 Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations” and “L37 Humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons”. As the text of the resolutions has not changed between the First Committee and the General Assembly plenary, we do not anticipate changing our vote.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, whether any businesses in receipt of funding from the apprenticeship programme for the creation of apprenticeships in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area have employed staff using zero-hours contracts in the last two years.

    Nick Boles

    We do not hold this information.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the situation in the Kurdish town of Cizre.

    Mr David Lidington

    Security operations, including military curfews, are continuing in Cizre and other towns in south-east Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its youth wing, the YPS (Civil Protection Units, formerly the YDG-H). There has been intense fighting in recent days. One policeman and one soldier were killed on 9 February. Our condolences are with the families of the soldiers and police who have been killed, and with civilians caught up in the violence. We continue to call for the PKK to end its terrorist attacks and for the peace process to be resumed. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights and avoid civilian casualties. We stand ready to help in any way we can.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2015 to Question HL1937, on visas: overseas students, to provide the data by quarter from 2009-10 to quarter 1 2013; and how many Tier 4 applicants did not undergo credibility interviews in each such quarter.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not hold this data in the format requested.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to how many appeal hearings her Department did not send a representative at (a) First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) in (i) 2012-13 (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government publishes the percentage of appeal hearings at which the Secretary of State for the Home Department was represented on a quarterly basis. Below is a table covering the 2012-2015 period.

    Appeal Representation Rates

    Quarters

    All hearings (%)

    First Tier (%) 3

    Upper Tier (%) 3

    Deportation (%) 2

    2012 Q1

    83%

    80%

    100%

    100%

    2012 Q2

    83%

    80%

    100%

    100%

    2012 Q3

    87%

    85%

    100%

    100%

    2012 Q4

    94%

    93%

    100%

    100%

    2013 Q1

    95%

    94%

    100%

    100%

    2013 Q2

    98%

    97%

    100%

    100%

    2013 Q3

    98%

    98%

    100%

    100%

    2013 Q4

    99%

    99%

    100%

    100%

    2014 Q1

    99%

    98%

    100%

    100%

    2014 Q2

    99%

    99%

    100%

    100%

    2014 Q3

    99%

    99%

    100%

    100%

    2014 Q4

    99%

    99%

    100%

    100%

    2015 Q1

    97%

    97%

    100%

    100%

    2015 Q2

    86%

    83%

    100%

    100%

    2015 Q3

    85%

    82%

    100%

    100%

    2015 Q4

    98%

    97%

    100%

    100%

    Appeal Representation Rates

    1

    The percentage of appeal hearings at first tier/upper tier/deportation where the Home Office was represented.

    2

    Deportation appeals show both first tier and upper tier representation rates.

    3

    The first tier/upper tier information excludes entry clearance appeals and deportation appeals.

    4

    All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

    5

    This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    6

    Data refers ONLY to those cases recorded on the Casework Immigration Database.
  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department does not undertake procurement of dairy products. Catering is available to the department but this is not managed by DCMS.

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional funding his Department plans to make available for walking and cycling initiatives as a result of the cycling and walking investment strategy.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government has made clear its intention to make this country a cycling nation. The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy will be published in the summer and will include details of how the £300m committed in the last Spending Review will be invested to support cycling and walking.

    In addition to the dedicated cycling and walking programmes, there are a number of wider funding streams which are devolved to local bodies and which can and are being used to support cycling and walking projects. In particular, billions are available to Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities through the Local Growth Fund and Integrated Transport Block allocations.

    In addition to the above, a record £6.1 billion has been allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, and this funding can help maintain footways and cycleways.