Category: Speeches

  • Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons his Department has not conducted economic impact assessments on proposed by-law changes (a) in general and (b) regarding the Raasay ranges.

    Mark Lancaster

    Under the byelaws review process there is no specific requirement to carry out an economic impact assessment.

    Following input received as part of the recent byelaw consultation process and due to local concerns, an economic impact assessment is currently being undertaken regarding Raasay Ranges. Its scope will reflect the MOD policy for such reports.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of households that will have access to superfast broadband in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Broadband Delivery UK’s (BDUK) Superfast Broadband Programme remains on track to achieve 90% superfast broadband coverage within the next few months, and 95% by December 2017. In addition, the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation will give people the legal right to request at 10Mbps connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of investing in video-conferencing facilities to facilitate split-site working by staff in his Department.

    Joseph Johnson

    Video conferencing is used across the Department as a tool for keeping in touch with colleagues split across numerous sites, with around 1,500 meetings held by video-conferencing every month.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Changing Places toilets are provided at his Department’s offices in the North West of England.

    Justin Tomlinson

    All of the disabled toilets that the Department has in its offices are standard. There are no changing places toilets in any of our offices in the North West of England.

  • 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 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which primary care services he has visited in an official capacity in 2016; and what the date was of each such visit.

    Jane Ellison

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following hospitals in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

    Secretary of State for Health

    29 January 2016 Kings College Hospital, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s Health Partners

    5 February 2016 Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

    14 April 2016 Oxford University, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

    Lord Prior

    6 January 2016 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust

    20 January 2016 East Surrey Hospital, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

    3 February 2016 St Thomas Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

    18 February 2016 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

    16 March 2016 Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust

    22 March 2016 Guy’s Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

    24 March 2016 Royal Derby Hospital, Derby Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust

    24 March 2016 Lings Bar Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

    12 April 2016 Royal Brompton Hospital, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust

    Ben Gummer

    14 January 2016 Watford General Hospital, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

    21 January 2016 Salford Royal Hospital, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

    21 January 2016 St Mary’s Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    15 February 2016 Royal Cornwall Hospital, at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

    16 February 2016 Mount Gould Hospital, Livewell Southwest

    16 February 2016 Tiverton and District Hospital, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust

    17 February 2016 Dorset County Hospital, Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    17 February 2016 Southampton General Hospital, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

    29 February 2016 St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

    14 March 2016 St Thomas’ Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

    Alistair Burt

    3 March 2016 St Pancras Hospital, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust

    11 March 2016 Wythenshawe Hospital, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust

    17 March 2016 Kings College Hospital, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    14 April 2016 Clock View Hospital and Ashworth Hospital, Mersey Care NHS Trust

    George Freeman

    7 March 2016 CityLabs, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Oxford Rd, Manchester

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following primary care services in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

    Secretary of State for Health

    15 January 2016 Hillfoot Surgery, Pudsey, West Yorkshire

    Alistair Burt

    11 February 2016 Copes Pharmacy Ltd, London

    11 March 2016 Five Oakes Family Practice, Manchester

    Jane Ellison

    4 February 2016 The Acton African Well Woman Clinic, Hillcrest Surgery, London

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following residential and nursing homes in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

    Secretary of State for Health

    5 February 2016 Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

    Ben Gummer

    15 February 2016 St Julia’s Hospice, Cornwall Hospice Care

    Alistair Burt

    25 February 2016 The Betty and Asher Loftus Centre, London

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in the light of the news that the HALO Trust has been granted approval to clear mines around the site of the baptism of Christ, what representations they plan to make to the government of Israel about clearing mines along the River Jordan that were laid during the 1967 war.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We welcome the HALO Trust’s work in the West Bank and are pleased that the UK has provided support to this. We will continue to liaise with Israeli and Palestinian authorities on these activities. The British Government has not lobbied the Israeli government to clear mines laid in 1967 along the rest of Jordan River.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total cost to the public purse was of the Small Schools Taskforce report on free school meals.

    Nick Gibb

    The small schools taskforce was made up of a number of local authority and private sector caterers and manufacturers who were unpaid but could claim expenses. The total value of the contract to deliver action arising from the School Food Plan was £204,000. We are able to directly attribute around £10,000 of this to the work of the Small Schools Taskforce; in addition there would have been small amounts claimed in expenses for the other taskforce members.

    The majority of the findings from the Small Schools Taskforce report are already in the public domain following the publication of the toolkit for small schools, which is available at: http://www.thegreatschoollunch.co.uk/media/169570/CFT-SmallSchoolToolkit.pdf

    “

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the report by Amnesty International, published on 29 September 2016, on the use of chemical weapon attacks against civilians in Darfur.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​We monitor all allegations of chemical weapons use in close cooperation with international partners and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). We are aware that the OPCW is looking into the allegations contained in the Amnesty International report. We unreservedly condemn chemical weapons use by anyone, anywhere.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 10566, what recent steps he has taken to encourage all parties in the conflict in Yemen to allow freedom of access for humanitarian and commercial supplies.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    During his visit to Saudi Arabia on 28 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) made clear the need for all sides to take all reasonable steps to facilitate access for humanitarian aid, and the importance of the non-politicisation of aid, as well as the need to facilitate access for commercial goods. We welcome the commitments of the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister and Yemeni President Hadi in recent weeks that all of Yemen’s ports are open and that commercial ships, including fuel tankers, are now arriving in Yemeni ports, including Hodeidah. We are using diplomatic channels to urge the Saudi and Yemeni Governments to ensure commercial access is sustained. The Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) have expressed the UK’s readiness to support the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) and DFID has committed £1.4 million to the UN to support its establishment.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what resources were committed by the UK at the COP21 climate conference in Paris to help developing countries pay for repairing damage from extreme weather events caused by climate change.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Paris Agreement recognises the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events, and the role of sustainable development in reducing the risk of loss and damage. The UK is already taking action to support insurance mechanisms that provide financial support in the event of an extreme weather event. For example, we support the G7 initiative that aims to increase by up to 400 million the number of people in the most vulnerable developing countries who have access to direct or indirect insurance coverage against the negative impact of climate change related hazards by 2020.The UK contribution to these rapid actions includes support for (i) the Africa Risk Capacity initiative and (ii) the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI). Other UK-supported actions are contributing to the G7 Initiative’s overall aims.

    Her Majesty’s Government maintains the capacity to respond to humanitarian emergencies wherever they occur in the world.