Category: Speeches

  • Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK Minister attending the Summit Conference on the future Governance of Libya in Rome on 12 and 13 December 2015 discussed the matter of compensation for UK victims of IRA Semtex supplied by the Gaddafi Regime with any parties attending the Summit; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The formation of a Government of National Accord (GNA) is an important step towards engagement with the Libyan Government on reconciliation initiatives relating to Qadhafi-sponsored terrorism. Once stability returns to Libya and our Embassy re-opens we will urge the Libyan authorities to engage again with UK victims and their legal representatives, including those seeking compensation.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the delivery standards and criteria her Department sets for housing providers in the provision of housing to asylum seekers.

    James Brokenshire

    In line with government transparency commitments details of the standards required are already in the public domain.

    The particular document that details the standards is titled ‘COMPASS Project Schedule 2 – Statement of Requirements’ and is available on the Contracts Finder Archive on the Data.Gov.UK Website at https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/487962/

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Electoral Commission will be given a role in checking the accuracy of returns from accredited campaigners in a Recall Petition under the Recall of MPs Act 2015.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Returns from accredited campaigners will be publicly available and can be inspected by the public. The enforcement of the rules will be broadly a matter for the police. The Government has no plans to amend the Recall of MPs Act 2015 to give the Electoral Commission a role in checking the accuracy of returns from accredited campaigners.

  • Biography information for Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Biography information for Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lord Willis of Knaresborough on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Department of Health mandate to NHS England, which requires it to ensure that the new commissioning system promotes and supports participation by NHS organisations and NHS patients in research funded by both commercial and non–commercial organisations”

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department formally holds NHS England to account on its delivery against the research objective in the NHS Mandate, a process which will be rolled forward during 2016/17.

    Progress has been made in the areas of participation of National Health Service organisations in research, with 98% of NHS trusts recruited into National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network Portfolio studies during the course of 2014/15, and 78% of NHS trusts recruiting to commercial contract studies in the same year. In addition, recruitment of participants into such studies increased in 2014/15 compared to the previous year to 618,453 participants. Recruitment into commercial contract studies is at an all-time high, with 34,885 participants in 2014/15; a 35% increase from 2013/14.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what procedures his Department had in place to monitor any changes in estimates of the cost of the Successor submarine programme during preparations for his Budget statement in March 2016.

    Greg Hands

    The Treasury maintains a regular and frequent dialogue with the Ministry of Defence over the costs of all significant elements of defence spending, including the Successor programme.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations they have had with (1) the Howard League for Penal Reform, (2) The Children’s Society, (3) Barnardo’s, (4) the NSPCC, (5) other children’s charities, and (6) the police, about the number of children in care who become entangled in the criminal justice system, and what action they are taking to reduce that number.

    Lord Nash

    The Government remains committed to ensuring that children in care avoid criminality. As of 31 March 2015, there were 69,540 looked after children. Of the 31,820 10-17 year olds who had been in care for a year or more, 5% had been convicted of an offence or were subject to a final warning or reprimand (Department for Education Statistical First Release – 34/2015).

    To improve residential care, Sir Martin Narey has been asked to undertake an independent review of children’s homes. As part of this, Sir Martin will consider how to reduce any inappropriate criminalisation of children in children’s homes. As part of his review of the youth justice system, Charlie Taylor has consulted a wide range of organisations, including about children in care who offend. He will report this summer with recommendations on how to improve the treatment of young people in the youth justice system. The National Offender Management Service has also established a National Care Leavers’ Forum which brings together stakeholders from a range of internal and external bodies, including the Care Leavers’ Association.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many small and medium-sized businesses bid for a public contract in each region in the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    In 2014-15, Central Government spent over £12 billion (27.1%) with small and medium sized businesses, which shows a continued year on year increase in SMEs winning public procurements.

    The Government is determined to deliver its new target of one third of spend with SMEs by the end of this Parliament and we have appointed Emma Jones as the new Crown Representative for SMEs to help us achieve that.

    We do not hold information on the number of public sector contracts won by small businesses or on the number of companies bidding.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many of the structures in the West Bank funded through aid provided by her Department have been demolished by Israeli forces in 2016 to date.

    Rory Stewart

    No structures that the UK has funded bilaterally in the West Bank have been demolished. A number of structures funded by the EU’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO) have been demolished in recent months.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consultation HM Revenue and Customs conducted with its staff based in Yorkshire prior to its decision to locate its regional hub in Leeds.

    Mr David Gauke

    On 12 November, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the next stage of its ten-year modernisation programme. As part of that, the department demonstrated its long-term commitment to Yorkshire and the Humber by setting out that it would establish a Regional Centre in Leeds.

    A number of factors were considered by HMRC when deciding where to locate its new Regional Centres. In addition to cost, it considered local and national transport links, the local labour market, supply of future workforce and the retention of current staff and skills.

    HMRC modelled the impact of locating the Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in both Bradford and Leeds. For both scenarios, it took into account the potential loss of jobs for staff expected to be outside of reasonable daily travel (defined as approximately 1 hour from home to work, though dependent on individual circumstances).

    HMRC first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, setting out how and why it is changing. The department is committed to continuing to support all of its employees who are affected by these changes.

    Staff in Yorkshire attended a number of face-to-face events, providing feedback on the potential location of the regional centre. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

    This transformation programme will ultimately enable HMRC to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer. It will generate estate savings of £100 million a year by 2025.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many press, communication and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) Public Health England, (c) NHS England, (d) Monitor, (e) the Care Quality Commission, (f) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, (g) NHS Blood and Transplant, (h) the NHS Litigation Authority, (i) the Trust Development Authority, (j) the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, (k) the Human Tissue Authority, (l) the NHS Business Service Authority, (m) Health Education England and (n) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and communication by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Jane Ellison

    Below are details of communications headcount and spend for the organisations requested.

    On headcount, to ensure consistency, all organisations have provided information according to the following criteria for public relations (PR) and communications staff:

    – Press and PR

    – Stakeholder relations

    – Campaigns (including marketing and strategic communications)

    – Digital Communications (not IT/digital service teams)

    – Internal Communications

    On communications spend, we have provided figures for 2014/15, which is the most recent year for which figures are available.

    The figures on spend are split between major communications and marketing spend costs (submissions of above £100,000 which are assessed through the Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group process) and the remaining admin and minor programme spend costs. Major programme spend costs cover budgets for public information campaigns – such as smoking cessation, blood and organ donor recruitment, dementia friends, cancer diagnosis and immunisation campaigns.

    The figures on major campaign programme spend (in column three below) reflect the amount of money requested in the Cabinet Office submission. In some instances, the final spend on communications was lower, as some of the budget was reappropriated for operational requirements or was unused and returned to central budgets.

    Organisation

    Number of Communications Staff

    Major campaign programme spend (Activity over £100,000 approved in 2014/15)

    Admin (staff / non-staff) and minor programme spend 2014/15 (£)

    Department of Health

    106.5

    1,129,507

    6,968,643

    Public Health England

    115.5

    57,162,157*

    8,134,900

    NHS England

    69

    9,721,465

    3,292,340

    Monitor

    21

    n/a

    1,697,000

    Care Quality Commission

    34

    650,000

    6,671,635

    NICE

    74

    n/a

    2,427, 944

    NHS Blood & Transplant

    124.59

    4,862,257

    8,689,004

    NHS Litigation Authority

    3

    n/a

    315,329

    NHS Trust Development Authority

    12

    n/a

    926,023

    Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority

    6.5

    n/a

    381,443

    Human Tissue Authority

    3.2

    n/a

    291,454

    NHS Business Services Authority

    17.6

    1,028,800

    823,586

    Health Education England

    32

    n/a

    2,219,301

    Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority

    28

    n/a

    1,987,441

    *See breakdown of Public Health England campaign spend in table below

    Public Health England Campaign Spend in 2014/15

    Cost

    Smokefree (tobacco control) includes Stoptober and January Health Harms campaigns

    £11,580,000

    PHE Smokefree Cars

    £1,400,000

    Be Clear on Cancer

    £11,685,000

    Stroke- ACT Fast

    £975,000

    Change4life

    £11,514,248

    Start4life

    £3,200,000

    Rise Above

    £1,970,000

    DH PHE Dementia Friends Campaign

    £4,000,000

    HIV Prevention England 14/15

    £550,000

    Sexual Health Information Family Planning Association

    £262,000

    Care & Support Reforms Phase 1

    £1,950,000

    Dementia Friends Phase 2

    £1,500,000

    Seasonal Flu Campaign

    £1,868,000

    PHE Alcohol Campaign

    £1,825,000

    PHE, Seasonal Flu, respiratory and hand hygiene 2014/15

    £500,000

    TOTAL

    £54,779,248

    We can provide information on staff paid in different salary bands. However, due to differing bands between organisations and differing geographical weighting, this does not allow us to provide figures for the number of employees paid more than £50,000 and £100,000.