Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the government of Burma plans to (1) protect resources in ethnic areas in Burma, and (2) press for a moratorium on large-scale extraction projects.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government of Burma’s term of office expires on 30 March. It will be for the incoming government, led by the National League for Democracy (NLD), to formally announce its policies when it takes office. Resource issues will be a major issue for any new government. The NLD made a manifesto pledge to distribute the proceeds of resource extraction fairly, to address the issue of environmental degradation associated with this industry and to raise labour safety standards. The UK already supports work on public financial management in Burma. We have also actively supported Burma’s candidacy for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. We stand ready to work with the incoming government on resource issues at its request.

  • 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 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 30916, for what reason the 26 related party transactions by academy trusts classified as irregular or improper by the Education Funding Agency were not repaid by the trusts.

    Edward Timpson

    Repayment is considered on a case by case basis and may be sought where there has been a serious breach of requirements or standards of conduct. Some transactions may be classified as irregular or improper because of less serious procedural and compliance issues, or because of insufficient evidence to form an opinion. Repayment may not be pursued in these cases. The 26 related party transactions classified as irregular were assessed on this basis.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many public engagement events to support (a) Scotland’s place in the world and (b) the reputation of Scotland internationally have been held at Dover House in the last 12 months.

    David Mundell

    A variety of events are held in Dover House, both by Scotland Office Ministers and by third parties, throughout the year.

    The events are aimed at engaging stakeholders on a wide variety of policy issues and aspects of life in Scotland.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will instruct Student Finance England to respond to student number 03530036915 at the University of the West of England on the submission of that student’s 2015-16 declaration form.

    Joseph Johnson

    Student Finance England has confirmed that it has recently been in contact with the relevant student, and that their 2015-16 declaration form has been processed.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the creation of a lorry area in Kent, intended to address problems caused by Operation Stack, will cost, including the cost of improvements required to the local infrastructure.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    In the Spending Review and Autumn Statement of November 2015, the Government announced up to £250 million for a major permanent lorry area. Highways England is developing a scheme that is close to the M20 motorway and minimises the impact on the local infrastructure.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 11080, on deportation: appeals, in how many of the 426 cases referred to was certification withdrawn.

    James Brokenshire

    Of the 426 cases referred to in answer of 14 October to Question 11080:

    – none were certification withdrawn

    – 359 have been certified under Regulation 24AA

    – all data provided relates to the First Tier Tribunal only

    – 25 are listed as abandoned or withdrawn by the appellant

    – 89 were dismissed by the relevant tribunal

    The Home Office does not disclose country specific information as its disclosure could prejudice relations between the UK and foreign governments.

    Notes : (1) All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    (2) Data Extracted on 28th September, 2015 in line with response to Question 11080

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place greater emphasis on improving cancer diagnosis rates when forming his Department’s policies in future.

    Jane Ellison

    Improving early diagnosis of cancer is a priority for this Government. We will continue to work with NHS England, Public Health England and other partners to achieve early diagnosis through improved screening programmes, Be Clear on Cancer campaigns to raise awareness of symptoms of cancer to encourage people with symptoms to present promptly to their general practitioner (GP), and help for GPs to refer more accurately.

    We have committed to implementing recommendation 24 of the Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report Achieving World-Class Outcomes that by 2020, everyone referred with a suspicion of cancer will receive either a definitive diagnosis or the all-clear within four weeks. NHS England is working with partners across the health system to consider how best to take this forward. This standard will be underpinned by investment of up to £300 million more in diagnostics each year by 2020.

    NHS England has launched a major early diagnosis programme, Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate (ACE), working jointly with Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support to test new innovative approaches to identifying cancer more quickly. Outputs from the first wave of test sites, which commenced in April 2015, will be delivered on a phased basis, with the majority falling between September 2015 and December 2016. It is expected that ACE Wave 1 evaluation will be complete by mid-2017.

    In June this year, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an updated guideline ‘Suspected cancer: recognition and referral’. The guideline focuses on key symptoms, to make it easier to use and will continue to support GPs to identify patients with symptoms of suspected cancer, and urgently refer them as appropriate. The guideline recommends a lower referral threshold for urgent referrals where cancer is suspected.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from the Welsh Government in the last week on the announcement of job losses in South Wales by Tata Steel.

    Anna Soubry

    In the light of this announcement, we have been discussing with the Welsh Government how we can work together to ensure a sustainable and successful future for the steel industry in Wales. Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills attended the first meeting of the Port Talbot Taskforce on 20th January, which was convened by the Welsh Government to develop plans to limit the impact of the job losses and support the industry further. The Welsh Government also wrote to my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 19th January.

  • 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 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many £5,000 flood protection grants have been paid to (a) households and (b) businesses by local authorities.

    James Wharton

    To date, local authorities have received 1,285 applications for Property Level Resilience grant funding and have so far approved 162.

    Property Level Resilience grants are dependent on works which require properties to dry out and are usually claimed retrospectively. The current rate of payments is similar to equivalent previous schemes where the profile of spend shows payments accelerate in the third and fourth quarters after damage.

  • Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people are in need of affordable homes and whether those homes are for rent or to buy.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Department does not publish forecasts of affordable housing need.