UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moynihan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Germany’s Anti-Doping Law passed on 13 November 2015 and what plans they have either to use the Fraud Act 2006, or to introduce primary legislation, to enable the prosecution of those who conduct sports fraud through the use of banned performance-enhancing drugs.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The case for legislation including criminal powers is currently being reviewed by the Department.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to engage the private sector in sustainable investments in Africa and South Asia.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID is committed to supporting economic development in Africa and South Asia as it recognises the central importance of inclusive economic growth in eradicating poverty. One of DFID’s priorities is to partner with businesses investing in frontier markets in order to unlock economic opportunities that also have high development benefits.

    DFID is working to create a business environment in Africa and South East Asia which is more conducive to attracting private sector capital; key to this is ensuring that investments are made in companies which have responsible business practices. Within DFID we ensure that investment vehicles like CDC and Private Infrastructure Development Group have investment codes with sustainability at their core. We also support internationally recognised Codes of Conduct like the UN Global Compact and organisations which aim to drive better reporting standards like the Global Reporting Initiative.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether Health Education England will have a budget to commission training for clinical psychology, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies and child psychotherapy in 2017-18 at the same levels as in 2016-17.

    Ben Gummer

    As with all arm’s length bodies, Health Education England’s (HEE) programme budget for 2017-18 is subject to business planning and cannot be confirmed at this stage. HEE will set out its plans for future workforce training commissions in its Workforce Plan for England which is expected to be published by the end of December 2016.

  • Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the law governing cyclists is effectively enforced.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The enforcement of cycling offences is an operational matter for Chief Officers of police. This Government supports any action taken by the police to deter and reduce the number of cycling offences.

  • Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of night flights to and from Heathrow Airport.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Along with Gatwick and Stansted, the Government sets night flight restrictions at Heathrow, using its powers under s.78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982.

    These restrictions limit the number of flights between the hours of 23.30 and 06.00 that can take place during a particular season – there are two seasons per annum, winter and summer, which coincide with the use of Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time. Heathrow is limited to 5,800 flights a year during these hours, which translates in to an average of 16 flights per night. Due to a voluntary agreement which prevents scheduled movements before 04.30, most of these flights are from aircraft arriving between the hours of 04.30 and 06.00. It should be noted that these restrictions do not preclude additional aircraft from operating at Heathrow during the night period in the case of emergencies or severe disruption.

    As well as limiting the number of movements allowed within an airline season, these restrictions place requirements on the aircraft that can operate during the night period, and place seasonal limits on the amount of noise energy that can be emitted at Heathrow. Aircraft are certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) according to the noise they produce and the higher the band an aircraft is certified as the higher quota amount it uses with each movement. The Government has also prohibited the noisiest types of aircraft from using the airport during the night. QC/4 aircraft are not allowed to be scheduled during the night quota period (2330 to 0600), and the highest rated QC/8 and QC/16 aircraft are prevented from operating at all during the entire night period (2300 to 0700).

    The Government will begin consulting next year on a new nights flight regime which will take effect from October 2017.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what planning he has undertaken to ensure that any UN airstrikes in Syria are (a) co-ordinated with all participating countries and (b) do not harm UN relations with the Russian Federation.

    Michael Fallon

    UK airstrikes are undertaken as part of the Global Coalition’s counter-Daesh campaign and are coordinated by the Coalition’s Combined Air Operations Centre based at Al Udeid in Qatar. UK aircraft also abide by the provisions and procedures in the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Russia which aims to prevent flight safety incidents over Syria and Iraq.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that UK-made arms are not being used to commit human rights abuses in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen. We continue to raise the importance of compliance with International Humanitarian Law with all sides to the conflict.

    The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control regimes in the world. All exports of arms and controlled military goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application. Risks around human rights violations are a key part of our assessment against the Consolidated Criteria. A licence will not be issued, for any country, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to cap the number of times a person in receipt of benefits can be sanctioned in a month.

    Priti Patel

    The Department has no plans to cap the number of times a sanction might apply to a claimant’s benefit in a month.

    There are established safeguards to prevent the accrual of sanctions. This prevents the duration of a sanction escalating if the sanctionable failure occurs within two weeks of a previous similar failure.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) total number and (b) cost has been of (i) flights, (ii) rail journeys and (iii) taxi journeys taken by (A) ministers, (B) special advisers and (C) officials of his Department related to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiation process; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    The European Commission conducts trade negotiations – including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – on behalf of the EU and, where appropriate, Member States. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not therefore incur the direct costs of the TTIP negotiating rounds.

    It is rare that travel undertaken by Ministers and officials relates solely to TTIP, but will usually encompass other issues. Officials within the Transatlantic and International Unit in my Department have the lead policy responsibility for TTIP as well as certain other international matters. The total travel expenditure by these officials in 2014/15 was £25,081, in 2015/16 £14,269.

    The cost to the Department of any travel undertaken in relation to TTIP is greatly offset by the economic prize that an ambitious agreement offers. Independent analysis shows that a comprehensive TTIP agreement could give an annual boost to the UK economy of as much as £10 billion each year.

  • Baroness Nye – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Nye – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Nye on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many level 3 Craft, Creative Arts and Design (9.2) vocational qualifications were completed in each year since 2011 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.

    Lord Nash

    As there is no formal definition of what constitutes “Craft, Creative Arts and Design”, it has not been possible to provide the information that is requested.