Category: Speeches

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change is aligned with the Civil Service Health & Well-being Strategy which was agreed by the Civil Service People Board.

    This focuses on three priority areas:

    Mental Health

    Musculoskeletal Health

    Healthy Lifestyle

    In DECC this means we ensure visible senior leadership of the well-being agenda, we encourage all managers to undertake mental health awareness training increasing manager capability through Civil Service Learning training.

    We have been adopting the Public Health England ‘Workplace Well-being Charter’ and promoting ‘Time to Change’. The Department offers support to staff including ‘Employee Assistance’. The Department is also running wellbeing events and initiatives over the coming year.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by Professor Walton, entitled The likely effect of the Jackson reforms on insolvency litigation – an empirical investigation, published in 2013, what his policy is on each of the conclusions of that report.

    Dominic Raab

    Ministry of Justice officials met Professor Walton and others on 12 October last year to discuss his report, but the Ministry of Justice did not agree with his conclusions. Our changes to no win no fee deals have tackled the increasing costs of litigation. We delayed bringing the law in for insolvency proceedings to allow the industry time to prepare. The no win no fee reforms in Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will come into force for insolvency proceedings on 6 April this year.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of all disbursements for public sector pensions for all those in employment and currently entitled to such pensions.

    Greg Hands

    The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) publish a forecast of the net cost of public sector pensions in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) at every fiscal event.

    This shows the total income for public service pensions, including employer and employee contributions, and the total expenditure for public service pensions, through pensions in payment.

    More information can be found on page 154 of the OBR’s most recent EFO.

    http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.org.uk/March2016EFO.pdf

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Attorney General, if he will take steps to offer incentives to encourage more solicitors to offer pro bono work.

    Robert Buckland

    Pro Bono is a voluntary commitment made by lawyers who understand that the service they provide is invaluable to those individuals who would otherwise be denied access to justice.

    As pro bono champions of the Government, the Law Officers support a number of projects through our co-ordinating committees. The Government has also provided funding for several projects, such as the Litigants in Person package run by the Ministry of Justice.

  • Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) adults and (b) children with cystic fibrosis who have previously claimed disability living allowance have received no award when assessed under the new personal independence payment.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Department intends to provide detailed breakdowns of DLA to PIP reassessment outcomes in due course. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to mitigate the effect of planned increases to the national minimum wage on the ability of childcare providers to recruit staff.

    Caroline Dinenage

    We are investing £1 billion more per year in the early years to fund our commitments on the entitlements. This includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements.

    To inform the size of the funding rates increase, the government conducted a six-month long review of the cost of providing childcare and published its findings in November 2015. It looked at both the current costs of provision and the implications of future cost pressures facing the sector, including the introduction of the National Living Wage.

    We have committed to developing a workforce strategy to help employers attract, retain and develop staff to deliver high quality provision.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average number of hours of childcare was for which claimants in receipt of the childcare element of universal credit made a claim for reimbursement of their costs in the most recent month for which figures are available.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps Anglican congregations within the Diocese of Blackburn have taken to help people affected by flooding that took place over Christmas 2015.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Diocese of Blackburn has been coordinating with its local Gold Command support centre and with Churches Together. Within Preston the Diocese and local churches have set up an emergency centre at the railway station. An additional emergency centre was also set up in Morecambe alongside smaller centres supported by the Diocese in Ribchester and Walton le Dale. In St Michael’s on Wyre the church has also been offering support to the army who were deployed in the parish.

    These centres have been an invaluable support to local communities as a central hub for information and support. In addition local communities have been providing hot food and warm clothing to those who have been flooded out and to relief workers. Churches Together in Lancashire have been coordinating a wider response amongst local denominations and this has enabled many local churches to respond quickly and in those places where their help is most needed.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23290, what his Department’s policy is on (a) the application of the convention on giving Parliament the opportunity to debate military intervention abroad to armed drones and (b) informing the House of any exceptional operation on the grounds of self-defence of the UK.

    Michael Fallon

    The Government is committed to the convention that, before UK troops are committed to conflict, Parliament should have an opportunity to debate the matter except when there is an emergency. It is fitting to keep Parliament informed of major new developments and to answer questions on them.

    The Government will inform the House of any exceptional operation where there has not been prior debate in Parliament as the Prime Minister did on 7 September 2015 in relation to the precision airstrike that took place on 21 August 2015.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will carry out a review of UK dairy processing capacity.

    George Eustice

    Dairy processors have undertaken a sustained high level of investment in the UK. In recent years, capital investment by the top five dairy organisations in the UK has regularly exceeded £100m per annum. In total, over the period March 2006 to 2013, capital expenditure by these organisations exceeded £1.2bn.

    It is important to continue to encourage high quality inward investment from around the world to boost security and growth. UKTI, the Great British Food Unit and Dairy UK are hosting a senior delegation of dairy companies from China in March 2016. These companies are interested in building stronger relations with British counterparts whether through the development of direct imports of finished products into China, collaboration on ingredients and processing, or joint ventures.