UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on future funding of research by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs of the introduction of anti-lobbying clauses in government grant arrangements.

    George Eustice

    The Government is committed to supporting our excellent science and research community. The anti-lobbying clause is mandated by the Cabinet Office so the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be implementing the clause. No detailed assessment has yet been made against the future funding of research following the implementation of the new clause, but the initial belief is that it will have minimal impact. We are continuing to engage with the research community and will outline more detail in due course.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what role the Government is playing in UN discussions on improving mechanisms for casualty recording.

    James Duddridge

    The UK welcomes efforts to improve the UN’s recording of casualties as a means of ensuring UN decision making is better informed and civilians are better protected in conflict. We will continue to support the UN Secretary-General, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and all other relevant parts of the UN system as they take this work forward. We are a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a strong supporter of the Human Rights Up Front Initiative.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to create more cohesive societies in areas with dispersal centres for asylum seekers.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office funds strategic migration partnerships which are local authority-led partnerships designed to provide structures and support services for those organisations working with migrants and refugees in local communities.

    The Home Office also provides a dedicated integration loan directly to recognised refugees. The loan is designed to help refugees integrate into UK society by offering financial support towards housing costs, employment and training.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings took place between Liz Sanderson and the Secretary of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, John O’Brien; on what dates those meetings took place; and who was present at each such meeting.

    Sarah Newton

    Liz Sanderson was the then Home Secretary’s special adviser. The Department holds no records of separate meetings or conversations between Ms Sanderson and Dame Lowell Goddard, panel members or the statutory officers. However, she routinely attended the Home Secretary’s meetings, including with Dame Lowell Goddard and panel members during the appointment processes. She also had occasional conversations with the Secretary to the Inquiry.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what comparative cost-benefit analyses her Department has made of electricity storage and constraint payments.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Network Options Assessment (NOA) was introduced as a result of Ofgem’s Integrated Transmission Planning and Regulation project.It is an holistic, forward-looking analysis of the options for the development of the transmission system.The NOA has a 10-year outlook and will be published annually.In developing the annual statement, National Grid as System Operator must work closely with the three GB transmission operators to propose network solutions which facilitate an efficient, coordinated and economical system of electricity transmission. As part of this process, National Grid is required to consider the merits of solutions other than transmission build, such as storage. A cost-benefit analysis of storage compared to other assets is performed by National Grid as a part of this assessment, in which constraint payments form a part.

  • Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2015 to Question 13848, with which schools her Department is discussing its STEM international recruitment programme; and how many of these schools are recruiting teachers internationally.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education discusses international recruitment with a number of schools and does not keep a list of the schools with which such discussions take place.

    The department does not monitor individual schools’ recruitment activities. This is a matter for schools.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

    Karen Bradley

    The Department records actual staffing levels, but does not centrally record the number of jobs by location. Actual staffing levels for (a) the Department, between March 2010 and March 2015, have slightly reduced (less than 10 FTE¹) in Stoke-on-Trent. However, this does not necessarily mean that posts have been abolished or relocated as a consequence.

    The Department is still planning its workforce requirements for 2020 in line with the Spending Review settlement; this level of detail is not yet known.

    (b) For the Department’s executive non-departmental public bodies and statutory bodies, there have been no staff or offices based in Stoke-on-Trent during this period. The Department’s executive non-departmental Public Bodies are:

    • the Independent Police Complaints Commission;

    • the Gangmasters Licensing Authority;

    • the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner;

    • the Security Industry Authority; and

    • the Disclosure and Barring Service

    None of the Department’s Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs employ staff or have offices in Stoke-on-Trent.

    ¹Data Source: Data View, the Home Office’s single source of Office for National Statistics compliant monthly snapshot corporate human resources data Period Covered: Figures are as at 31 March each year.

    Extraction Date: 1st April each year

    Organisational Coverage: March-10 – Figures include core Home Office and the Executive Agencies; United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau March -15 – Figures include core Home Office (including Border Force, UK Visas & Immigration, Immigration En-forcement and Her Majesty’s Passport Office.) Employee Coverage: Data is based on headcount and FTE of all current paid and unpaid civil servants as at 31st March each year

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of decommissioning sites where children could be detained on (a) the mix of children in custody, (b) the implementation of the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint system and (c) staff numbers.

    Andrew Selous

    The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is responsible for commissioning and placing all young people under-18 in a suitable secure establishment.

    Following the welcome and continued reduction in the number of young people in custody, the YJB has been able to reduce the number of commissioned places across the secure estate. However, as the number has reduced so those who remain tend to be those who have been arrested for the most violent crimes and who pose the greatest difficulties for those who care for them.

    Although decommissioning will affect the number of places available in the secure estate, young people are placed in establishments that can most effectively manage their individual needs and risks. Factors such as age, suitability of regime, closeness to home, risk of self-harm or to others, and other risk factors are all been taken into account when placing a young person in custody.

    Restraint should only be used against young people as a last resort where it is absolutely necessary to do so, when young people are putting their own safety and the safety of others at risk, and where no other form of intervention is possible or appropriate. We are committed to closely monitoring the independently assessed Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint system, including through an ongoing analysis of its effectiveness.

    Information on the effects of decommissioning on staff numbers within the youth secure estate is not available centrally and can only be collected at disproportionate costs.

  • Lord Hamilton of Epsom – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hamilton of Epsom – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hamilton of Epsom on 2016-02-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they contribute to the EU programme of assistance to the Palestinians; what is the gross annual amount of funding for that programme, and what percentage of that funding the UK’s contribution, if any, represents; and what percentage of that programme’s funding is provided to the Palestinian Education Authority.

    Baroness Verma

    The EU is a major donor to both the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, providing over €290 million in 2016 to the Palestinian people, including the refugees who live outside Occupied Palestinian Territories in the camps of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The UK contributes to the EU budget as a whole, not individual instruments within it. The UK’s share on EU expenditure in EU instruments is approximately 14.5%. The EU funding to the Palestinian Authority is through the PEGASE mechanism, providing the salaries for vetted civil servants only.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what work has been carried out under the National Flood Resilience Review on the costs of protecting the UK from future flooding and extreme weather events.

    Rory Stewart

    The National Flood Resilience Review, led by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is making good progress. It is gathering evidence and using extreme flood modelling to stress-test the resilience of Core Cities and key infrastructure. This work will inform future options on the investment needed to secure the resilence of the country against such flood events. Our call for evidence closed on 4 March and we are now reviewing the 66 responses received.