Category: Speeches

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 21 December 2015 (HL4409), when was the last revision of the Agricultural Land Classification Survey guidelines.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The latest government guidance was published by MAFF in early 1989 and in 2000, a ‘predictive map’ for Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) was created which complemented but did not replace the ALC maps. Research funded by Defra, published on 14 January, looked at the predicted effects of climate change on ALC grading. Whilst the work has shown the ALC system to be robust it highlights that changes to grading may be required post 2030.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many organisations have been assisted in recovery from cyber-attack by the Cyber Incident Response Team in each year since that team was established.

    Matthew Hancock

    CERT-UK is the UK National Computer Emergency Response Team. CERT-UK advises organisations on what actions to take in the event of a cyber incident and offers advice and guidance on how to mitigate threats pre and post incident through one to one meetings and through its online sharing platform, the Cyber-security Information Sharing Partnership (CiSP). CERT-UK has dealt with 1170 incidents since its launch in March 2014.

  • Anne Marie Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Anne Marie Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Marie Morris on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Government has paid in fines to the EU since 2010.

    Mr David Gauke

    The United Kingdom has never incurred a financial penalty under Article 260 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (or under the former Article 228 (ex Article 171) of the Treaty Establishing the European Community).

  • Lord Cashman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Cashman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of including representatives from the Department for International Development in discussions and representation at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference that will take place in Uruguay from 13 to 15 July.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK will send a delegation to the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference taking place in Montevideo in July. We are committed to working with those countries that will be represented at the conference, and others, to combat discrimination and violence against LGB&T people. This forms an important part of our wider international human rights work. DFID is assessing the benefits of including representatives from the department at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference through discussion with key lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) organisations and with other government departments. The Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference will provide an opportunity to share information, best practice and lessons learned with partners and to discuss how to better coordinate international efforts to support the promotion and protection of the rights of LGB&T people worldwide.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what current locations and sites have been identified as new offices for HM Revenue and Customs under its building our future plan; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will open regional centres in Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stratford and Croydon. In addition there will be four specialist sites, in Telford, Worthing, Dover and at the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh, for work that cannot be done elsewhere as well as a London Headquarters.

    HMRC is considering a number of sites at each regional centre location and will give more details when commercial negotiations have finished.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the morale of police officers (a) nationally and (b) at force level; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the morale of police officers. It is the responsibility of chief officers – supported by the College of Policing – to ensure good management systems are in place to support officers in their work. It is ultimately a matter for chief constables and police and crime commissioners to monitor the morale and engagement levels of their workforce.

    The Government recognises the importance of police welfare- in October 2014 we allocated £10m to help support emergency services personnel and volunteers, focused on mental health, physical recuperation and bereavement support for those who need it.

    £4m was allocated to the charity Mind specifically for mental health issues to cover financial years 2014/15 and 2015/16.

  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the cost of a retrospective planning application is covered by the (a) applicant and (b) local authority.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Department does not collect the data requested.

  • James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to detect and prevent electoral fraud at polling stations.

    Chris Skidmore

    The Electoral Commission provides guidance on preventing and reporting electoral fraud sets out the role of Local Electoral Registration Officers, Returning Officers, the police and political parties in detecting and preventing fraud. This guidance can be found online.

    Moreover, the security of registration has been improved by the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration. This service checks the details provided by the applicant, including their National Insurance number, against government data before passing the application to the relevant local electoral administration team.

    For applications with no National Insurance number and other applications not verified through the digital service, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will seek further information regarding identity. For all registration applications, online or otherwise, the ERO is also responsible for ensuring that other eligibility requirements, such as the nationality of the applicant, are satisfactorily met.

    Finally, the Government considers the integrity of the electoral system of the utmost importance and has recently welcomed the report published by Sir Eric Pickles into electoral fraud.

    The Government will closely consider the recommendations laid out in that report and issue its response shortly.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the likely annual cost to electricity customers of the proposed Hinkley Point C power station (a) in total and (b) per customer.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under the CfD consumers will not pay anything for electricity until the plant is powering their homes and businesses. Payments under the CfD are expected to make up around £10 (real 2012 prices) of the average household energy bill in 2030. This should be seen in the context of Hinkley Point C meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs, and set against our estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 in 2030. This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further role out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used.

  • Catherine West – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.

    Karen Bradley

    The average time taken to process an enhanced disclosure and barring service check over the last 12 months for which figures are available (November 2014 – October 2015) is 14.92 calendar days.