Category: Speeches

  • Richard Burgon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Richard Burgon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the provision of high-speed broadband infrastructure on productivity.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    SQW Consulting’s UK Broadband impact study in 2013 estimates that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024.

    This Government is helping increase productivity across the UK by investing in and widening access to key digital infrastructure. We are on track to deliver our commitment to provide superfast broadband coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2017.Our£40m Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme was taken up by over 55,000 small and medium sized businesses – who employ a million people right across the UK and are already reporting, on average, a £1,300 per year increase in profits and a new job being created for every four new connections. ThePrime Minister recentlyannounced plans to ensure that every home and business can have access to fast broadband by the end of this Parliament.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the total (a) number and (b) payments made from feed-in tariff schemes in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The table below shows (a) the number of commissioned installations under the feed – in tariff scheme, and (b) generation payments made under the scheme:

    Generation payments (£)*

    Cumulative installations (at end March)**

    2010-11

    12,487,029

    47,746

    2011-12

    135,937,392

    319,057

    2012-13

    504,272,611

    430,445

    2013-14

    685,973,264

    545,245

    2014-15

    850,823,544

    683,462

    *Source; feed-in tariff annual report 2014-15

    https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/feed-in_tariff_annual_report_year_five_2014-15.pdf

    ** Source; DECC feed-in tariff statistics

    Monthly feed-in tariff commissioned installations by month – Publications – GOV.UK

    “

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) permanent staff, (b) temporary staff and (c) contractors are employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment; and how many such staff he expects to be employed at that Establishment in each of the next three years.

    Michael Fallon

    There are 4,920 permanent staff and 890 contractors employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). These figures represent full time equivalent staff, rounded to the nearest ten.

    Contractors working at AWE but employed by sub-contractor companies are not included as this information is not held centrally.

    Over the next three years, staffing levels will depend on programme demand.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he consulted the board of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills prior to his decision to withdraw its funding.

    Nick Boles

    The Commissioners of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) were not consulted during the spending review process prior to the decision taken by Whitehall Departments to withdraw funding.

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has subsequently been working closely with the UKCES’s Strategic Management Group of Commissioners to manage the implications of the decision.

  • Baroness Garden of Frognal – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Garden of Frognal – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that adequate ring-fenced funding is provided to local authorities to enable them successfully to deliver the Government’s childcare provision targets.

    Lord Nash

    We have already announced over £1bn funding for the early years entitlements within the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant by 2019-20, which includes £300m to uplift the funding rate to providers. The increase to the funding rate is based on robust evidence from the Review of the Cost of Childcare. We have made clear our commitment to maximise the amount of this funding which reaches front line childcare providers, and will consult on proposals for achieving this as part of our consultation on early years funding reform later this year.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the consultation into mandatory reporting.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government will launch a full 12 week public consultation later this year.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-18.

    to ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that the new Education Cannot Wait fund will focus on the most marginalised children, including girls and children with disabilities.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has played a leading role in the development of Education Cannot Wait – a fund for education in emergencies. A key focus for Education Cannot Wait will be on ensuring that marginalised children and young people are able to access a quality education. This includes refugees and internally displaced children, as well as children facing barriers to their education because of their gender, disability or other factors.

    This focus is reflected in the Fund’s indicative headline results, which commits to providing “Inclusive education [that] reaches the most marginalised children and young people in crises” with a target of “100% of supported education opportunities demonstrate increase in education for girls, disabled and those in remote locations”.

    The UK will continue to engage closely during Education Cannot Wait’s inception phase, to ensure that this commitment is fully reflected in its final design and results frameworks.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with other Commonwealth countries on sharing trade negotiating capabilities and resources.

    Alok Sharma

    We have been consulting, and will continue to consult, a broad range of stakeholders, including governments and businesses, on the implications of the referendum result for trade. We have been encouraged by the interest coming from a range of non-EU countries, including some of our closest allies. Across government, we are preparing options for our future trade policy for the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) to consider. We are also rapidly building civil service capacity and capability on trade.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Aliens’ Employment Act 1955 makes it a requirement that all UK based staff recruited to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK must be British nationals or dual nationals where one of those nationalities is British.

  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) human rights situation in Sri Lanka and (b) detention of Tamil political prisoners in that country.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We warmly welcomed the resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights which was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka and adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 1 October. Since President Sirisena came to power in January, there have been improvements in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, including on freedom of expression, some return of military held land, and improved relations between different communities. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will provide a further assessment in our 2015 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report. We regularly raise matters of concern with the Sri Lankan government, including the detention of Tamil political prisoners without trial. We have been encouraged by the recent announcements that bail has been granted to 39 prisoners being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.