Category: Speeches

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to support the International Trade Centre’s She Trades initiative; and if she will make a statement.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    DFID is a strong supporter of women’s economic empowerment. The Secretary of State is on the UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment, which will accelerate global action on this agenda. The SheTrades Initiative is a consequence of DFID’s funding for the International Trade Centre’s women and trade programme, which helps women entrepreneurs from developing countries to trade and access markets. To date this programme has directly supported 2,600 women entrepreneurs, and indirectly contributed to 12,000 women benefiting from market access opportunities.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of offenders who breached a Supervision Default Order were (i) sent to prison and (ii) not sent to prison since the introduction of such Orders.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, which introduced post sentence supervision for those serving short custodial sentences, applies to offences committed on or after 1 February 2015. Statistics on the number of offenders starting post sentence supervision and the number of offenders committed to custody for breach of post sentence supervision conditions is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/541247/probation-q1-2016.xlsx.

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  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to maintain the current level of skills funding for 16 to 18 year olds up to May 2020.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Decisions about how 16-19 institutions will be funded in the academic year 2016/17 and beyond will be subject to the outcome of the spending review, which will set the budget for education and other public spending for the coming years.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on steps to improve competition in the broadband market.

    Nick Boles

    My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has regular discussions with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on a wide range of issues.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether donations to the proposed London Garden Bridge by corporate bodies are tax deductible.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Garden Bridge Trust is a body dedicated to creating the London Garden Bridge and to advancing public education and training in horticulture and arboriculture on the Garden. It is registered as a UK charity.

    The UK corporation tax system provides for relief to companies for qualifying donations or payments to charities.

    Hence, donations made by corporates to the Garden Bridge Trust will be deductible from their corporation tax liability in the limits set out by legislation.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking systems in reducing the number of road traffic accidents.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department has not made any detailed assessment of the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking systems, but we are aware that a number of studies have highlighted the potential for a reduction in collisions. Most trucks exceeding 8 tonnes and coaches registered after 1 November 2015 are fitted with it, and we support measures by EuroNCAP to encourage its fitment in new cars.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of tree disease on (a) existing woodland and (b) the restoration of planted ancient woodland.

    Rory Stewart

    Protecting our country from plant and tree pests and diseases is important for our economy, the environment and our health. Defra is committed to protecting our borders from pests and building the resilience of our trees and plants.

    We assess the impacts of pests and disease threats on trees and plants and take a risk-based approach to ensure that our response is directed towards priority pests and diseases and their respective pathways. We have produced a prioritised plant health risk register which is used to identify risks and agree priorities for action.

    The Forestry Commission has a comprehensive monitoring and surveillance programme in place for tree pests and diseases in woodlands. Maps of the latest confirmed findings are available on its website:

    www.forestry.gov.uk/pestsanddiseases

    Defra has funded research to ‘Assess and address the impacts of ash dieback on UK woodlands and trees of conservation importance’. The published report includes a series of case studies on sites of ancient woodland and is available at:

    http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5273931279761408

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  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether special forces deployments are discussed at meetings of the National Security Council.

    Penny Mordaunt

    This Government has demonstrated its commitment to our Special Forces by announcing a £2 billion programme of investment over the course of this Parliament. All military operations, including the activities of the Special Forces, are discussed and scrutinised at the highest levels of Government, including at the National Security Council. However, as it is the longstanding policy of the Government not to comment on our Special Forces, or to release information relating to them, I cannot comment on specific questions about personnel, equipment, discussions or activities in relation to these units.

  • Ronnie Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ronnie Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Campbell on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of (a) disability living allowance and (b) personal independence payments have (i) lost or (ii) gained the higher rate mobility allowance since 2014.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

  • Martin Docherty-Hughes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Martin Docherty-Hughes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martin Docherty-Hughes on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on the near collision between an unmanned drone and a passenger aircraft above Clydebank on 6 March 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There is a process in place for reporting such incidents. The independent UK Airprox Board (UKAB) has a well-established and high reputation for investigating all airprox incidents effectively and to make safety recommendations which it believes are necessary. More information about this process can be found at the following link https://www.airproxboard.org.uk/Learn-more/The-Airprox-process/.

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