UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claimants have been given a yellow card warning since the introduction of such a warning; and of those claimants how many were not subsequently sanctioned.

    Priti Patel

    A Jobseekers’ Allowance Sanctions “Early Warning” Trial was launched in March 2016 in Scotland. The trial is testing whether giving claimants a warning of an intention to sanction, and an extra 14 days to seek advice and support to provide additional or new evidence to provide good reason will be helpful to them and potentially reduce the volume of sanctions and reconsiderations.

    Data is currently being collected about claimants who have been subject to the new process so it is not possible at this stage to provide the information requested. An interim evaluation of the trial will be published in Autumn 2016 and a final evaluation in Spring 2017.

  • Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will consider extending current programme partnership arrangements until a replacement mechanism is introduced.

    Priti Patel

    I am currently considering the outcomes of my Department’s Civil Society Partnership Review, and will aim to publish it shortly.

    In July 2015, the then Secretary of State for International Development announced a 9 month extension of all PPA financing, providing 18 months-notice that all current PPA financing would come to an end in December 2016.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government will maintain the cap on bankers’ bonuses after the UK leaves the EU.

    Simon Kirby

    Until negotiations on Britain’s future relationship with Europe are concluded, we remain a full member of the EU and must meet our obligations as a member of the EU.

    All government departments are currently reviewing the EU laws that apply in their policy areas and how our withdrawal from the EU will affect the operation of those laws.

    The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle unacceptable pay practices in the banking sector and has the toughest regime on pay of any major financial centre.

    Firms are now required to have policies in place to defer, reduce, cancel or clawback bonuses in the event that poor performance or misconduct comes to light and the Government expects firms to be proactive in their application of these policies. Used in this way bonuses can be an effective incentive for staff to act in the long term interests of a business.

    The Government’s efforts have resulted in a restructuring of pay including a significant reduction in cash bonuses, and a better alignment of risk and reward in the financial sector.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual running costs of RAF Waddington are; and what assessment he has made of RAF Waddington’s contribution to the local economy.

    Mark Lancaster

    The annual infrastructure running costs for RAF Waddington in the Financial Year 2014-15 were £5,566,795. No assessment has been made of RAF Waddington’s contribution to the local economy.

  • Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2015 to Question 228147, by when his Department plans to complete its detailed consideration of the policy and processes for validating the arrears accrued on all existing Child Support Agency cases, including arrears accrued from Interim Maintenance Assessments; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the final policy and processes arising from that consideration and the timetable for implementation are fully transparent.

    Priti Patel

    As part of the case closure process expected to run until 2017, all existing Child Support Agency (1993/2003) cases with outstanding arrears will go through a series of checks to validate their arrears balance.

    We have already started closing Child Support Agency cases by segments based on case characteristics, prioritising those with on-going liability before closing arrears only cases.

    Where the arrears balance has been validated and the receiving parent has not indicated that they want their arrears written off, the stable balance will then be transferred to the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme. Our approach to other historical debt, including Interim Maintenance Assessments remains under consideration.

  • Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what advice UKFI provided to his Department on when and how to complete a sale of Royal Bank of Scotland shares.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has been consistently clear that its policy in respect of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to return the bank to the private sector in full. The advice received from Rothschilds and the Governor of the Bank of England relates specifically to the appropriate timing of an initial share sale.

    UK Financial Investments (UKFI) is responsible for the execution of share sales, and advised the Chancellor in August 2015 that it would be appropriate to conduct the first sale of the Government’s shareholding in RBS. On 3 August 2015, UKFI sold approximately 5.4% of the bank via an accelerated bookbuilding process.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the value of funding her Department has allocated to Libya which has been spent in the city of Sirte; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Due to security and access issues, we estimate that no DFID funding allocated to Libya was spent in the city of Sirte last year. DFID provided £2 million in aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for humanitarian relief, protection and immediate lifesaving assistance to vulnerable populations in Libya in 2015. This humanitarian programme is providing assistance to internally displaced persons across Libya, including those from the wider region of Sirte.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage routine use of NHS medicines throughout the NHS.

    George Freeman

    The Government is committed to ensuring that patients have access to new and effective treatments on terms that represent value to the National Health Service and the taxpayer.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing advice to the NHS on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of health technologies. NHS commissioners are legally required to fund treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance, ensuring consistent access to clinically and cost effective drugs across England.

    The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government later this spring on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to innovative medicines, medical technologies, diagnostics and digital products.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will ask her Canadian counterpart for (a) emissions data and (b) the cost of the boundary dam power station in Saskatchewan, Canada; and if she will place that information in the Library.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in other Governments, including Canada, to exchange information on carbon capture and storage. Canadian counterparts will attend the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum in June which the UK is hosting. The exchanges include the progress of projects; however some of the specific information on the projects (such as Boundary Dam) is commercially sensitive and would not be disclosed. For the same reason we do not expect to publish any information in the House library.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions Ministers of his Department have had with counterparts in non-EU states on policies and steps to reduce the number of neural tube defect-affected pregnancies.

    Ben Gummer

    We are not aware that any Ministers have attended any formal meetings with countries outside the European Union member states where policies on reducing the number of neural tube affected pregnancies have been discussed.