Category: Speeches

Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, through what channels his Department plans to disburse the £3.2 million payment from the Fire and Rescue Authorities to private landlords for smoke and carbon dioxide alarms after the introduction of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015.

Brandon Lewis

To help landlords prepare for introduction of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, my Department provided £3.2 million of non ring-fenced funding to local Fire and Rescue Authorities to purchase and distribute smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to landlords.

These regulations aim to protect tenants from fire and carbon monoxide poisoning in the home, and to further that aim we would expect Fire and Rescue Authorities to continue distributing any remaining alarms following the introduction of the regulations to help landlords comply, therefore safeguarding more tenants.

The Chief Fire Officers Association Home Safety Committee are planning to conduct further research and analysis on the distribution of the free alarms in the new year.

01/01/2023
Adam Holloway – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Holloway on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will not make a decision on the choice of Thames Crossing options A and C until a decision is made on the proposed London Paramount theme park.

Andrew Jones

The Government is committed to a new Lower Thames crossing. There is a need for increased capacity across the River Thames due to growth in general traffic and a range of developments in the Thames Gateway, including housing planned around Ebbsfleet. The location and route needs to be decided following further public consultation, expected to begin early this year, to ensure that the new crossing can be in place as soon as possible.

01/01/2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2015 to Question 657, what tangible progress towards the EU-US Free Trade Agreement had been made by the end of 2015; and whether any agreement in principle had been reached on that matter by that date.

Anna Soubry

There have now been eleven rounds of negotiations for the EU-US Free Trade Agreement also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). A significant step forward was taken last June when the US Congress passed the Trade Promotion Authority bill (fast track authority for trade agreements). The agreement reached at the end of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (in the Asia Pacific region) last October is further good news, and allows the US to increase focus on TTIP.

The last negotiating round took place in October. A significant milestone was reached with the exchange of revised tariff offers, which would see tariffs almost completely removed. Negotiators also discussed all aspects of market access in public procurement. This helps prepare the ground for the first exchange of procurement offers expected in February.

We are making tangible progress and our ambition remains to reach an agreement under the Obama presidency.

01/01/2023
Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government has taken to (a) alleviate the blockade of Yemen and (b) address the shortage of essential medicines in that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK is the 4th largest donor to the crisis in Yemen and has more than doubled its humanitarian support over the last year to £85 million for 2015/16. We have so far helped more than 1.3 million Yemenis with medical supplies, food, water, and emergency shelter. This includes support to the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) to import essential medical supplies. From 27 April until 31 December 2015 UNHAS transported 9,547 kg of medical cargo on passenger flights. They also organised separate cargo flights to transport a total of 192 metric tons of medical and nutrition supplies. The UK also fund the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support critical relief projects, including the provision of emergency drugs and medical supplies.

There is no blockade, although some restrictions have been put in place to prevent the flow of arms to Yemen. One of our top priorities now is working to help commercial shipping return to pre-conflict levels. This is why the UK is providing £1.42m of support to the UN’s Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM). UNVIM will help speed up checks for commercial cargo, including food, fuel and medical supplies, entering Yemen and increase commercial confidence to get markets working again and lower very high commodity prices.

01/01/2023

Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders from each other EU member state serving a custodial sentence in the UK in each of the last 10 years have been transferred to serve the remainder of their sentence in another EU member state.

Andrew Selous

It is right that foreign criminals who break our laws are properly punished but this shouldn’t be at the expense of the British taxpayer.

Since 2007, a total of 402 foreign national offenders have been transferred from England and Wales to other EU Member States to complete their sentence, 73 under the EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement

The table below shows the number transferred to complete their sentence in each year since 2007. The comparable information is not available for the prior years.

EU Member States	Year of transfer 2007	Year of transfer 2008	Year of transfer 2009	Year of transfer 2010	Year of transfer 2011	Year of transfer 2012	Year of transfer 2013	Year of transfer 2014	Year of transfer 2015
Austria				1						1
Belgium	10	5	1	2	1		2		3	24
Bulgaria									1	1
Croatia
Cyprus	2			1		1	1			5
Czech Republic			1	1	4	1	2		1	10
Denmark									1	1
Estonia
Finland
10 France	3	4	4			1	1			13
Germany	2		4		1				1	8
Greece					1			1	1	3
Hungary
Republic of Ireland	5	4	1			2	1			13
Italy	1					1		1	1	4
Latvia							1	2	2	5
Lithuania	1			4		3	2	1	1	12
Luxembourg			1							1
Malta							1			1
Netherlands	75	42	25	24	12	20	16	12	12	238
Poland	1	1		3	1	1	2	3	2	14
Portugal				2	1	1	1	1		6
Romania						1	1	5	7	14
Slovakia								3	9	12
Slovenia			1	1						2
Spain	2	3	1		2	2	2		2	14
Sweden

The numbers reported here are drawn from a case management system. Care is taken when processing these cases but the figures may be subject to inaccuracies associated with any recording system.

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01/01/2023

Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 30916, if she will publish details of the 26 related party transactions by academy trusts classified as irregular or improper by the Education Funding Agency.

Edward Timpson

Related party transactions by academy trusts can be classified as irregular or improper if they are not dealt with in accordance with Parliament’s intentions, legislation, the terms of the trust’s funding agreement, the Academies Financial Handbook or the trust’s internal procedures. This includes spending money other than for the purposes intended by Parliament or without the appropriate standards of conduct.

Academy trusts operate under a robust accountability system which holds them to account for the results they achieve and their use of resources. This includes a requirement to publish audited accounts each year allowing the wider public the chance to hold academy trusts to account to help make sure that spend is securing better outcomes for pupils.

The 26 related party transactions are irregular and noted in the table below (together with our findings from reviewing 2013/14 financial statements). It is important to note that irregular classification can occur where there is insufficient evidence to form an opinion.

Concern type	Summary of concern	Number of breaches
At cost	The trust either confirmed that services from a related party were not provided at cost or there was insufficient evidence of this.	5
Off-payroll	The trust confirmed that they were not compliant with HM Treasury’s off-payroll requirements for a senior member of staff.	5
Procurement	The trust confirmed they did not follow an adequate procurement process for certain purchases from a related party.	6
Procurement issues/ recruitment of family	The trust confirmed they did not follow an adequate procurement process for certain purchases from a familial related party.	1
Procurement/ at cost	The trust confirmed they did not follow an adequate procurement process for certain purchases from a related party. The trust also either confirmed that services from a related party were not provided at cost or there was insufficient evidence of this.	9

01/01/2023

Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out the reasons for the requirement for year five children in schools in England to learn the meaning of fronted adverbials.

Nick Gibb

Accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar are the cornerstones of effective written communication.

The new national curriculum, introduced in 2014, sets higher expectations supporting pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market.

The new programmes of study for English aim to ensure that all pupils acquire a wide vocabulary, a good understanding of grammar, and proper knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and written language. Explicit teaching of grammar is fundamental to this.

For children from homes where parents read and share books with the family, it may be possible over time to assimilate grammatical forms such as modal verbs and fronted adverbials. For a great number of children, however, the easiest way for a teacher to explain to their pupils the rules that govern our language is to establish a shared vocabulary of grammatical terms.

We have increased the range of grammar and punctuation that should be taught and the terminology that pupils should learn – the meta-language. The aim and the emphasis, however, is not on naming grammatical terms but on being able to use the grammar to be able to speak and write for a full range of purposes.

01/01/2023
Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2016 to Question 41992, what the reasons are for the time taken to publish the childhood obesity strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Nicola Blackwood

Obesity is a complex problem with many factors having an impact. For this reason, it is important to ensure that the Childhood Obesity Strategy is as comprehensive as possible. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet will be working over the coming days and weeks to establish their priorities and how we deliver on these commitments.

01/01/2023
Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to increase the uptake of Mandarin.

Nick Gibb

Between 2012 and 2015, entries for Chinese GCSE in England increased by 34%.

We introduced the Mandarin Excellence Programme this year for highly motivated pupils. It has started in 14 schools with more to follow over the next two years.

The programme will result in at least 5,000 young people heading towards a high level of fluency in Mandarin by 2020.

01/01/2023
Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November to Question 14860, whether all of the providers approved by her Department to provide baseline assessment for primary schools reached the qualifying 10 per cent threshold for providers by the 30 April 2015 deadline.

Nick Gibb

The contractual acceptance criteria for reception baseline suppliers had two levels related to the volume of schools recruited. If fewer than four suppliers met the 10% threshold, suppliers were still accepted if they had recruited more than 1,000 schools. All approved suppliers met the minimum volume criteria.

The reception baseline contract is published online at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/1656259/

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01/01/2023