Category: Speeches

  • Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made any calculation of the numbers of citizens of other EU member states working in different sectors of the economy.

    Chris Skidmore

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

    The UK needs a fair and controlled immigration policy and that is exactly what this Government will deliver. The Government has been clear that we want to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected in return.

  • David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will undertake a review into how his Department advises British citizens on the ethical rating of nations in line with performing to international standards on the illegal wildlife trade.

    James Duddridge

    The UK plays a leading role in encouraging countries to take action to stop poaching of endangered species and to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products. For example, the UK drafted both the London Declaration from the London Conference on IWT in 2014 and the Kasane Statement from the Botswana Conference of March 2015 to push countries into committing themselves to ambitious actions to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. A review was compiled for the Botswana Conference showing progress by countries on the commitments to action agreed at London. These documents have been made publicly available on www.gov.uk.

  • Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners are presently held at HMP Holloway.

    Lord Faulks

    As published on the MOJs website, on Friday 30 October 2015 there were 544 prisoners held in HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Holloway.

    A figure for Friday 27 November 2015 will be published on the 11 December 2015 on the Ministry of Justice website.

    Individual prison population and capacity information for every prison in England and Wales, as well as the total population and useable operational capacity of the prison estate is published monthly on the Ministry of Justice website.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to tackle bullying initiated by religious intolerance in schools.

    Edward Timpson

    All bullying is unacceptable and every school is required to have a behaviour policy including measures to tackle all forms of bullying. They are held to account by Ofsted and inspectors will look at records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour, including racist, disability, use of derogatory language and racist incidents.

    The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England published in November 2015 found that 30,000 fewer young people said they had been bullied in the last twelve months – a drop from 41 per cent in 2004 to 36 per cent in 2014.

    All schools are required to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faith and beliefs. Our guidance published in November 2014 says that British values include accepting that others of different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour.

    All publicly funded schools are required also to promote community cohesion and teach a broad and balanced curriculum. The curriculum provides many opportunities to foster tolerance and understanding. For example, as part of the history curriculum, pupils could learn about different cultures, and about how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain. The citizenship programme of study sets out a requirement for pupils to be taught about ‘the diverse national, regional, religious, and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding’. PSHE can teach young people about the rights and responsibilities of living in a diverse community and how to respect others.

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the Financial Conduct Authority’s decision to end its review into HSBC.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The FCA are operationally independent of Government. They are responsible for deciding how to carry out their functions, and for assessing the implication of their actions.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will reinstate legal aid for qualifying UK residents seeking to re-unite with their immediate family members from overseas; and if not, why not.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    Our limited legal aid resources should be available for the highest priority cases and to the most financially vulnerable. There are no plans to change the legal aid arrangements for family reunion. As with all cases outside the scope of legal aid, exceptional funding may be available where required under ECHR or EU law.

    Guidance to support applications for family reunion is available from the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). UKVI issue guidance to help applicants, and the types of evidence requested to accompany an application – such as marriage and birth certificates – will usually be straightforward to collate.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce knife crime in Greater Manchester.

    Mr John Hayes

    Tackling knife crime is a priority for this Government. Knife crime offences recorded by the police remain 14% below the level of offences in 2010.

    However we recognise there is always more to do and we are currently reviewing action to be taken on knife crime. We will be setting out the measures in the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy which will be published shortly.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients who will have to use other hospitals if Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is closed.

    Ben Gummer

    No estimate has been made. These are matters for the National Health Service.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 28 April (HL Deb, col 1244), what provision was made in the Treasury document published on 18 April on the economic efforts of a UK withdrawal from the EU for funding the health, education, welfare and other costs associated with the forecast increase in that document of three million in the population of the UK by 2030.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    “HM Treasury analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives” shows that after 15 years, even with savings from reduced contributions to the EU, receipts would be £20 billion a year lower in the central estimate of the EEA, £36 billion a year lower for the negotiated bilateral agreement and £45 billion a year lower for the WTO alternative. £36 billion is more than a third of the NHS budget and the equivalent of 8p on the basic rate of income tax.

    The HMT analysis does not forecast immigration but uses the latest figures from ONS as a modelling assumption. These numbers do not take account of future Government actions to reduce immigration, including the emergency brake on welfare agreed as part of the renegotiation.

    The Government is committed to controlling migration by dealing with those who shouldn’t be here, by deporting illegal immigrants and improving the skills of British workers, so we reduce the demand for skilled migrants.

    The Prime Minister has re-negotiated the UK’s position within the EU to close back-door routes into the UK and exert greater control over EU migration by tackling the draw of our welfare system.

    But net migration remains too high and there is still more work to do.

  • Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the Watchkeeper Programme to achieve Initial Operating Capability 2, previously expected to be achieved by April, and when they now expect Equipment Support Systems to be released to service.

    Earl Howe

    It is expected that the Watchkeeper programme will declare Initial Operating Capability 2 standard by July 2016. An initial set of release to service recommendations for the Watchkeeper system at Equipment Standard 2 should be provided by March 2017. This will provide sufficient clearance for the Army to fly the Watchkeeper system in that configuration and support delivery of Full Operating Capability by the target date of April 2017.