Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will support a claim by (a) petroleum suppliers who supply home heating oil and (b) other petroleum suppliers for a derogation from the EU rules on the amount of weekly rest required by such suppliers’ drivers; and what stage that application for a derogation has reached.

    Andrew Jones

    In December 2015 the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers sent the Department for Transport an application for the UK to submit a request to the European Commission, under Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) 561/2006, for a derogation on the weekly rest requirement in the EU drivers’ hours rules for drivers of tankers delivering domestic fuel. This application is being considered and a decision on whether to support it and apply to the Commission will be made in due course.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing a registered intermediary when children are interviewed by police in sexual offence cases.

    Mike Penning

    The specific needs of vulnerable witnesses, including children, are assessed on a case by case basis. The guidance, “Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings”, sets out best practice for the police when undertaking an initial assessment. This assessment may identify a specific need for the assistance of an intermediary during the course of the investigation, for example in an interview or latterly at court when giving evidence.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that failed asylum claimants who have spoken out against the government of their country of origin are not deported in such a way as to draw the case to the attention of immigration officials in the destination country.

    James Brokenshire

    We carefully consider all asylum claims on their individual merits and provide protection for those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This includes an assessment about whether a person who has spoken out against their government is likely to be at risk of persecution or serious harm on return.

    We do not provide any information relating to an asylum claim to the government of a claimant’s country of origin. No one who is at risk of serious harm in their country is expected to return there, but we do expect those who do not need our protection to return home voluntarily.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assurances he has received that (a) construction of a new station in Curzon Street and (b) other construction activity in Birmingham will comply with air quality limit values for nitrogen dioxide.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Environmental Statement and Supplementary Environmental Statements for the Phase One hybrid Bill fully assessed the impact on air quality from HS2 construction activity for the proposed Curzon Street Station and for other areas in Birmingham. That assessment concluded that there would be no significant effect on the air quality in these areas.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the 10 largest grants to fund research into the use of laser treatment for cancers made from the science budget were in the last five years; and when the results of such research will be published.

    Joseph Johnson

    Research into cancer involving proton therapy and laser treatment falls within the remit of the Research Councils.

    I have asked the Chair of the Research Councils UK Strategic Executive to write to the hon. Member and I will place a copy of the letter in the Libraries of the House.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that postal votes and ballot papers are sent only to eligible voters for the forthcoming EU referendum.

    John Penrose

    The referendum will be overseen by the Chief Counting Officer, chair of the independent Electoral Commission, who is responsible for making sure the referendum is held in accordance with the legislation. The Electoral Commission made a statement on "non-eligible EU citizen voters" on the 2 June 2016 which can be found at http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/.

    “

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the value of the video games industry to the UK economy.

    Matt Hancock

    Latest estimates from the DCMS Creative Industries Economic Estimates (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-economic-estimates-january-2016 ) show that Gross Value Added for the computer games industry in the UK was £426m in 2014.

    Research by Nesta and trade association Ukie (http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/map-uk-games-industry ) seeks to include the contribution of micro-businesses together with official statistics and this suggested that the contribution of video games could be substantially higher. We look forward to seeing the next iteration of this research which is due to be revealed this month and aims to further reflect the fast growing nature of the UK’s digital businesses.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that social media activity by terrorist groups both within the UK and abroad is effectively monitored.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    This Government takes extremely seriously the threat from those that post online terrorist and extremist material.

    In the UK, our dedicated police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) proactively identifies and refers online terrorist and extremist content to communication service providers for removal. Since its inception in February 2010, CTIRU has secured the removal of more than 220,000 pieces of terrorist-related content. Its work has a global impact as content is removed by industry from their social media platforms world-wide.

    Internationally, the UK assisted in the establishment of the European Internet Referrals Unit (EUIRU) which replicates the UK model at European level and services all Member States. The Unit went live on 1 July 2015 and has focused on a broad range of non-English language content, including Arabic, French and German. Since its creation, the EUIRU has secured the removal of over 12,000 pieces of terrorist-related content.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason it is her policy that scores attained through the Reception Assessment baseline will not be scaled for age; if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policy of the findings of research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in October 2013 on the academic performance in school of pupils born later in the academic year; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    The reception baseline provides a score for each child, at the start of reception, which reflects their actual attainment at that point in time. The reception baseline outcome will be used as the basis for an accountability measure of the relative progress of the school’s cohort throughout primary school. If the results were to be scaled to a pupil’s age it would not be a true reflection of the pupil’s attainment at the start of school. For pupils born later in the academic year, scaling the score by age would disadvantage the school as it would result in a higher baseline from which the pupil’s progress would be measured.

    Reception baseline criteria is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/415142/Baseline_criteria.pdf

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  • Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord MacKenzie of Culkein – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered training nurses in England according to the approach used for trainee paramedics who receive a salary for the work they do while studying for their degree, and if not, why not.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department has no plans to move to the system proposed. Under the current system student nurses are supernumerary in the workforce during their clinical placements. This was introduced in the 1990s following criticisms, led by the Royal College of Nursing, that the employment model used student nurses as a major part of the workforce which did not effectively contribute to their learning, education and development to become competent registered nurses.