Category: Speeches

Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of which sectors of the British economy are most at risk from foreign export dumping; and what steps he is taking to protect those sectors from that activity.

Anna Soubry

Any industry or business can potentially be affected by dumping. Companies in all goods sectors can therefore seek protection from dumping or subsidy through the EU’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy Regulations by providing evidence direct, or through a trade association, to the European Commission.

Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions by the European Commission have been taken against a wide range of imported products. The attached table shows the sectoral pattern of investigations conducted by the European Commission during the period 2011-2016.

01/01/2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Japanese and (b) South Korean counterparts on the development of nuclear weapons by those countries.

Mr Hugo Swire

While the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has discussed nuclear non-proliferation issues with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts this year, the specific issue raised in the question has not arisen: in joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as Non-Nuclear Weapons States, Japan and South Korea have undertaken legally binding commitments not to acquire nuclear weapons. Japan and the Republic of Korea have made clear public statements that strongly support the treaty as the cornerstone of global efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, to promote the safe and secure use of civil nuclear energy, and to pursue nuclear disarmament.

01/01/2023
Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to provide legal support to children already in the UK who wish to sponsor their parents to join them, and for other complex reunion cases.

Lord Keen of Elie

UK Visas and Immigration issues 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. For these reasons, there are currently no plans to make changes to the legal aid provision in such cases.

01/01/2023

Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

Mr Philip Dunne

In April 2013, Public Health England took over the mandatory surveillance of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), formerly undertaken by the Health Protection Agency.

The total number of trust apportioned cases of HCAIs can be found in Table 1. For the purposes of answering this question trust apportioned cases can be considered “hospital-borne” infections.

Data for the years 2000 and 2005 are not available.

Table: Counts of trust apportioned HCAIs by financial year in 2010 and 2015:

	April 2010 to March 2011	April 2015 to March 2016
Meticillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA)	ND	2,910
E.coli	ND	7,692
Clostridium difficile infection (patients aged 2 years and over)	10,417	5,164
Meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)	688	297

Notes:

ND – Not Determined
Cases are deemed to be trust apportioned if the following criteria are met:-

– The location where the specimen was taken is given as ‘acute trust’ or is not known;

– The patient was either an ‘In-patient’, ‘Day-patient’, in ‘Emergency assessment’ or is not known.

– Patient’s specimen date is on, or after, the third day of the admission (or admission date is null), where the day of admission is day 1 (for MSSA or E. coli bacteraemia)

– Patient’s specimen date is on, or after, the fourth day of the admission (or admission date is null), where the day of admission is day 1 (for Clostridium difficile infection).

01/01/2023

Julian Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what remedy exists for enquirers whose electronic communications with the International Enquiry Service are not answered.

James Brokenshire

The International Enquiry Service currently handles approximately 12,000 emails a week and, from management information received, continues to answer all emails within the published service standards (100% of emails responded to within one working day (24 hours)) . In addition, all email enquiries receive an auto response which states “Your email has been submitted – We have received your email. You will receive a response within one working day.”

01/01/2023
Lyn Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many training courses on cyber-crime are provided for police officers.

Mike Penning

There are a number of training courses dealing with cyber crime available to police officers, for example, through the College of Policing and other external providers. The Home Office does not hold a central record of the number of such training courses. Furthermore, the Home Office does not hold a central record of how many police officers have completed training courses on cyber crime in the last six months or in the last year. However, the Government recognises that driving up cyber knowledge and capabilities at the local policing level is very important, that is why we are delivering training in cyber crime to officers in local police forces funded by the National Cyber Security Programme. The second phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course was launched on 30 September 2015 by College of Policing. This is a modular course consisting of a series of self-teach and interactive modules accessible to all police officers and staff, and which gives an introduction to how to recognise and investigate cyber crimes.

Cyber Security, including combating cyber crime, is a top priority threat to national security. That is why we have invested over £90 million over the last five years to bolster the law enforcement response, and we will continue to invest. As the Chancellor announced on 17 November, we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9 billion over the next five years. This will enable us to continue to invest in training for police officers at the national, regional and local levels.

01/01/2023
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the School Direct programme is ensuring a sufficient supply of teachers for schools in England.

Lord Nash

Teaching continues to represent an attractive choice for top graduates and career changers – last year we recruited over 1,000 more secondary teachers than the previous year, and we exceeded our target for new primary teachers.

Our best schools have a crucial role to play in training the next generation of outstanding teachers. That is why we introduced the School Direct training programme, which gives schools the opportunity to recruit and select their own trainee teachers, and to play a central part in both the design and delivery of teacher training. School Direct is only one of a range of routes through which new teachers can choose to train.

We initially piloted the School Direct programme with a cohort of 351 trainees in the academic year 2012/13; thanks to its popularity with schools the scheme rapidly expanded to deliver 6,676 training places the following year. This has continued to rise each year, and provisional data show that 10,252 trainees have commenced School Direct programmes in the current academic year. This represents 39 per cent of all postgraduate teacher training places in the current year, and makes a significant contribution to the 51 per cent of all postgraduate training places that are now school-led.

We recognise that recruitment to teacher training is becoming increasingly challenging as the economy improves and the graduate labour market strengthens. That is why we are giving schools greater direct involvement in selecting and training the high-quality teachers they need.

01/01/2023
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to attend the UN Open Ended Working Group on nuclear disarmament which takes place from 22 to 26 February.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK is not attending the Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on nuclear disarmament in Geneva. The UK, along with the four other Non-Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Weapons States, voted against the resolution establishing the OEWG at the UN General Assembly First Committee. The Government believes that productive results can only be ensured through a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment.

01/01/2023
James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to improve the protection of areas of outstanding natural beauty in marine areas.

George Eustice

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty do not cover marine areas. However, this Government has made a commitment to complete a ‘Blue Belt’ of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around our coasts. These sites will also contribute to an ecologically-coherent network of MPAs in the North East Atlantic.

Over 17% of UK waters and almost a third of English inshore waters are now within MPAs. This includes 50 Marine Conservation Zones created since 2013. We are continuing to work towards designating further MPAs to complete the ‘Blue Belt’.

01/01/2023
Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) staff and (b) other costs to his Department were for the production of chart 1.5 on page 21 of the 2016 Budget Book.

Harriett Baldwin

A number of Treasury officials were involved in preparing the Chancellor’s Budget Report. The government does not calculate the costs of producing individual charts at fiscal events.

01/01/2023