Category: Speeches

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what statistics his Department collects on the use of computers in libraries.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The annual library statistics compiled, and published in December 2015, by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy indicate that from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 there were 26 million recorded hours of use of computers in public libraries in England.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of pharmacies which will potentially be affected financially by planned changes to funding in the Bradford District Care Trust area.

    Alistair Burt

    The proposals on which we are consulting will apply to all community pharmacies providing National Health Service pharmaceutical services in England.

    Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. The Government believes these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.

    We have been consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the difference between the number of grants taken up to be used to buy plug-in vehicles and the number of grants taken up to be used to install home charge points.

    Mr John Hayes

    Only those with off-street parking or a garage are eligible for the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme which funds a dedicated home chargepoint. Some plug-in vehicle owners may only have on-street parking and be charging their vehicles at work or using the public charging network. A small number may be charging their vehicles at home using an existing domestic socket.

  • Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why, in the guidance for Home Office staff published on 9 September, for the purposes of assessing the mental health of an immigration detainee and of Rule 35 reports regarding particularly vulnerable detainees, a distinction is made between torture by state actors and torture by non-state actors.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The definition of torture adopted for the “adults at risk in immigration detention” policy is in line with that set out in the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) although, for the purposes of the policy, it has been extended to cover serious harm inflicted by terrorist groups exploiting instability or civil war to hold territory.

    The Government adopted this definition as it most accurately reflects the need to protect those who are most likely to be adversely affected by detention – that is, those who have been harmed by the state, or by an organisation exercising similar control, and for whom detention is most likely to be redolent of the harm they have suffered.

    In order to be consistent, the same definition was applied to the reporting system in rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 under which doctors working in immigration removal centres are required to report concerns that a detainee may have been the victim of torture. This has no effect on the requirement also in rule 35 for such doctors to report where a detainee’s health is likely to be injuriously affected by continued detention or the conditions of detention.

  • David Nuttall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    David Nuttall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding is available to assist the development and promotion of long distance walks.

    Tracey Crouch

    The Government is investing over £68 million through Sport England for outdoor recreation sports. The Ramblers and Long Distance Walking Association are recognised by Sport England as National Governing Bodies, and can apply for Sport England funding.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many assaults there have been on staff working for (a) London Underground, (b) London Overground, (c) London buses, (d) Docklands Light Railway and (e) Tramlink in October of each year between 2010 and 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport does not collect this information.

    However, I am able to say that the British Transport Police will shortly be launching Project Servator, which aims to detect and deter crime on the railways. It deploys highly visible and unpredictable police patrols to prevent a range of criminal activity, from pickpocketing and theft to more serious crimes including terrorism.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many projects her Department is currently managing that have been developed with funding from the International Climate Fund.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change is currently supporting 21 projects through the International Climate Fund. The majority of these projects are managed by delivery partners such as multilateral development banks and involve donors additional to the UK.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to safeguard 16 and 17 year olds from child sexual exploitation.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

    The Government has overhauled the legislative options available to the police in tackling child sexual exploitation. Most importantly we have introduced new Sexual Risk Orders (SRO) and Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPO) which the police can now use to manage an individual who presents a risk of sexual harm to a child, including a young person aged 16 and 17. The Government has also removed all references to the misleading and unhelpful terms ‘child prostitution’ and ‘child pornography’ from statute via the Serious Crime Act 2015. The law now explicitly recognises these harmful activities for what they are: child sexual exploitation.

    This Government is committed to supporting victims of sexual exploitation, in December 2014 the Government announced a £7 million uplift to services supporting survivors of sexual abuse, including child sexual exploitation. This was in addition to the £1.72 million a year the Home Office provides to part fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisors to work with and support victims. In January 2016, the Ministry of Justice announced that Government will continue the £7 million uplift to support survivors and victims of sexual abuse, including child sexual exploitation.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase the supply of wheelchair accessible homes in the social and affordable housing sector.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government provides direct funding for specialised housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme, making available up to £800 million for specialised housing for older, disabled, and vulnerable people over the next five years, which will deliver over 15,000 specialised homes.

    The Government is also putting more money into the Disabled Facilities Grant to enable older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes for longer. On top of the £1 billion the Government has invested in the grant since 2010, the grant will increase year on year for the next five years rising to over £500 million by 2020. In 2016-17 the Disabled Facilities Grant will grow to £394 million, a 79% increase on the current year.

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 24713, if he will apply to the EU’s Globalisation Adjustment Fund for funding for the UK steel industry.

    Priti Patel

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 November 2015 to question UIN 14404.