Category: Speeches

David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of cases the Disclosure and Barring Service did not resolve within 60 days in (a) the UK, (b) London, (c) Harringey and (d) Tottenham in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Sarah Newton

In the last 12 months (July 2015 – June 2016) , the proportion of disclosure cases which took longer than 60 days to resolve was as follows: (a) all applications (including those from people residing outside the UK at the time of their application), 5.2%, (b) London, 14.6% (c) Haringey, 14.6% and (d) Tottenham, 16.8%.

The Disclosure and Barring Service is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner and is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets.

01/01/2023

Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Lord on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children secured a place at their first choice school in (a) Woking constituency, (b) Surrey, (c) the South East and (d) the UK in the latest period for which data is available.

Edward Timpson

The Department collects data from local authorities in England on how many parents received an offer of a place for their children at one of their preferred secondary or primary schools based on the respective national offer days.

The most recent data relate to the start of the 2016/17 academic year. Figures on the number of children who secured a place at their first choice school for the local authority of Surrey, the region of the South East and for England, are outlined below.

Figures for the UK are not available as Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland run their own separate school application and offer processes.

Number of applications and first choice offers for entry into primary and secondary school for academic year 2016/17

	Surrey	South East	England
Number of applications for a primary school place	13,859	104,635	641,572
Of which: number offered their first choice	11,394	90,790	566,836
Percentage offered their first choice	82.2	86.6	88.4
Number of applications for a secondary school place	11,154	88,724	548,006
Of which: number offered their first choice	9,404	76,801	460,836
Percentage offered their first choice	84.3	86.6	84.1

01/01/2023

Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2015 to Question 14616, what estimate her Department has made of the number of signatories to the (a) Cortauld Commitment 3, (b) Electrical and Electronic Equipment Sustainability Action Plan, (c) Hospitality and Food Service Agreement and (d) Sustainable Clothing Action Plan in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart

The number of signatories to the voluntary agreements in the last five years is as follows:

Courtauld Commitment 2/3 (signatories):
- 53 from Aug 2011
ESAP Electrical and Electronic Equipment Sustainability Action Plan (signatories):
- 50 at launch, Nov 2014;
- 70 at Nov 2015.
Hospitality and Food Service Agreement (signatories plus supporters*):
- 73 at launch in Jun 2012;
- 171 in Nov 13;
- over 200 in Dec 14
- 226 in Nov 2015.
SCAP 2020 Commitment (signatories plus supporters*):
- 22, at launch in Jun 2013;
- 68 at Dec 2014;
- 82 at Nov 2015.
*Supporters also take an active role in promoting activities which support the Commitments
01/01/2023
John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the contribution of wider access to efficient refrigerated transport to reducing (a) food waste in developing countries and (b) carbon dioxide emissions.

Mr Nick Hurd

DFID is working to support partner countries to tackle poverty and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by building sustainable infrastructure, increasing their access to clean energy and reducing deforestation. DFID recognises the importance of investment in trade and transport logistics to improve efficiency and reduce delays, which have major impacts on reducing carbon dioxide emissions. These improvements will have downstream impacts on many trade related issues including reducing the amount of spoilt goods from transit delays. We are engaged in this area in a number of ways. For example, Trade Mark East Africa is helping to improve the major trade corridors in East Africa to reduce the time and expense of transporting goods. Furthermore, the investment by CDC group into Grindrod, a South African logistics company, is enabling it to expand its transport logistics investments across sub-Saharan Africa. CDC is the UK’s development finance organisation with DFID as its only shareholder.

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department will launch its consultation on the universal service obligation on superfast broadband; and for how long that consultation will be open.

Mr Edward Vaizey

We intend to launch our consultation on proposals to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation in early 2016. The duration of the consultation will be proportionate to the issues under consideration, as advised by the Cabinet Office guidelines, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492132/20160111_Consultation_principles_final.pdf

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01/01/2023
Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make assistance available to local authorities for the costs of disposing of abandoned boats, vessels and other sea-faring equipment.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Statutory Harbour Authorities (some of which are Local Authorities) have powers to deal with wrecks and unservicable and abandoned vessels within their harbour limits.

These powers are available under sections 52, 56 and 57 of the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 (exercisable by the Harbour Master) and in section 252 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The powers allow the removal of wrecks and unserviceable and abandoned vessels and recovery of the cost of doing so from the owner or through disposal of the vessel.

Where there is no statutory harbour authority or conservancy authority in place to use the powers in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, under s253 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 the General Lighthouse Authority may use the same powers set out in section 252 to deal with such vessels where, in the authority’s opinion the vessel is, or is likely to become, an obstruction or danger to navigation or to lifeboats engaged in lifeboat service.

The receiver of wreck, who only deals with wrecked vessels and is a statutory appointment under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, has powers under section 243 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 to dispose of unclaimed wrecks one year after they come into the receiver’s possession. The Act sets out the dissemination of the proceeds of sale after disposal expenses.

Statutory Harbour Authorities operate on a commercial basis without ongoing support from Government and the General Lighthouse Authority are fully funded from a tax on shipping, receiving no money from the UK exchequer. There are no plans for any other funding to be made available.

01/01/2023
Lord Craig of Radley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Craig of Radley on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Army Air Corps personnel have been asked in the past 12 months to repay retention or other alleged overpayments; and in each case, who was responsible for the error.

Earl Howe

The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 23 March 2016 (Official Report, column 2379) to the noble Lord, the Lord Trefgarne.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to discuss with the European Commission the effect of the deadlines placed on the ratification of trade agreements with developing countries where such deadlines could undermine the normal functioning of parliamentary engagement of these ratification processes.

Lord Price

EU Regulation 1528/2007 of 20 December 2007 states that ratification of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific partners should take place “within a reasonable period of time.” UK officials are in regular contact with the European Commission about the EPAs and we do not expect Regulation 1528/2007 to undermine the normal functioning of parliamentary engagement in the ratification processes for these agreements.

01/01/2023
Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37442, what the (a) budget and (b) spend was for the three Northern Fund competitions for academy sponsors.

Edward Timpson

The Chancellor announced the £10m Northern Fund budget, for 2015-16, in his 2014 Autumn Statement. A total of £9,457,033.00 was spent on the three Northern Fund competitions. These are broken down as follows:
- Competition 1: £4,717,464.00
- Competition 2: £2,189,229.00
- Competition 3: £2,550,340.00
01/01/2023
Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department has taken to reduce the incidence of self-harm in prisons.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Government is committed to reducing the incidence of self-harm in prisons. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves. These include the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, which is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm.

An additional £10m of new funding, supplemented by £2.9m from existing budgets, was recently allocated to the 69 prisons with the most concerning levels of violence and self-harm. The Justice Secretary is clear that safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans.

01/01/2023