Category: Speeches

Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to implement the Pension Protection Fund capping change set out in the Pension Act 2014.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government is committed to the implementation of the Pension Protection Fund long service cap as described in the Pensions Act 2014.

Before the primary legislation can be brought into force, a number of changes need to be made to secondary legislation, so that it will operate as expected in all cases. Therefore we cannot, at this time, commit to a particular implementation date.

January 1, 2023
John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if NHS England will publish the (a) agendas and (b) minutes of all future meetings of the (i) Clinical Advisory Group and (ii) Specialised Commissioning Committee within a reasonable period after each such meeting takes place.

George Freeman

The specialised services commissioning committee provides regular updates of its business to NHS England’s public board, of which a summary is published online.

NHS England is considering how to further improve transparency, while not inhibiting the free and frank exchange of views.

January 1, 2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many men were diagnosed with breast cancer in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson

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

January 1, 2023
David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how he has assessed that EU Directive 41/2003 has been properly implemented in respect of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Mr Marcus Jones

We are satisfied that the national legislative framework governing occupational pension schemes, including the local government pension scheme in England and Wales, is consistent with EU Directive 41/2003. I will place a copy of the Government’s transposition table for the Directive in the House Library.

January 1, 2023

Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of (a) trends in the take-up of academy places and (b) the performance of academies in Stafford constituency.

Edward Timpson

The number of pupils on roll in academies in the Stafford Constituency from January 2012 to January 2015 was as follows:

	2012	2013	2014	2015
The Weston Road Academy	824	819	797	813
The Rural Enterprise Academy	N/A	40	84	94
Rowley Park Primary Academy	N/A	N/A	N/A	161
John Wheeldon Primary Academy	N/A	N/A	N/A	428

Source: School Census, January 2012 to 2015

The percentage of pupils achieving level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths at key stage 2 in 2015 (the first year for which the academies had results) for primary academies in Stafford constituency was as follows:

	2015
Rowley Park Primary Academy	83%
John Wheeldon Primary Academy	62%

Source: School Performance Tables

The percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and maths GCSEs at key stage 4 in 2014 to 2015 of the secondary academies in Stafford constituency was as follows:

	2014	2015
The Rural Enterprise Academy	22%	40%
The Weston Road Academy	55%	51%

Source: School Performance Tables

The Weston Road Academy also has a Sixth Form where 79% of pupils passed at least 3 A-Levels (A*-E) in 2015.

Data for key stage 4 for years before 2014 are not comparable due to reforms to qualifications, notably the removal of many previous equivalent vocational qualifications and counting only the first attempt at a qualification in the performance tables in English Baccalaureate subjects.

January 1, 2023

Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department’s plans are for the Office for Life Sciences; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson

The Office for Life Sciences was established in 2011 to support the development and adoption of 21st century health and life sciences technology, delivering the improved patient outcomes and increasing wider growth and prosperity. This agenda remains a core part of the Government’s plans for a comprehensive industrial strategy and for transforming health and care.

January 1, 2023
Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that GMB is able to negotiate on behalf of 200 workers at the Lidl warehouse in Bridgend.

Alun Cairns

The Government has put in place a robust legal framework to ensure workers can be represented by unions if that is their clear, democratic choice. The Government cannot get involved in individual cases such as this one. However, the law states that for a trade union to have the right to negotiate collectively and for its workplace representatives to be eligible for time off to carry out union duties, the union must be recognised by the employer.

Statutory recognition (achieved through the Central Arbitration Committee – CAC) requires that a majority of the workforce support union recognition for collective bargaining with the employer.

January 1, 2023
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the report of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest on contracting in the National Health Service.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Under NHS England’s Standard Financial Instruction both clinical commissioning groups and commissioning support units have an obligation to provide NHS England with details of all contracts entered into with third party suppliers. These arrangements are then subject to review by NHS England’s Commercial and Legal Teams.

January 1, 2023
Lord Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2015-12-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of their obligation under EU law to prevent VAT evasion.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

In considering fraud against European own resources, including VAT collection, the European Court recently clarified in the Taricco judgment that Member States are obliged under EU law (Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) to have in place effective and dissuasive criminal penalties against VAT fraud. The UK applies a full range of penalties to address various behaviours from dishonesty and deliberate inaccuracies through to criminal prosecutions for VAT offences.

January 1, 2023
Lord Chadlington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-01-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the European Court of Human Rights ruling on 12 January in Barbulescu v Romania on an employer’s right to access an employee’s private emails in the UK.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government has made no assessment of the judgment The case raises the important question of whether the Applicant had a reasonable expectation that his communications would not be monitored; and could reasonably expect privacy when communicating from the Yahoo Messenger account that he had registered at his employer’s request, and where there was a strict company policy prohibiting use of work systems for personal purposes. The Applicant alleged interference with his article 8 rights and that the interference was not foreseeable or proportionate. But the Court held that there was nothing to indicate that the domestic authorities failed to strike a fair balance between the applicant’s right to respect for his private life under Article 8 and his employer’s interests, and that there had been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention.

The attached ICO’s employment practices code sets out guidance in relation to workplace monitoring. The code is already clear that employers should have policies in place explaining how they expect their IT systems to be used, including setting out the extent to which, if any, the IT system can be used for personal use. Even where no such policy is in place, it is reasonable in certain circumstances for employers to monitor an employee’s use of the IT systems to ensure compliance with any policy or to ensure that employees are not abusing the use of the system. Such monitoring may include accessing non-work communications but this should only be done in exceptional circumstances.

January 1, 2023