Category: Speeches

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed public sector exit payments cap on the flexibility of academy chains to restructure their workforce.

    Greg Hands

    Voluntary redundancy and workforce restructuring is not contingent upon access to six-figure exit payments. As such, we do not expect the cap to have a widespread impact on the take-up of voluntary redundancy, and believe the cap will enable public sector employers to retain the tools to effectively make organisational changes to their workforce whilst offering those made redundant generous provisions for loss of employment.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average cost per mile to upgrade a motorway to a smart motorway.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England has an improvement programme to create additional network capacity by utilising the motorway hard shoulder as an additional lane. This is known as the Smart Motorway Programme.

    The cost depends on the scope and nature of each scheme and is heavily influenced by factors such as the number of junctions and the extent of work needed to existing structures.

    Based on the actual or forecast actual cost of relevant schemes started over the past five years, the total cost ranges from £7.5-£8.8m per mile of additional network capacity (using a common price base of March 2015).

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding priorities her Department has in Bangladesh.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Our priorities in Bangladesh reflect those of the wider UKAid Strategy:

    • Strengthening peace, security and governance
    • Building Bangladesh’s resilience to climate change and strengthening disaster preparedness
    • Tackling extreme poverty, in both rural and urban areas and improving the quality of education and health services
    • Promoting economic prosperity and inclusive growth, ensuring that no one in Bangladesh is left behind.

    Running through all of these priorities is a commitment across all of our work to support women’s empowerment and addressing early marriage, promoting voice and choice for all girls

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29669, what progress he has made on establishing the cost to the public purse of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information.

    Matthew Hancock

    The total expenditure of the Commission on Freedom of Information was £155,744.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department had with the Department for Education before the decision to withdraw government guidance that most new schools are expected to be fitted with automatic fire sprinkler systems.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department for Education’s consultation on Fire Safety Design for Schools – Building Bulletin (BB) 100 Revised closed on 15 August and the Department for Education is considering responses.

    We will engage with the Department for Education on its proposals on the way forward, ahead of its publication .

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in October 2014 that they were planning to pay off some debts from World War One, how much has been paid off to date, and how much is still outstanding.

    Lord Young of Cookham

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 3 December 2014 that the government would adopt a strategy to remove the remaining undated gilts in the government’s debt portfolio, thus repaying all the nation’s First World War debt.

    Three of the eight undated gilts that remained in the government’s portfolio in 2014 were issued to fund the First World War: the 4% Consolidated Loan, 3½% War Loan and 3½% Conversion Loan. These were redeemed in 2015, on 1 February, 9 March and 1 April respectively.

    Almost 99% of the amount due has been repaid to date. Due to the age of the records relating to undated gilts, the registrar has not been able to contact all holders. However, the government has thus repaid the vast majority of the nation’s First World War debt.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what estimate she has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be estimated only at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the number of Palestinians killed or injured in October and November.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are deeply concerned by the recent violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the number of deaths and injuries of both Palestinians and Israelis during this time. Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority on the urgent need to de-escalate the tensions. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), discussed the violence with the Israeli Head of Military Intelligence on 24 November. The Deputy Head of Mission at our Embassy in Tel Aviv also raised the issue of the current violence with Israel’s National Security Council Director on 18 November.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2015 to Question 18680, for what reasons her Department does not hold information on (a) the number of academies in England that were in deficit and (b) the total deficit of those academies in each year since 2009-10.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education does not hold this information in the form requested and it could be calculated only at disproportionate cost.

    Academy trust accounts have only been consolidated into those of the department from 2012-13 (academic year 2011/12). Analysis of academy trusts in deficit before then would require reviewing individually each trust’s accounts.

  • Lord Naseby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Naseby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Naseby on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the budget estimate in relation to the projects to be delivered in the 2015–16 grant application from the group Action on Smoking and Health and all other budget estimates received by the Department of Health in each of the last five years from that organisation.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The proposed budget estimates received from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) for each of the last five years for a Section 64 grant is attached. Commercially sensitive information has been redacted.

    As the agreed project outputs make clear, the 2015-16 Section 64 grant funding awarded to ASH will be spent in the current financial year, including work relating to preparation for legislation coming into force later in 2016.