Category: Speeches

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the timetable for deciding whether to allow a third runway at Heathrow.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    A number of important decisions on airport capacity were taken by the Government in December, including to accept the case for expansion in the South-East. However, we must take the time to get the decision right on a preferred scheme. The Government is further considering the environmental impacts and the best possible measures to mitigate the impacts of expansion, this work will conclude by summer 2016.

  • Mark Pawsey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Pawsey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pawsey on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in each local authority area (a) are being home-schooled and (b) were being home-schooled in each of the last five years for which data is available.

    Edward Timpson

    This data is not collected centrally. Although some local authorities operate voluntary registration schemes, there is no legal obligation for the registration of home educated children.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 45588, what recent representations he has received from Saudi officials on their Joint Investigation Assessment Team and the timescale for the investigation.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK welcomes the release by Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) of the outcome of eight investigations into incidents of alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen. The Saudi-led Coaltion announced it will immediately investigate the airstrike hitting a funeral hall in the Yemeni capital Sana’a on 8 October along with Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT). I raised my concerns with the Saudi Ambassador to London on 9 October and urged the Saudi-led coalition’s announced investigation into the incident to take place as a matter of urgency.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Afghan government on sexual abuse of and physical attacks on young boys and girls in Afghanistan.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK continues to raise this issue both with the Government of Afghanistan and in multilateral fora. We welcome the Government of Afghanistan’s public commitment of support for human rights and eliminating violence against women and girls, most recently at the September 2015 Senior Officials Meeting in Kabul.

    Through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme Fund almost £400,000 has been allocated to address the psychological needs of victims of sexual harassment and violence; support state institutions to improve their response to victims; and raise awareness of the threats.

    We are also funding the United Nations Population Fund in Afghanistan (UNFPA) to provide family protection units, which will include psychological aftercare for survivors of sexual violence. This complements the Department for International Development’s work to strengthen access to justice for survivors of violence.

    Afghanistan is one of six focus countries for the UK’s National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security, for which there is a joint implementation plan across FCO, MOD, and DFID. We have also been involved and continue to support the Afghan National Action and Implementation plan.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the total (a) number and (b) payments made from feed-in tariff schemes in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The table below shows (a) the number of commissioned installations under the feed – in tariff scheme, and (b) generation payments made under the scheme:

    Generation payments (£)*

    Cumulative installations (at end March)**

    2010-11

    12,487,029

    47,746

    2011-12

    135,937,392

    319,057

    2012-13

    504,272,611

    430,445

    2013-14

    685,973,264

    545,245

    2014-15

    850,823,544

    683,462

    *Source; feed-in tariff annual report 2014-15

    https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/feed-in_tariff_annual_report_year_five_2014-15.pdf

    ** Source; DECC feed-in tariff statistics

    Monthly feed-in tariff commissioned installations by month – Publications – GOV.UK

    “

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) permanent staff, (b) temporary staff and (c) contractors are employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment; and how many such staff he expects to be employed at that Establishment in each of the next three years.

    Michael Fallon

    There are 4,920 permanent staff and 890 contractors employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). These figures represent full time equivalent staff, rounded to the nearest ten.

    Contractors working at AWE but employed by sub-contractor companies are not included as this information is not held centrally.

    Over the next three years, staffing levels will depend on programme demand.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he consulted the board of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills prior to his decision to withdraw its funding.

    Nick Boles

    The Commissioners of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) were not consulted during the spending review process prior to the decision taken by Whitehall Departments to withdraw funding.

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has subsequently been working closely with the UKCES’s Strategic Management Group of Commissioners to manage the implications of the decision.

  • Baroness Garden of Frognal – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Garden of Frognal – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that adequate ring-fenced funding is provided to local authorities to enable them successfully to deliver the Government’s childcare provision targets.

    Lord Nash

    We have already announced over £1bn funding for the early years entitlements within the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant by 2019-20, which includes £300m to uplift the funding rate to providers. The increase to the funding rate is based on robust evidence from the Review of the Cost of Childcare. We have made clear our commitment to maximise the amount of this funding which reaches front line childcare providers, and will consult on proposals for achieving this as part of our consultation on early years funding reform later this year.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the consultation into mandatory reporting.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government will launch a full 12 week public consultation later this year.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-18.

    to ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that the new Education Cannot Wait fund will focus on the most marginalised children, including girls and children with disabilities.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has played a leading role in the development of Education Cannot Wait – a fund for education in emergencies. A key focus for Education Cannot Wait will be on ensuring that marginalised children and young people are able to access a quality education. This includes refugees and internally displaced children, as well as children facing barriers to their education because of their gender, disability or other factors.

    This focus is reflected in the Fund’s indicative headline results, which commits to providing “Inclusive education [that] reaches the most marginalised children and young people in crises” with a target of “100% of supported education opportunities demonstrate increase in education for girls, disabled and those in remote locations”.

    The UK will continue to engage closely during Education Cannot Wait’s inception phase, to ensure that this commitment is fully reflected in its final design and results frameworks.