Category: Speeches

Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which circumstances magistrates are required to send cases to the Crown Court in cases in which their sentencing powers would be sufficient to deal with the cases in their court.

Mr Shailesh Vara

There are a range of circumstances which would require magistrates to send cases within their sentencing powers to the Crown Court for trial including those involving indictable-only offences; or where the offence concerned is linked to one or more other offences which must be tried in the Crown Court; or where the defendant elects for a jury trial; or, in youth cases, where the offence involves an adult co-defendant who must be tried in the Crown Court.

In accordance with the Allocation Guideline issued by the independent Sentencing Council, magistrates should take account of any potential mitigation and guilty plea, which would bring a case within their jurisdiction. Where they are uncertain about the adequacy of their powers, they should retain a case and commit for sentence if they later take the view that it falls outside their sentencing powers.

01/01/2023
William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place to improve rolling stock as part of the rail franchise package for the North West.

Andrew Jones

The new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises commenced on the 1^st April. By the end of 2019, they will have introduced significant improvements in Rolling Stock.

The Northern franchise will deliver:-
- 281 new carriages including 55 new Diesel and 43 new Electric trains – the first ever new trains specified for the Northern franchise
- Additional diesel units cascaded from other franchises – refurbished to ‘as new’ standard
- Removal of all Pacer trains by October 2019
- All retained trains will be refurbished as new including Wi-Fi, media servers, passenger information systems, CCTV and accessible toilets with baby-change facilities
This means that 30% of this expanded fleet will be new and will operate 2000 more services per week –a 12% increase. The additional trains will provide a 37% increase in morning peak capacity into the North’s 5 major cities by December 2019.

The TransPennine franchise will deliver:-
- 220 new carriages
- All existing trains will be refurbished as new including Wi-Fi, additional power sockets, and real-time passenger information systems
This means that 70% of fleet is new, the fleet size increases by two-thirds, provides 13million more seats, an 80% increase in morning peak seats by the end of 2019.

These delivery plans as bid by the two operators during the Invitation to Tender process have been contracted within the franchise agreements.
01/01/2023
Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information her Department holds on the viability of molten salt reactors to generate electricity.

Andrea Leadsom

In 2012, DECC published an ‘Assessment of advanced reactor systems against UK performance metrics’, which it had commissioned from the National Nuclear Laboratory. This analysis covered molten salt reactors.

These can be found online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/65502/6299-assessment-reactor-systems-uk-metrics.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/65503/6302-addendum-assessment-reactor-metrics.pdf.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the value of (1) imports, and (2) exports, from other EU member states to each local authority area in the UK.

Lord Price

Regional trade statistics at the local authority level are not available.

Trade statistics showing the value of trade in goods between UK regions/countries (NUTS 1 level) and EU member states are available from the HM Revenue and Customs’ Regional Trade Statistics database.

01/01/2023
Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for patients who have certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, mental health problems or other illnesses, to go into schools to talk to children about those conditions, to give them a better understanding of the nature of those illnesses.

Lord Nash

The national ‎curriculum sets the expectation that pupils study personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education in maintained schools and academies are encouraged to teach it as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.

Schools and teachers should decide what to teach based on their pupils’ needs, and taking account of pupil and parent views, when planning health education as part of PSHE.

We believe that schools are best placed to decide whether they draw on the support of patients or resources using patients’ perspectives when delivering PSHE.

01/01/2023
Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage UK nationals with expertise in trade negotiations to return to the UK from other EU countries to act as negotiators.

Greg Hands

The Department for International Trade has already established a strong and capable trade policy team with significant negotiating experience. The team has more than doubled in size since 23 June and is still growing. We will continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and from elsewhere in order to deliver the best outcomes for the UK.

01/01/2023
Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will exempt housing co-operatives from the right to buy scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

Under the voluntary agreement with the National Housing Federation, there will be a presumption that housing associations will sell tenants the property in which they live, but there will be some broad circumstances where a housing association can exercise discretion to decline a sale. These circumstances include properties held by co-operative housing associations.

01/01/2023
Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential economic effect on Scotland of Buchan Deep supply chain work being awarded to a company that will undertake the work overseas.

Anna Soubry

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 December 2015 to Question UIN 18533.

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01/01/2023
Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-01-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much accrued to the public purse through VAT on domestic fuel in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr David Gauke

The information requested is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT accruals from particular goods and services.

01/01/2023

Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children aged up to three years old were taken into care in the last five years; and what assessment she has made of the reasons why those children were taken into care.

Edward Timpson

The number of children aged 0-3 years, that started to be looked after in the last five years ending 31 March, and the main reason why they entered care, is shown in the table below. This information is for England only.

Category of need	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Abuse or neglect	6,880	7,350	7,430	7,380	7,270
Child’s disability	50	50	60	50	50
Parents illness or disability	520	550	480	500	460
Family in acute stress	690	710	740	740	670
Family dysfunction	1,460	1,560	1,710	1,840	1,730
Socially unacceptable behaviour	50	40	70	70	60
Low income	20	20	10	20	20
Absent parenting	260	210	190	150	160
Total number of looked after children aged 0-3 years, in England	9,910	10,500	10,690	10,740	10,420

Source: SSDA903

Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Only the first occasion on which a child was taken into care in the year has been counted.

01/01/2023