Category: Speeches

Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what amount was spent on the maintenance and repair of (a) HMS Daring, (b) HMS Dauntless, (c) HMS Diamond, (d) HMS Dragon, (e) HMS Defender and (f) HMS Duncan for (i) planned maintenance and (ii) repair work in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The amount spent on Maintenance and Repair for the six Type 45 Destroyers is detailed in the table below rounded to the nearest half million:

Name of Ship	In-Service Date	Maintenance/Repair	Cost (£ million)
HMS DARING	July 2010	Programmed Maintenance	£7
Unprogrammed Work/Repair	July 2010	£4.5
HMS DAUNTLESS	November 2010	Programmed Maintenance	£4.5
HMS DAUNTLESS	November 2010	Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£4.5
HMS DIAMOND	July 2011	Programmed Maintenance	£9.5
HMS DIAMOND	July 2011	Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£3.5
HMS DRAGON	April 2012	Programmed Maintenance	£7
HMS DRAGON	April 2012	Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£2
HMS DEFENDER	March 2013	Programmed Maintenance	£2
HMS DEFENDER	March 2013	Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£3
HMS DUNCAN	December 2013	Programmed Maintenance	£1.5
HMS DUNCAN	December 2013	Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£2

The table below reflects the number of planned maintenance days per ship over the six year period. Repair work on individual ship systems takes place during both planned maintenance periods and operational deployments and data relating to the number of days’ worth of repair work is not collected. Unprogrammed work/repair figures shown cover the extension of maintenance periods.

Name of Ship	In-Service Date	Maintenance/ Repair	Duration
HMS DARING	July 2010	Programmed Maintenance	360
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	105
HMS DAUNTLESS	November 2010	Programmed Maintenance	215
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	20
HMS DIAMOND	July 2011	Programmed Maintenance	350
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	0
HMS DRAGON	April 2012	Programmed Maintenance	250
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	0
HMS DEFENDER	March 2013	Programmed Maintenance	100
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	0
HMS DUNCAN	December 2013	Programmed Maintenance	130
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	0

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01/01/2023

Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many civil law suits have been brought against his Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

Jane Ellison

When the Human Rights Act came into force, no specific arrangements were put in place by the then government to record cases in the way requested. Furthermore, litigants in civil cases can rely on arguments based wholly or partly on the Human Rights Act 1998. In some cases, the Act is relied on in addition to other claims. Neither Government Legal Department records nor the County and High Courts case management systems distinguish between cases where the Act is invoked and cases where it is not. As a result, there are not currently data published which distinguish between cases where the Human Rights Act was or was not invoked. To obtain the information requested would involve a thorough review of all paper case files since 2010. To undergo this review would incur a disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to consult with (a) employees and (b) PCS representatives at HM Revenue and Customs Cumbernauld office on the proposed relocation of staff.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) plans to create two new Regional Centres in Scotland, in Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2019-20, accommodating between 5,700 and 6,300 employees. HMRC’s new Regional Centres will give its staff all they need including a modern office environment, close to good travel and transport links. They will provide stable, high quality jobs and offer a wide range of opportunities for training and promotion and allow its staff to follow more varied career paths than have previously been possible.

HMRC will help all its staff work through their options. It will give everyone the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances with their manager ahead of any office closures or moves, so they know about any issues that need to be taken into account when making decisions.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to provide information to enable future planning by supported housing providers during the next 12 months.

Brandon Lewis

The supported housing sector provides valuable support to some of our country’s most vulnerable people and we recognise the important role that it plays.

We are currently undertaking an evidence review of the supported housing sector, which is due to report shortly. We will work with the sector as part of developing a long-term sustainable funding regime.

In the meantime, we have put in place a one-year exception for all supported accommodation from the social rent reduction policy and from the Local Housing Allowance cap.

01/01/2023

Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the level of coal stockpiling in the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Andrea Leadsom

DECC publishes data on coal stocks held in the UK. The table below shows the stocks held at the end of the last 10 years. This includes stocks held at electricity generators, ports and undistributed stocks held at coal mines.

Year	UK Coal Stocks at end of year (thousand tonnes)
2006	17,210
2007	14,155
2008	17,246
2009	24,091
2010	16,885
2011	16,041
2012	13,003
2013	14,287
2014	18,641
2015 (provisional)	14,500

Source: Energy Trends Table 2.6, March 2016 available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends

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01/01/2023

Graham Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK retains its research and development relationship with Israel after the UK leaves the EU.

Mark Garnier

We have a strong research and development relationship with Israel, and that will continue.

We have established a UK-Israel Tech Hub, which creates partnerships between British companies and world class Israeli innovators.

We also have a thriving science and innovation relationship, for example the UK-Israel Science Council whose core mandate is to improve science collaboration between the UK and Israel.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, to which destinations (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have taken flights as part of their official duties since his Department was established.

Mr David Jones

The Government publishes information about flights and other expenses incurred on Ministerial and senior official overseas trips on a quarterly basis.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data his Department collects on the (a) demographics, (b) pension pot size and (c) decisions taken after the consultation of people accessing the Pension Wise service.

Harriett Baldwin

The government committed to providing free, impartial guidance through Pension Wise, to help people make informed and confident decisions about how they use their defined contribution pension savings in retirement. It is available online, via the telephone and face to face. As of 29 October 2015, there were over 20,000 completed appointments for face to face guidance and 9,000 completed appointments for telephone guidance as well as over 1.7 million visits to the website.

Pension Wise runs exit surveys of those who have completed an appointment It is not mandatory for a user to complete an exit survey. The government is committed to being open and transparent with Pension Wise data and will be making core data readily available by placing it on the government performance platform this autumn. The data will be in the public domain and updated regularly. HM Treasury is working with Pension Wise delivery partners to provide the level of detail that we require for reporting purposes.

The Financial Conduct Authority, in line with its remit to protect consumers and ensure markets function in consumers’ interests, is monitoring developments in the retirement income market closely and has committed to take action where consumers are coming to harm or where the market is not operating competitively.

The government recognises that people may wish to consult different sources of information before reaching a decision about their retirement income. In addition to Pension Wise, The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) provides independent, impartial information and guidance about pensions, free of charge, to members of the public. The Money Advice Service also provides free and unbiased information and guidance on all money matters.

A number of pension providers offer financial guidance. Individuals can also access regulated advice from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority are jointly considering how financial advice could be made more accessible and affordable for consumers through the Financial Advice Market Review.

01/01/2023
Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Muslim women reported being the victim of abuse or hate crime in each police authority area in England and Wales in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015; and how many such reports (i) have been investigated, (b) resulted in prosecution and (c) resulted in a conviction.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not hold the requested information. While the Home Office collects information on the number of recorded hate crimes by police force area, we cannot tell from these data the religion or the sex of the victim.

The Home Office does not hold information on prosecutions; these figures are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

I refer the Right Honourable Member to my answer of 3 November in response to question 13254. In the future, we intend to collect a breakdown of religion-based hate crime data from the police to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account.

01/01/2023
Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on his Department’s policies of the recommendations of the Second Global Conference on Road Safety organised by the UN/WHO in Brasilia between 17 and 19 November 2015.

Andrew Jones

The themes of the recommendations from the Second Global Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia are broadly in line with our approach to road safety, with an emphasis on education, enforcement and infrastructure with particular regard to vulnerable road users.

The Government has a Manifesto commitment to reduce road deaths and injuries amongst cyclists and other road users every year. We are working with road safety groups and other stakeholders to determine what more can be done to meet this commitment.

01/01/2023