UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 26 April (HL7583 and HL7584), what assessment they have made of whether the same collateral could be used to support risk at both LCH and Eurex.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    I refer the noble Lord to my previous answers of 26 April (HL7583 and HL7780) which noted that, once notified of the merger, the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority would assess the proposal from a regulatory standpoint, and that it would also be subject to assessments and approvals by the competition authorities, overseas regulators, and shareholders.

    My previous answers further noted that any inter central counterparty links would need to be assessed against the relevant parts of European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) by the Bank of England, as supervisor of LCH.

  • Lord Rennard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Rennard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress HM Revenue and Customs has made in investigating in the UK tobacco companies that over-supply low tobacco-tax foreign countries, and what action has resulted from those investigations.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The UK introduced stringent rules in 2006 requiring all UK Tobacco Manufacturers (TMs) to control their supply chains. These rules required them to take steps to avoid supplying cigarettes and/or HRT (hand rolling tobacco) to persons who are likely to smuggle them into the UK or resupply them to other persons who are likely to do the same.

    Tobacco manufacturers can face penalties of up to £5m for failing to comply with the rules. HMRC action, in monitoring TM’s compliance, is reflected in a reduction in supplies of UK brand cigarettes to high risk markets of 20% since 2010. At the same time, supplies to those markets of UK brand Hand Rolling Tobacco (HRT) has reduced by 36%.

    Despite this success HMRC is not complacent. They continue to closely monitor the illicit market in the UK, which today is made up of a mix of unregulated brands, non UK brands, and counterfeit as well as genuine UK brands, to ensure the legislation is working. HMRC also robustly challenge TM’s supply chain policies and procedures to ensure their continued compliance with the rules.

    HMRC cannot comment on the progress of individual investigations but it is a matter of public record that one manufacturer has been subject to a supply chain penalty. This penalty is currently under to appeal.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British airstrikes have been conducted in (a) Iraq from September 2014 to September 2016 and (b) Syria from December 2015 to September 2016.

    Mike Penning

    Between 1 September 2014 and 31 August 2016 there were 941 UK airstrikes in Iraq. Between 1 December 2015 and 31 August 2016 there were 63 UK airstrikes in Syria.

    These strike numbers are constantly reviewed and updated by the Coalition to ensure records are as complete and accurate as possible. As such, past and future statements regarding statistics may differ to those given here.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she has made an estimate of what the change in electricity bills will be as a result of the withdrawal of market support mechanisms for onshore wind; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government will reintroduce measures for the early closure of the Renewables Obligation (RO) for new onshore wind in Great Britain, when the Energy Bill is in the Commons. The measures will close the RO from 1 April 2016 – a year earlier than originally planned.

    As set out in the impact assessment, it is estimated that the proposed early closure of the RO to onshore wind will reduce household electricity bills.

    The impact assessment is available here:

    http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-007F.pdf

    “

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to tackle bullying initiated by religious intolerance in schools.

    Edward Timpson

    All bullying is unacceptable and every school is required to have a behaviour policy including measures to tackle all forms of bullying. They are held to account by Ofsted and inspectors will look at records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour, including racist, disability, use of derogatory language and racist incidents.

    The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England published in November 2015 found that 30,000 fewer young people said they had been bullied in the last twelve months – a drop from 41 per cent in 2004 to 36 per cent in 2014.

    All schools are required to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faith and beliefs. Our guidance published in November 2014 says that British values include accepting that others of different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour.

    All publicly funded schools are required also to promote community cohesion and teach a broad and balanced curriculum. The curriculum provides many opportunities to foster tolerance and understanding. For example, as part of the history curriculum, pupils could learn about different cultures, and about how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain. The citizenship programme of study sets out a requirement for pupils to be taught about ‘the diverse national, regional, religious, and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding’. PSHE can teach young people about the rights and responsibilities of living in a diverse community and how to respect others.

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the Financial Conduct Authority’s decision to end its review into HSBC.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The FCA are operationally independent of Government. They are responsible for deciding how to carry out their functions, and for assessing the implication of their actions.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will reinstate legal aid for qualifying UK residents seeking to re-unite with their immediate family members from overseas; and if not, why not.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    Our limited legal aid resources should be available for the highest priority cases and to the most financially vulnerable. There are no plans to change the legal aid arrangements for family reunion. As with all cases outside the scope of legal aid, exceptional funding may be available where required under ECHR or EU law.

    Guidance to support applications for family reunion is available from the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). UKVI issue guidance to help applicants, and the types of evidence requested to accompany an application – such as marriage and birth certificates – will usually be straightforward to collate.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce knife crime in Greater Manchester.

    Mr John Hayes

    Tackling knife crime is a priority for this Government. Knife crime offences recorded by the police remain 14% below the level of offences in 2010.

    However we recognise there is always more to do and we are currently reviewing action to be taken on knife crime. We will be setting out the measures in the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy which will be published shortly.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients who will have to use other hospitals if Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is closed.

    Ben Gummer

    No estimate has been made. These are matters for the National Health Service.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 28 April (HL Deb, col 1244), what provision was made in the Treasury document published on 18 April on the economic efforts of a UK withdrawal from the EU for funding the health, education, welfare and other costs associated with the forecast increase in that document of three million in the population of the UK by 2030.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    “HM Treasury analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives” shows that after 15 years, even with savings from reduced contributions to the EU, receipts would be £20 billion a year lower in the central estimate of the EEA, £36 billion a year lower for the negotiated bilateral agreement and £45 billion a year lower for the WTO alternative. £36 billion is more than a third of the NHS budget and the equivalent of 8p on the basic rate of income tax.

    The HMT analysis does not forecast immigration but uses the latest figures from ONS as a modelling assumption. These numbers do not take account of future Government actions to reduce immigration, including the emergency brake on welfare agreed as part of the renegotiation.

    The Government is committed to controlling migration by dealing with those who shouldn’t be here, by deporting illegal immigrants and improving the skills of British workers, so we reduce the demand for skilled migrants.

    The Prime Minister has re-negotiated the UK’s position within the EU to close back-door routes into the UK and exert greater control over EU migration by tackling the draw of our welfare system.

    But net migration remains too high and there is still more work to do.