Category: Speeches

  • David Lammy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Lammy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what policies his Department is implementing to promote active fatherhood; and if he will make it his policy that fathers be required to sign birth certificates.

    Priti Patel

    Our objective is to support families to create and maintain good quality relationships to sustain a safe, stable and nurturing environment for their children. We believe that fathers play an integral role in family life and that is why the government has worked hard to ensure that families have the support they need. In particular, we have invested approximately £8m for 2015-16 providing services for couples – mothers and fathers – during key transitions and in difficulty. We have ensured that all specifications for new contracts specifically include a requirement for providers to engage fathers and ensure their services are father friendly.

    We have also introduced the Family Test which ensures that potential impacts on family functioning are carefully considered as part of the policymaking process, including impacts on all members’ ability to play a full role in family life.

    The legislative provisions to introduce mandatory joint registration remain on the statute and we will continue to consider how joint registration can support fathers’ involvement as part of a wider package of support.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of households affected by floods on 26 December 2015 in (a) Lancashire and (b) England.

    Rory Stewart

    Over 1,300 properties in Lancashire were affected by floods following Storm Eva with around 9,000 properties in England. These figures are subject to change and are based on local authority reporting.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the national recommendations outlined in NHS England’s report on the death of William Mead are implemented.

    Ben Gummer

    The (NHS England South) Regional Quality Surveillance Group is responsible for ensuring that all the national recommendations outlined in NHS England’s report on the death of William Mead are implemented.

    The Department will be keeping track of progress on this front.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Syrian refugees resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme is included within the Government’s priority group for victims of sexual violence, the elderly, victims of crime of torture and the disabled.

    Richard Harrington

    All refugees resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement scheme must meet at least one of the agreed vulnerability criteria. Many individuals will meet more than one of the criteria, for example an individual may be a survivor of violence or torture and have ongoing medical needs. They may also have dependants who would meet one or more of the criteria in their own right if they were applying separately.

    While the Home Office records the primary reason for referral of the lead applicant we do not record any secondary reasons or those of dependant family members. Therefore, the data we have would not give a complete picture of the number of resettled people who would be included under each of the vulnerability groups listed.

  • Alan Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Alan Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Johnson on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the Government plans to implement its policy of providing three days’ paid volunteering leave for employees of large organisations.

    Nick Boles

    The Government will be setting out plans for taking this policy forward in due course.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to support international electricity connectors.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is committed to increasing electricity interconnection with projects that support our energy objectives.

    A number of interconnection projects are already progressing under Ofgem’s regulatory regime1, designed to bring forward interconnection investment in the interest of GB consumers. This includes projects to France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and Ireland, which have been assessed by Ofgem as offering over £11.8bn in consumer benefits. A second window for applications for the cap and floor project is open until 31 October and the Government is keen to see more projects coming forward that can deliver strong consumer benefits.

    The Government has also supported a number of mature interconnector projects to benefit from access to European grant funding as Projects of Common Interest.

    Together these projects represent billions of pounds of infrastructure investment and aim to more than double our interconnection capacity by the early 2020s. This will make Britain more energy secure and will help lower consumer bills.

    [1] Source, Ofgem https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/decision-roll-out-cap-and-floor-regime-near-term-electricity-interconnectors

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  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department plans to publish a strategy for its blue belt policy to protect marine biodiversity in British Overseas Territories.

    James Duddridge

    The overarching policy framework is currently being developed by Government in consultation with the UK Overseas Territories, with the objective of delivering a demonstrable increase in the protection of marine biodiversity. The UK Overseas Territories are constitutionally responsible for the conservation of their natural environments and as such will develop bespoke solutions, where necessary, to implement this policy.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will make a commitment at the UN General Assembly meetings on refugees and migrants on 19 and 20 September 2016 to allow more refugees to reach the UK safely and legally.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government has no plans to introduce additional pathways for refugees to come to the UK. The UK is already a leading resettlement state, offering a number of safe and legal pathways for refugees. In the year ending June 2016, a total of 3,439 people were resettled in the UK.

    In addition to the 20,000 Syrian refugees and up to 3,000 vulnerable persons from the Middle East and North Africa region that the Government has committed to resettle by 2020, the UK has also committed to relocate unaccompanied refugee children from France, Greece and Italy. Under the family reunion policy we have reunited around 22,000 refugees with their immediate family over the past five years and will continue to do so. The Government supports the principle that those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. This allows vulnerable persons to receive help quickly rather than risking their lives on hazardous journeys into and across Europe or falling victim to criminal gangs who are exploiting the situation. Providing humanitarian aid in the region is the best way to provide much needed support to the majority of those fleeing persecution while working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to resettle the most vulnerable who cannot reasonably remain.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many GP reports were provided as supporting evidence to a universal credit application by universal credit applicants in 2015-16.

    Damian Hinds

    The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Alasdair McDonnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alasdair McDonnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alasdair McDonnell on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much is expected to be allocated to Northern Ireland under the National Infrastructure pipeline in each of the next five years.

    Greg Hands

    The information requested can be obtained from “National Infrastructure Pipeline”, published in July 2015 and is available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-july-2015

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