Category: Speeches

  • Lord Cashman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Cashman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Cashman on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to ensure that the UK is represented at ministerial level during the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference in Uruguay from 13 to 15 July.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As I set out to the House on the 21 March, and in my answers of 5 April, and the noble Baroness Verma’s answer of 31 March, the British Government will send a delegation to the Global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Intersex (LGBTI) Human Rights Conference taking place in Montevideo in July.

    The Government is clear in its belief that human rights are universal and should apply equally to all people everywhere. We are opposed to all forms of discrimination and work to uphold the rights and freedoms of LGBTI people in all circumstances. We support the key objectives of the conference: to provide an important opportunity to share information, best practice and lessons learned with partners and to discuss how to better coordinate international efforts to support the promotion and protection of the rights of LGBTI people worldwide. We are committed to working with those countries that will be represented at the conference, and others, to better coordinate work to combat discrimination and violence against LGBTI people. This forms an important part of our wider international human rights work.

    Precise composition of the UK delegation to the conference remains to be confirmed. With the exception of the co-hosts, the Governments of the Netherlands and Uruguay, we judge it likely that countries will be represented at official level.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 14 April 2016 to Question 33419, what the next steps are and when she expects to come to a final position on the UK and French tiering proposal for Phase IV of the EU Emissions Trading System.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government supports the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a market-based approach to achieve least-cost decarbonisation and maintain a level playing field across the EU. Negotiations to reform and strengthen the EU ETS for the next phase of the system are still in the early stages. Following the joint UK-France proposals on tiering of EU ETS free allowances in February, officials have continued to discuss this in greater detail with counterparts in other Member States, as well as with members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and industry representatives. EU ETS negotiations are at an early stage and we expect to develop our thinking further over the coming months.

  • Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37122, on variations in access to transcatheter interventions for heart valve disease, whether the next iteration of the NHS England service specifications and policy for the surgical and interventional treatment of heart valve disease will take into account (a) the need to commission for a growing patient population, (b) anticipated doubling in the over-65 population in the UK by 2050 and (c) lower levels of transcatheter interventions performed in the UK compared to European comparator countries.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS England’s policy development process includes assessment of current published evidence nationally and internationally and will review population projections for up to five years.

    Decisions to set commissioning criteria for which patients will most likely benefit from the intervention will be based on a range of clinical, academic and financial information and a proposition will be put forward through the NHS England prioritisation process. Within the transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) development process, NHS England accepts that there is an ageing population and it will review all available evidence including the encouraging results of the TAVI trials and consider the options around the best use of National Health Service resources. A policy proposition will be produced as part of the 2016/17 work programme.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to ways to prohibit British citizens from travelling to China for the purpose of obtaining an organ transplant until the practice of forced organ harvesting ceases.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    I refer the noble Lord to the answer the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Mr Sharma) gave on 14 September in response to Written Question 45143 from the Hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Jim Shannon), copied below for ease of reference:

    “As My Rt Hon. Friend, the former Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Hugo Swire, stated to the house on the 12 July 2016, we have raised concerns about reports of organ harvesting, as well as about the torture and mistreatment of detainees, during the annual UK-China human rights dialogue. We will do so again at the next round. My officials also raised the issue with their Chinese counterparts on 1 September 2016. However, despite the fact that UK physicians always advise patients against, it is very difficult to prevent UK citizens travelling to less well-regulated countries to seek an organ transplant. Although numbers are not known, it is thought that very few patients in the UK choose to do so.”

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what evidential basis there is for there being a link between enabling students from low and middle income backgrounds to attend university and improving UK productivity set out in his report, Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, published in July 2015.

    Greg Hands

    The link between productivity as measured by wage returns and higher education is well established. Academic evidence shows that a woman can expect on average to earn £252,000 more over their lifetime after studying at university, net of taxes and loan repayments. For a man the equivalent figure is £168,000. This government believes that people from all backgrounds should be able to benefit from a university education. UCAS data suggests that those from disadvantaged areas are 38% more likely to apply to university now than they were in 2009.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of migrants granted leave to remain in the UK were subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds condition in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The proportion of cases granted leave to remain in the UK who were subject to the No Recourse to Public funds condition in each of the last five years was as follows:

    2011: 95%

    2012: 97%

    2013: 94%

    2014: 92%

    2015*: 92%

    These figures have been provided by the Home Office database with figures rounded to the nearest 5, interpreting ‘migrants’ as ‘lead cases’, they exclude asylum applications and figures for 2015 are available up to 30 September 2015.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the terms of reference are for the inter-ministerial group on clean growth.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster chairs an inter-ministerial group on Clean Growth, to consider issues relating to air quality and de-carbonisation where these have a cross-departmental aspect. The group meets as and when required, and members include ministers and officials from the relevant departments, including Defra, DECC, DfT and BIS. To protect the integrity of the policy making process, we do not comment on specific membership or the frequency and timing of meetings.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the report produced by Ernst and Young for his Department in February 2012 on development options and safety standards at RAF Northolt recommended that an Engineered Material Arresting System be installed at RAF Northolt; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 28 January 2016 to Question 24027. The Mott MacDonald report referenced in that previous answer was an Appendix to the Ernst and Young study of February 2012.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 903912, what estimate her Department has made of number of postgraduate trainee teachers recruited in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The data requested has been attached to this answer and can be found in Table 1b at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2015-to-2016

    “

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they agree with the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) call for Europe to resettle 108,000 refugees each year for the next five years; and whether they accept the arguments in the IRC’s situation briefing dated 24 March.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government considers the resettlement of targeted groups of refugees, particularly the most vulnerable, to be a vital part of the international response to the current migration crisis. However, we do not support the setting of binding quotas or targets by any organisation, either at European or international level. In our view national resettlement schemes, run and co-ordinated with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other partners, is the best way for each country to make its own contribution.

    We have committed to resettling 20,000 vulnerable Syrians over the lifetime of this Parliament and we saw the first 1,000 arrive before Christmas 2015. This is in addition to the other resettlement schemes that we operate, including Gateway, under which 750 refugees from all over the world are resettled each year.

    Resettlement is only one strand of the Government’s efforts. It complements our significant humanitarian aid programme, including £2.3 billion to the Syria region, and diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Syria. The Government is clear that this approach is the best way to ensure that the UK’s help has the greatest impact for the majority of refugees who remain in the region and their host countries surrounding Syria.