Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what account the Airports Commission took of the concern raised by its expert advisors that the failure to account for high value-added international sectors in measuring the agglomeration benefits of the three shortlisted projects was a significant limitation.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

    The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on costs, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will commission an urgent review of flood defences in (a) Leeds city region and (b) Yorkshire.

    Rory Stewart

    Whenever an exceptional event happens it is important to review what happened and how to prepare for the future, and the Environment Agency will always do this after a flood incident.

    The flood response in Yorkshire will be overseen by Transport Minister Robert Goodwill who has been appointed as Flooding Envoy to the county and will track progress on recovery and identify lessons learnt

    Work has also already started on the National Resilience Review, which is considering forecasting and modelling, resilience of key infrastructure and the way we make decisions on flood expenditure. The Review is being delivered by a cross-Government team and will be published in the summer.

    £40 million funding has been committed to repair flood defences in response to the flooding. Going forward, as part of our new flood defence programme, we have been working with Leeds City Council and we are investing £33 million in a project to better protect Leeds City Centre. Construction of the new defences is already underway.

  • Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Duty Provider Crime Contracts have been awarded to BAME firms in (a) the West Midlands, (b) the city of Birmingham and (c) Birmingham, Hodge Hill constituency.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of Thursday 28 January, the crime Tender process has been withdrawn.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Legionnaires’ disease incidents have been reported in each prison since May 2010.

    Ben Gummer

    Due to small numbers involved and risk of deductive disclosure, the number of cases of Legionella pneumonia in people in prisons in England cannot be provided.

  • David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will arrange for HM Revenue and Customs to acknowledge or reply to the letter of 24 February 2016 from the hon. Member for Walsall North concerning a constituent.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs replied to the hon. Member’s letter on 14 March 2016.

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

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what forecast his Department has made of the cost of legal fees for the High Speed 2 project over the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department has appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to provide support in relation to the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill. The value of the contract as agreed with Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group is £10.5m. The contract duration is from March 2012 until six months after Royal Assent.

    The Department has also appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to support the preparation of the HS2 Phase 2a hybrid bill, which is expected to be deposited in 2017. The value of the contract as agreed with Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group is £4.2m over three years, with the opportunity to extend the contract for an additional one or two years, subject to approval.

    The Department also continues to instruct a number of barristers to support the HS2 project. However, the use of barristers is demand led and so the total cost of fees over the next five years is not possible to forecast.

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Baroness Whitaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2016-05-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK cluster bombs have been sold to the government of Saudi Arabia; and if so, when.

    Earl Howe

    The Governments of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement in August 1986 that covered the supply of BL-775 cluster munitions to the Royal Saudi Air Force. The last of these were supplied in early 1989. We are not aware of the sale of any other UK cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust first checked the case notes of patient KM; and whether the medical director of that Trust wrote to Mr Agrawal to withdraw and to apologise for believing that the patient had died.

    Mr Jeremy Hunt

    This is an employer and employee matter between the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Mr Aditya Agrawal respectively. The Department cannot comment on individual employment matters that are the responsibility of independent organisations, and that are subject to ongoing legal proceedings or on matters relating to individual clinical cases or other personal information. We understand that the cost to East Lancashire Trust of legal proceedings concerning Mr Agrawal is £296,848.42 to date, and that the Trust does not have insurance costs for legal awards in the event of the Trust or one of its employees being subject to legal action for defamation.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the level of parental contributions required to fund extended school activities on participation of pupils pupils from low-income families in such activities.

    Edward Timpson

    We want to ensure that all young people get the best start in life, with the opportunity to receive the knowledge and skills, the right advice at the right time, and great, challenging life-shaping experiences that will ensure their future success. We know that effective schools personalise their support for disadvantaged pupils, which can include the use of extended school activities. Schools are free to use the funding they receive, including through the pupil premium, to offer these activities. We have committed to protecting the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this Parliament, providing £2.5billion of additional funding this year alone to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

    The Department for Education does not collect information on the amount of funding schools receive from parental contributions for extended school activities or how this affects levels of participation in such activities. It is for schools to set their charging and remission policy. Any charges for extended services cannot exceed the cost of the provision, and in setting their charging policy schools can determine the circumstances where they will remit or partially remit any charges.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for how many days Ms Patricia Hart worked on the Review of the NHS Hospitals Complaints Systems in 2013.

    Ben Gummer

    Professor Patricia Hart worked for 20.3 days on A Review of the NHS Hospitals Complaints System in 2013.