Category: Speeches

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of television advertising of junk food before the 9pm watershed on the health of children and young people.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Our forthcoming Childhood Obesity Strategy will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet will be working over the coming days and weeks to establish their priorities and how we deliver on these commitments.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy that the UK should send a new delegation to the European Parliament in June 2019 if Brexit has not been completed, or whether as part of their negotiations they will they seek to extend the term of the present delegation.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Until the UK ceases to be a member of the EU, the Government intends to continue to play its full role, observing the obligations and abiding by the procedures that membership brings.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Hodge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the time taken for Montserrat to respond to his Department’s consultation on a public register of beneficial ownership.

    James Duddridge

    I refer the Right Honourable Lady to the answer given by my Hon Friend the member for Hertfordshire South West (David Gauke), the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to questions 10437, 10438 and 10448, which sets out the criteria we expect the Overseas Territories to meet in relation to their central register of company beneficial ownership, or similarly effective system. We are in discussions with the Montserrat authorities on this and are offering technical assistance as they develop their proposals.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on the veterans’ accommodation fund in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    The £40 million Veterans Accommodation Fund was open for applications in 2014 using LIBOR money to support projects providing veterans accommodation. Successful projects were announced between July 2014 and July 2015, with a total of 16 projects supported. For details of the funding allocated to the successful projects I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 2 June 2015 and 23 November 2015 to the hon. Member for St. Helens North (Mr McGinn) to Questions 428 and 16834.

    In addition, the Chancellor announced in March 2015 a new £25 million Aged Veterans Fund staged over five years; this is also provided from LIBOR fines and charities can apply for funding to help veterans born before 1950. The Aged Veterans Fund is now closed for applications, but it will reopen in 2016.

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the recommendations of James Ewins’ review of the overseas domestic workers visa.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government is considering carefully James Ewins’ recommendations and will announce its response in due course

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many freedom of information requests were (a) granted and (b) refused by his Department in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    Departmental Freedom of Information performance statistics have been published by the Ministry of Justice since 2010. These include the number of requests that were granted in full, partially withheld and fully withheld. They are available at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics

    “

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many detainees have been held in the Kingfisher Isolation Unit in Yarl’s Wood in each year since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    The accommodation in Kingfisher Unit is used for individuals removed from general association in accordance with Rules 40 (removed from association) and 42 (temporary confinement) of the Detention Centre Rules 2001.

    Rule 40 states that an individual may be removed from association where it appears necessary in the interests of security or safety that they should not associate with other detained persons, either generally or for particular purposes.

    Rule 42 states that a violent or refractory individual may be confined temporarily in special accommodation, but not as a punishment, or after he/she has ceased to be refractory or violent.

    Management information held by the service provider, Serco, for Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre is only available for the number of instances that the accommodation was used for these purposes and cannot be provided for the numbers of individuals except at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are considering banning the routine use on farms of antibiotics classified by the World Health Organisation as critically important for treating bacterial infections in people.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The legislation that controls veterinary medicines and medicated feed within the EU is currently under revision. To reflect the rising threat of antibiotic resistance the new proposed frameworks set out additional controls on antibiotics. This includes a ban on the routine preventative use of antibiotics, including those classified as critically important, something the UK supports.

    Negotiations on the frameworks are expected to continue until late 2017. There are no plans to significantly revise or amend the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 until the Commission’s work on the review of legislation has been completed.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to raise awareness of World AIDS Day before 1 December 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    In preparation for World AIDS Day 2016 Public Health England (PHE) will publish the annual HIV in the UK situation report and associated data tables in mid-November 2016. This report will include the latest HIV epidemiology for the United Kingdom, providing national and local systems essential information to inform their World AIDS Day 2016 awareness campaigns. Alongside this HIV Prevention England, co-ordinated by Terrence Higgins Trust and commissioned by PHE will provide a national HIV testing campaign ‘HIV Testing week’. This will commence prior to World AIDS Day and run for one week from the 19 November 2016.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have drawn from the reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Bassiouni Commission on the solitary confinement, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in Bahrain; and whether they plan to ask the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect prison conditions in Jaw Central Prison, Al-Hawd Al-Jaf prison and all other prisons and places of detention, and to make recommendations.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government unreservedly condemns torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and it is a government priority to combat it wherever it occurs. We are aware that there have been allegations in Bahrain, and we raise concerns with the authorities. Our support to Bahrain’s reform programme focuses on strengthening independent oversight bodies such as the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman and the Prisoners and Detainees Rights Commission (PDRC) who provide oversight of police behaviour and detention standards. In May, the PDRC released an independent report which included testimonies of detainees and highlighted a number of key concerns in respect to prison conditions at Jau Prison. We welcome the transparent approach taken by the PDRC, and the Ministry of Interior’s commitment to implement all recommendations made in the report. We continue to call upon the Government of Bahrain to agree a visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.