Category: Speeches

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    No posts in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, or any of the Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies have been abolished in, or relocated from, East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and none will be abolished in, or relocated from, East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the annual cost to the NHS of General Medical Council appraisals.

    Ben Gummer

    In November 2012, the Department published an analysis of the costs and benefits of medical revalidation in England: “Medical Revalidation – Costs and Benefits”. This estimated that revalidation would result in additional costs of £97 million per year in England, over the ten-year period starting in 2013.

  • Lord Faulkner of Worcester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Faulkner of Worcester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Faulkner of Worcester on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the governing bodies of sports other than football about meeting disabled access guidelines at sports stadia.

    Lord Ashton of Hyde

    Ministerial meetings have taken place with the Rugby Football Union and at official level with the Rugby Union Premier League on accessibility. Ministers are aware that there is both good and bad practice on stadium accessibility across a range of other sports. Ministers expect all sports, and all clubs, whose grounds do not make the reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled spectators as set out in the Equality Act 2010 to take action to fulfil this legal obligation.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans for West Yorkshire.

    David Mowat

    Local areas will submit their plans to the national health and care bodies for review shortly, with further public engagement and consultation taking place from this point.

    We expect that most areas will take a version of their Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) to their organisation’s public board meeting for discussion between late October and the end of the year. We would also expect that most areas will publish their plans, for more formal engagement, during this period, building on the engagement they have already done to shape thinking. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation.

    Bradford Clinical Commissioning Group has confirmed that an extraordinary meeting of the Bradford and Airedale Health and Wellbeing Board has been arranged in public to discuss the local STP. This will take place on Wednesday 19 October. Papers are yet to be published.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether participants in Daily Work Search Review under the Help to Work scheme are set quotas for completing a minimum number of job applications.

    Priti Patel

    Under Daily Work Search Review claimants need to provide evidence of their work search activity on a daily basis. Their Claimant Commitment will specify their work search activity requirements which can be up to 35 hours a week. The Claimant Commitment is tailored to claimants’ individual circumstances.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on the Mandatory Work Activity scheme in each of the last four years.

    Priti Patel

    The Department’s expenditure in respect of Mandatory Work Activity in each of the last four financial years is as follows:

    2011-12 £9.2m

    2012-13 £13.7m

    2013-14 £15.0m

    2014-15 £12.8m

  • Lord Campbell-Savours – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Campbell-Savours – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell-Savours on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to carry out an inquiry into VAT fraud in the London souvenir and gift trade.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are committed to tackling tax avoidance, evasion and fraud at all levels to ensure everyone pays the right tax at the right time.

    HMRC introduced a series of taskforces in 2011 to target specific high risk sectors in certain locations. There are currently no plans for a taskforce dedicated to the London souvenir and gift trade, although that does not mean that HMRC takes no action against fraud in this sector.

    Other, existing taskforces – for example those focusing on London retail, indoor and outdoor markets, and VAT repayments – will have an impact on the sector. Additionally, the sector will be impacted through HMRC’s normal intelligence- and data-led way of identifying and addressing tax risks.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why there have been no meetings of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference since 26 February 2007.

    Lord Dunlop

    There have been no meetings of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference since 26 February 2007 largely because the scope of the BIIGC agenda is now much narrower, given the completion of devolution and the fact that the political situation is more stable. The Conference remains part of the architecture of the Belfast Agreement, but is no longer used as the significant forum it was in the past for interaction between the UK and Irish Governments.

    Interaction between the governments of the UK and Ireland takes place regularly at all levels and in many different forums. These include an annual summit between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach, and regular meetings between the heads of UK and Irish government departments.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Turkish government on the conflict in South East Turkey and further steps to protect the civilian population in that region.

    Mr David Lidington

    We are aware of reports of civilian casualties in south east Turkey. The Turkish Government have said that 120 civilians and more than twice that number of Turkish police and military personnel have lost their lives in clashes between 20 July 2015 and 17 February 2016. We continue to believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. As in any conflict, civilian casualties should be avoided and human rights need to be fully protected.

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our Ambassador in Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can. I raised these issues when I met Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister on 12 March and with my Turkish counterpart the last time we met in August 2015.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the new annual payments to infected individuals with stage 1 hepatitis C will be backdated to April 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    Under the reformed scheme, annual payments to the hepatitis C stage 1 cohort will be backdated to 1 April 2016.