Category: Speeches

  • Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much of her Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.

    Karen Bradley

    The Spending Review announcement set the overall budget for the Home Office. Officials are now going through the detail and will continue to provide advice to the Home Secretary on individual allocations and spending commitments. We anticipate that funding allocations for research and development will be confirmed in the new year.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects the freeze on carbon price floor rates to end.

    Damian Hinds

    CPS rates have been capped at £18/tCO2 until 2019/20. An announcement on the rates beyond 2019/20 will be made in due course.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts (a) in South America and (b) elsewhere on steps to prevent the spread of the Zika virus.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    British officials across the region have been working closely with their counterparts on steps to understand and prevent the spread of the Zika Virus. We have focused particularly on Brazil, which has seen the highest number of cases in the region. On 26 January, the UK announced a new Zika research project between Glasgow University and Fiocruz, a leading biomedical research centre in Brazil. The following day, a scientist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine arrived in Recife to support Zika research led by the Pan American Health Organisation. Discussions are also ongoing between Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials and the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency with regards to combating this virus. On 1 February, I discussed Zika with Ambassadors from the Group of Latin America Countries (GRULAC), highlighting UK assistance to date on this issue and stressing the importance of providing information to those planning their travel now, not least to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what checks his Department has in place to ensure that credit reference firms do not sell-on electoral roll data.

    John Penrose

    Under the Regulation 115 of the Representation of the People (England and Wales)(Amendment) Regulations 2002, anyone who is supplied with the full register is not permitted to sell a copy to any person, disclose any information contained in it, or use it for anything apart from the specified purpose for which the full register has been supplied. In contravening this provision, a person would be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, which currently stands at £5000.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency who are existing universal credit claimants and who are in work will have their universal credit decreased as a result of changes to the work allowance taking effect in April 2016.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available because individual claimants’ circumstances can change as they move in and out of work or their earnings change. We have contacted all claimants who are in work and reporting earnings to make them aware of this change, which will affect a subset of that population.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes in personnel there have been on the Civil Service Board since May 2010.

    Matthew Hancock

    The composition of the most senior collective leadership body (now Civil Service Board) has changed markedly since 2010 and its membership is reviewed on an ongoing basis. The Board has existed in its current guise, under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary, since September 2014. During the past year six new Board members have been appointed, replacing those who have left the Civil Service. The current membership can be found here (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service/about/our-governance).

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  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which overseas trips by Ministers of the Scottish Government were supported by (a) his Department and (b) British embassies and consulates in each year since 2014.

    Mr David Lidington

    The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to impose conditions on the airport which is awarded an additional runway when making a decision on the expansion of airport capacity.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government remains fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects it has set out, including delivering runway capacity on the timetable set out by Sir Howard Davies.

    The Government believes it is essential that expansion via any of the shortlisted schemes is accompanied by a strong package of measures to mitigate the impacts on communities and the environment, and will set out any requirements in this area on a preferred scheme promoter in due course.

  • Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the criteria set by the UN General Assembly for election to the UN Human Rights Council in Resolution 60/251 in relation to the candidacies of China, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK carefully considers its votes against the criteria set out by the UN General Assembly; that members uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights and fully cooperate with the Council. It is the UK’s longstanding policy not to publicise how it votes.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that save-as-you-earn and share incentive plan savings limits are increased in line with inflation on an annual basis.

    Mr David Gauke

    The tax-advantaged Save As You Earn (SAYE) and Share Incentive Plan (SIP) limits were significantly increased from April 2014. The increases the Government have made are reasonable, given the average monthly SAYE savings and the value of awards currently made to employees under SIP, and they represent the best use of resources. The Government will continue to keep the SAYE and SIP limits under review.

    In addition to increasing the SAYE and SIP limits, the rules of the schemes were substantially reviewed and simplified following the recommendations made by the Office of Tax Simplification in March 2012. Last year, the requirement that these schemes must be approved by HM Revenue and Customs to qualify for favourable tax treatment was replaced by self-certification. Coupled with other changes to simplify some technical aspects of the rules, this will make these schemes more attractive to businesses and employees.

    No data is collected and no estimates are made of the income levels of the participants in SAYE schemes.

    Permitting private equity backed companies to offer all-employee tax advantaged schemes would be likely to involve significant changes to the rules of the schemes, and there would be a number of other factors to consider carefully, including the increased cost and complexity of any extension.