Category: Speeches

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress the international coalition is making in its work to defeat Daesh.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​As recent progress in Qayyarah in Iraq and Manbij in Syria demonstrates, our strategy of supporting local forces, including with airstrikes is working. The Coalition assesses that Daesh has been driven out of around half the territory it once occupied in Iraq and over 20 per cent in Syria. Thousands of people have been freed from Daesh’s rule and many of those who have escaped have now been able to return to their homes. The next major challenges are driving Daesh out of Raqqa and Mosul.

  • Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the governments of India and Nepal regarding protests and disruption at border crossings between those countries.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 November 2015 (PQ 15614).

    In addition to this answer, I discussed the blockage at the border with the Indian Foreign Secretary during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United Kingdom.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have received young carer assessments under the Children and Families Act 2014 since its implementation; and what proportion of young carers received services from the local authority to meet their needs following such an assessment.

    Edward Timpson

    This information is not available to the Department.

    From April 2015, all young carers are entitled to an assessment of their needs for support by the local authority. These new provisions work alongside those in the Care Act 2014 for assessing adults to enable ‘whole family approaches’ to assessment and support. This means that when a child is identified as a young carer, the needs of everyone in the family will be considered. This will cause both children’s and adults’ support services to assess why a child has a caring responsibility, what needs to change, and what would help the family to prevent children from taking on this responsibility in the first place.

    This reform is intended to ensure effective, joined-up support with the potential to offer a single point of professional contact for young carers and their families.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total crew complement of HMS Ocean was on its most recent deployment; of what the Embarked Military Forces she carried consisted; and how many helicopters of which type she carried.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Ships’ complements are not fixed; they vary, even across a class, depending on equipment fits and in response to specific tasking.

    HMS OCEAN has a complement of 380 when in her normal operating role; however, this would have varied during her deployment on COUGAR 15 as personnel embarked and disembarked dependent on the activity. The Embarked Military Force (Royal Marines and Aviation Group personnel) was in the region of 620.

    Similarly, the number and type of helicopters embarked varied depending on the activity. At points during the deployment, HMS OCEAN carried the following helicopters:

    Chinook CH47

    2

    Apache

    4

    Wildcat

    4

    Merlin Mk2

    2

    Osprey MV 22 (US Marine Corps)

    3

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will put mechanisms in place to ensure that the Institute for Apprentices responds to labour market information when setting funding cap levels for apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    The Institute for Apprenticeships (IFA) will have a role in advising Government on which funding cap each apprenticeship standard should be allocated to.

    The IFA will take into account the cost of apprenticeship training and assessment as well as the demand for different skills across the economy.

  • Lord Boateng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Boateng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, in the aftermath of the Ebola epidemic, of the case for the reform of World Health Organisation governance structures in order to strengthen the effectiveness of global responses to the outbreak of infectious diseases.

    Baroness Verma

    Following lessons learned from Ebola, Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) supports the recommendations from the independent Advisory Group to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General on Reform of WHO’s Work in Outbreaks and Health Emergencies. HMG welcomes the action that WHO Director General Chan has already taken in joining together WHO’s disease outbreaks and emergency response departments. We also welcome commitment by the WHO to implement one workforce, one budget, one set of rules and processes, and a clear line of authority which we assess will strengthen WHO’s governance structure and allow for an effective response to outbreak of infectious diseases. HMG has urged the WHO to implement the Advisory Group recommendations in full and without delay and we look forward to an update on progress with this at the World Health Assembly in May.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders in category (a) 1, (b) 2, and (c) 3 are being managed by multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) in England and Wales; and how many MAPPA-managed offenders there have been in each year since 2010.

    Andrew Selous

    This information is available in table 1 of the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Reports. These can be found at the following links:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements-mappa-annual-report-2014-to-2015

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements-mappa-annual-report-2013-14

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements-mappa-annual-report-2012-13

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements-annual-report-2011-12

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mappa-annual-report-20010-11

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements-annual-report-2009-10

    “

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of conditions faced by detainees in Maekalawi prison in Ethiopia.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We do not have access to Maekalawi prison and, therefore, are not in a position to make an assessment of the conditions within the prison. However, we are aware of the allegations contained in the Human Rights Watch 2013 report titled “They Want a Confession” and the subsequent response from the Government of Ethiopia to the report. Through our bilateral relationship with Ethiopia we will continue to lobby the government on the treatment of high-profile political prisoners, some of who are detained at Maekalawi prison.

  • Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) economic effect and (b) effect on the garment industry in Bangladesh of recent violence in that country.

    Alok Sharma

    Bangladesh’s export market, in particular the ready-made garments sector plays a pivotal role in Bangladesh’s economy. A loss of investor confidence, due to recent violence and attacks against foreign nationals, could adversely harm Bangladesh’s economy and as a consequence its impressive progress towards middle-income status.

    Extremist related violence is an international problem that requires all countries to work closely together to prevent atrocities and tackle the root causes. Along with the international community we are committed to supporting Bangladesh in this global challenge. As the largest grant aid donor to Bangladesh we continue to address some of the root causes such as poverty and economic marginalisation.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on a potential establishment of a no-fly zone over parts of Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    As he made clear during the House of Commons Emergency debate on the situation in Aleppo on 11 October, the Foreign Secretary has every sympathy with the idea of no-fly zones and the motives behind them. The situation in Syria is appalling and we are working with international partners on ways to help alleviate the suffering of the people there, particularly those in besieged areas such as Aleppo. We continue work to identify what more the international community can do. The practicalities of any form of no-fly zone, or safe zone need to be considered very carefully and in close consultation with our partners. History shows these are not simple tasks, especially in intense conflict. In fact, there is a risk that safe zones can themselves become targets. Any party seeking to establish a safe area would need to ensure that it could be kept safe. We would need to understand fully the consequences, including the fact that we should not commit to maintain such a zone unless we were prepared to shoot down planes or helicopters that violated the zone.

    Our priority continues to be the protection of civilians in Syria. We continue to use our voice in the UN and elsewhere to keep the focus on what is happening, to call for the Cessation of Hostilities to be restored, full humanitarian access, to allow the resumption of a political process. Political transition away from Asad is the only long-term solution.