Category: Speeches

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number of EU nationals in prisons in England and Wales in (a) the latest period for which figures are available and (b) each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    It is the Government’s position that, wherever possible, prisoners should serve their sentences in their home countries, reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer. The most recent foreign national offender statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519445/prison-population-31-march-2016.xlsx.

    Foreign national offender prison populations back to 2002 are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449241/prison-population-2015.xlsx

    “

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which of the Type 45 Destroyers are (a) available for operations, (b) being used for training, (c) preparing to deploy and (d) being refitted.

    Harriett Baldwin

    All ships rotate through planned operating cycles involving maintenance, training, deployment, leave and upgrades. This results in individual ships being at various levels of readiness to deploy, safeguarding the continuous ability of these technologically advanced ships and the highly skilled personnel to deploy in support of Government policies.

    The following table provides the current programming of each Type 45 Destroyer.

    Ship

    Current programming

    HMS DARING

    Deployed (on route) to Middle East

    HMS DAUNTLESS

    Training

    HMS DIAMOND

    Deployed to Mediterranean

    HMS DEFENDER

    Entering a maintenance period

    HMS DRAGON

    Adaptive Force Escort

    HMS DUNCAN

    Maintenance prior to deployment

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the finding by The Times and the British Medical Journal that the board of a Clinical Commissioning Group in Birmingham awarded a £1.7 million contract to a company in which a number of its board members were shareholders or held a senior position.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are aware of the reports in The Times and The British Medical Journal.

    Birmingham South Central CCG has provided assurances that it has robust and transparent governance arrangements in place that are in line with NHS England guidelines.

  • Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new entrants there were in undergraduate programmes by subject for Initial Teacher Training for 2015-16.

    Nick Gibb

    In the academic year 2015 to 2016 there were 5,440 first year undergraduate trainees.

    The 2015 to 2016 Teacher Supply Model sets the target for postgraduate trainees and takes account of the number of undergraduate trainees completing a course in 2016 when meeting future teacher requirements. We allocated places for undergraduate courses using criteria as set out in the published guidance.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the transition to the equalised state pension for women affected by those changes.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland are in regular contact on the range of pensions issues. Additionally, DWP Ministers meet from time to time with the Northern Ireland Minister for Social Development to discuss matters of common interest. Indeed, the Minister for Pensions is scheduled to meet the Minister for Social Development next month to discuss a number of pension matters.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the announced closure of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ Sheffield office and their proposal to establish six new business centres across the country, where those proposed new centres will be located.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    As part of the Department’s change programme, BIS2020, we anticipate reducing the number of our locations from more than 80 to approximately 7 centres plus a regional footprint. Beyond the announcement made about our Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place on 28 January, we do not yet know exactly which sites will be retained or closed over the course of the Parliament. By 2020 the majority of employees in BIS and its Partner Organisations will continue to be based outside London through a number of centres – such as in Birmingham, Glasgow, and Swindon – as well as a regional footprint for the provision of local services.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take following the second postponement of the visit to follow up the June 2012 report Children in Military Custody.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    On 18 February during his visit to Israel, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), expressed his disappointment to Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister at Israel’s unwillingness to facilitate meetings for the British lawyers. We are now considering alternative means to take forward this work.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) MRI machines (b) CT Scanners (c) PET-CT scanners (d) Linear accelerators and (e) Robotic surgery systems in use in each NHS trust are older than ten years.

    George Freeman

    Information on the age of MRI machines, CT scanners, PET-CT scanners, linear accelerators and robotic surgery systems and the proportion of the cost of backlog maintenance that relates to these are not held centrally.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the ban on bearer shares which came into force on 26 May 2015.

    Anna Soubry

    The government introduced a ban on the issue of new bearer shares on 26 May 2015 through the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. The legislation provided a transition period to allow existing bearer shareholders to convert their shares into other types of shareholding or to realise their value. The transition period ended on 25 February 2016. Companies notify Companies House of the removal of bearer shares when they file their annual return (which will change to the confirmation statement from 30 June 2016).

    Since 26 May 2015 Companies House has worked closely with the approximately 1,300 companies that had bearer shares as well as their directors and professional representatives. Over 1,233 of those companies have confirmed to Companies House that they have no longer have bearer shares.

    Companies House is monitoring each filing of these companies’ annual return to confirm that the bearer shares have been converted. This exercise will end in February 2017 once the annual filing cycle concludes following the end of the transition period.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission an impact assessment of the potential effects of the provisions of his Department’s Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England), published in October 2014, on people with autism, mental ill health and learning disabilities.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department’s Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England) is non-statutory and non-binding. We therefore have no plans to commission an impact assessment. It is the statutory regulations – the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 – which local authorities are obliged to follow.