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Category: Speeches

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff of his Department are deployed outside the UK working on issues relating to Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    It is not possible to identify a precise figure for staff working on Yemen who are deployed outside of the UK, but the UK diplomatic network does regularly raise the situation in Yemen with their host government and other interlocutors, including the devastating humanitarian and economic situation. As the penholder in the UN Security Council on Yemen, the UK also plays an important role in rallying the international community behind the efforts of the UN Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in trying to reach a peaceful agreement between the Yemeni parties. Peace talks remain a top priority and we will continue to engage with key partners through our overseas network.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities are using the Community Trigger for reviewing reports of anti-social behaviour in a consistent way with respect to (a) the thresholds involved, (b) publicising the process and (c) publishing information on uses of the Community Trigger.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office does not collect or hold information on anti-social behaviour case reviews undertaken by local agencies using the Community Trigger process. The Government issued statutory guidance for frontline professionals in July 2014 on the use of powers to tackle anti-social behaviour introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

    This included information on the Community Trigger, including setting an appropriate threshold, publishing the procedure to be followed when making an application, and relevant data relating to use of the Trigger. We are currently reviewing the statutory guidance and we will publish revised guidance in due course if changes are required.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of his Department’s policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps he has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance. While the guidance states that departments should consider publishing assessments carried out under the Test, there is no requirement to do so.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people who entered the UK as unaccompanied immigrant children were deported last year having reached the age of 18.

    Lord Bates

    The records the Home Office holds relate to unaccompanied asylum seeking children. The most recent records the Home Office holds are to the end of September 2015.

    Period

    Number of Cases

    Enforced Removal

    Voluntary Removal

    Oct 2014 – Sep 2015

    241

    122

    119

    This data relates to individuals who were under 18 at the time of application and aged 18 or over on the day of removal.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff have been dismissed in each year since 2010; what the reasons were for each such dismissal; and how many prison staff have received custodial sentences for crimes committed while working in prisons since 2010.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Information on the number of staff dismissed from public sector Prison Service Establishments, broken down by reason for dismissal, in each year since 2009/10 is contained in the table below. Information on dismissals is published in the NOMS Workforce Bulletin by financial year and to maintain consistency with that information the figures provided in the table are a further breakdown of the published numbers.

    Data on the number of custodial sentences for crimes committed while working in prisons is not available because information held centrally relates to the internal disciplinary process which may include those staff that have been dismissed for being in receipt of a criminal conviction, but the centrally held data would not show those staff who had also received a custodial sentence.

    Staff Dismissed From Public Sector Prison Service Establishments 2009/10 to September 2015

    Conduct

    Medical Inefficiency

    Poor Performance

    Unsatisfactory Attendance

    Breach of Contract and Others

    Total

    2009/10

    120

    210

    20

    20

    ~

    380

    2010/11

    140

    210

    20

    30

    ~

    400

    2011/12

    110

    290

    10

    20

    ~

    430

    2012/13

    120

    270

    10

    20

    ~

    420

    2013/14

    110

    310

    ~

    10

    ~

    440

    2014/15

    80

    430

    10

    20

    ~

    550

    Apr-Sep 2015

    40

    220

    10

    10

    ~

    280

  • 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 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what amount of funding the European Court of Auditors has recorded as having been misspent in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

    Mr David Gauke

    The European Court of Auditors prepares an annual audit report on the EU Budget which is published each year in November in relation to the previous EU financial year, running from January to December. This includes an estimated ‘error rate’ in relation to EU budget payments made which were not in compliance with EU regulatory requirements.

    The latest audit report available, published in November 2015, relates to the financial year 2014.

    The 2014 report can be consulted at the following link:

    http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/annualreports-2014/annualreports-2014-EN.pdf

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on how much and what proportion of the total budget for UN peacekeeping was spent in support of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus in each of the last six years.

    James Duddridge

    The table below sets out how much the UN General Assembly allocated to the gross budget for the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for the last six UN budget years (which run from 1 July to 30 June); the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus net budget, following the deduction of voluntary contributions from the Governments of Cyprus and Greece; how much the total UN Peacekeeping Budget was for each year; and the percentage of the UN Peacekeeping Budget allocated to UNFICYP’s gross budget. The UN budgets in US dollars, therefore all the figures below are in that currency.

    UN budget year

    UNFICYP budget (gross)

    UNFICYP budget (net)

    Total UN Peacekeeping Budget

    Percentage of UN Peacekeeping Budget allocated to UNFICYP’s gross budget

    2015/16

    55,139,400

    31,027,967

    8,256,758,900

    0.67

    2014/15

    62,531,500

    36,082,233

    8,510,143,233

    0.73

    2013/14

    58,514,200

    33,332,866

    7,901,248,366

    0.74

    2012/13

    56,968,200

    32,251,867

    7,364,983,850

    0.77

    2011/12

    60,121,200

    34,506,933

    7,835,339,630

    0.77

    2010/11

    59,759,200

    34,304,608

    7,823,615,600

    0.76
  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to publish aggregate statistics showing the size and origin of assets in UK financial institutions.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Bank of England publishes aggregated data relating to UK Financial Institutions’ balance sheets. Its statistical releases can be found via the following link: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/Pages/calendar/default.aspx

    Under the Capital Requirements (country-by-country reporting) Regulations 2013 there are reporting obligations on institutions in the United Kingdom within scope of the Capital Requirements Directive 4. The regulations require institutions to publish annually details on a consolidated basis, by country where they have an establishment. These details include: their name, nature of activities and geographical location; number of employees; and their turnover.

  • Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the process for agreeing cross-research council proposals before accessing Global Challenge Research Fund monies.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    As stated in the recent White Paper, Government is committed to the Haldane principle, including with respect to Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). As with other areas of science and research activity, Research Councils will work with other delivery partners to prepare a high-level research strategy for the GCRF, which they will agree with Ministers. The specific approach to be taken to currently unallocated funds will be developed with delivery partners over the coming months, and will include using the funding to promote multidisciplinary research, in line with Sir Paul Nurse’s recommendations.

  • Baroness Hollins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Hollins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hollins on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cumulative impact of housing benefit cuts, benefit caps and council tax on the health of benefit claimants, both those in work and unemployed, since 2008, taking into account the impact of debt on mental health and the need for women to receive a healthy diet before they conceive and while they are pregnant if they are to give birth to healthy babies.

    Lord Freud

    Impact assessments published for welfare changes, for example those relating to the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, are available on www.gov.uk.

    Published impact assessments not available on www.gov.uk may be available at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.

    We already have cumulative distributional analysis published by HMT that is the most comprehensive available covering not only the effects of direct cash transfers between households and government but also the effects of frontline public service provision.

    Our welfare reforms since 2010 are intended to incentivise work and make work pay. There is a strong evidence base showing that work is generally good for physical and mental health and wellbeing. We recognise that not everyone can work and therefore we provide financial assistance.

    The employment rate remains is at 74.4 per cent which is the highest since comparable records began. In addition the number and rate of workless households are both at a record low.

    “