Category: Speeches

  • 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 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what penalties are in place for higher education institutions that knowingly accept UK student fee status for students who hold British passports, but whose parents have not paid tax in the UK for past five years, and whose education is shown to have taken place overseas.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    Higher education institutions have discretion to charge a student who is not eligible for home fee status whatever fee they deem appropriate, including the same fee as they charge students who have home fee status.

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocates funding to HE institutions, to cover some of the teaching costs of students who are eligible for home fees status and studying high cost subjects. The Council monitors the student number data of all institutions, to ensure they receive only the funding to which they are entitled. HEFCE has powers to withhold funding from any institution which has received funding for which it is not eligible.

    Student Finance England is responsible for assessing students’ eligibility for financial support. It can only award support to students who satisfy the eligibility criteria in full. The fee a student is paying is not considered in this assessment.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all frontline professionals receive adequate training to pursue the steps outlined in multi-agency statutory guidance on female genital mutilation.

    Karen Bradley

    Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.

    The Government is clear that tackling FGM needs a coordinated response from a range of professionals, including teachers, health professionals, social workers and police which is why on 1 April we published updated multi-agency guidance on FGM which we have put on a statutory footing to support compliance. To support professionals to take the steps outlined in the guidance, including receiving adequate training, we have made available free FGM e-learning for all professionals. To date, the course has been completed by over 30,000 people. Our FGM Unit is providing outreach support to local areas and working to raise awareness of resources available to professionals, including training, best practice examples and information on legislation and policy.

    In addition, the Department of Health’s £3 million FGM Prevention Programme is focused on improving the response of NHS to FGM, and through its Innovation programme, the Department for Education is funding the Local Government Association and Barnardo’s to develop a centre of excellence and outreach to support local authorities.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on his Department’s plans for electrification of the Midland Main Line.

    Claire Perry

    The Midland Main Line programme will deliver electrification of the Midland Main Line from Bedford to Kettering and Corby by 2019 and from Kettering to Nottingham and Sheffield via Derby by 2023. Following the vote taken by the British people for the UK to leave the European Union on 23 June their will must be respected and delivered. The Prime Minister has been clear that the negotiation for Britain’s future relationship with Europe will need to begin under a new Prime Minister. In the meantime, the Department continues working to deliver the Government agenda, including the above electrification programme.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps the Government plans to take to protect the property ownership rights of UK citizens who own property in the EU after the UK has left the EU who (a) use the property primarily to rent out to others for holidays, (b) are the sole users, for holiday purposes and (c) are the sole users, and live there permanently.

    Mr Robin Walker

    At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people, including those living in other EU countries or who own property in the EU. It is already the case that all Member States are bound by Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights which obliges them to respect property rights.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gavin Robinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ringfence spending on the Homelessness Prevention Grant until 2020 in the Spending Review.

    Greg Hands

    From 2013-14 support for preventing homelessness has been included in the annual Local Government Finance Settlement, split between Revenue Support Grant and estimated retained business rates.

    Revenue Support Grant and retained business rates are not ring-fenced. It is up to individual authorities to decide how grant funding should be spent in order to deliver local services.

    The Chancellor will set out full details of the Spending Review on Wednesday 25 November.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that mental health services receive parity of esteem with physical health services in terms of funding.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England required clinical commissioning groups in the annual planning guidance for 2015/16, to increase their spending on mental health in line with the increase in their overall funding allocation.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what equality impact assessment he has made of the effect of extending entitlement to the human papilloma virus vaccination only to designated categories of people and not to others.

    Jane Ellison

    In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted human papillomavirus vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price.

    The Department is considering the JCVI’s advice and is undertaking a full equality analysis. The Department will confirm its plans in due course.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with people who run airports on excessive VAT charging in retail outlets based in airports.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport meets regularly with airport operators and the issue of the treatment of VAT in airside retail shops has been reviewed. The Chancellor announced on the 31 December 2015 a review into airport sales to make sure VAT savings are being passed on to shoppers. It would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment at this stage whilst HM Treasury is undertaking this review.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Save the Children about identifying whether any of the unaccompanied children found at the Jungle” camp in Calais were potential child victims of trafficking.”

    Lord Bates

    The Home Secretary and French Interior Minister agreed in the UK-France Joint Declaration in August 2015 to set up a project to identify potential victims of trafficking (including children) in the Calais migrant camp and directs them to existing protection, support and advice within France. The project is being delivered by the French non-governmental organisation, France Terre D’Asile.

    The UK has contributed €750,000 (£530,000) to fund the project which formally launched in December 2015.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision to offer a £100 million aid package which will be implemented under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa set up to tackle instability and the causes of migration.

    Baroness Verma

    Migration within and from Africa is a major development issue. It needs to be addressed in part by tackling instability and the root causes of migration. At the Valletta Summit the European Union agreed a new €1.8 billion Trust Fund focussing on four main areas linked to development priorities identified by the host governments in Africa: i) promoting greater economic and employment opportunities; ii) strengthening resilience of communities and in particular the most vulnerable, as well as refugees and displaced people iii) improved migration management in countries of origin and transit; and, iv) improved governance and conflict prevention, and reduction of forced displacement and irregular migration.

    The Trust Fund is composed of three windows, one for the Horn of Africa, one for the Sahel and one for North Africa. The proposed work of the Trust Fund complements DFID’s own approach in these regions. The UK is represented by DFID on each of the EU Trust Fund window’s Operating Committees and on the overall board of the Trust Fund. DFID, the FCO and Home Office officials work as one team to coordinate engagement with EU Trust Fund. The UK is playing a full role in shaping the Trust Fund’s strategy and we work hard to ensure that the funding is well spent and that proposed projects deliver maximum value for money.