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Category: Speeches

  • Christopher Pincher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Christopher Pincher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Pincher on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing to enable developing countries to harness mobile phone technology.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Our partnership with mobile phone operator group, the GSMA, has used mobile technology to improve the reach, delivery and affordability of basic energy, water and sanitation services for 1.3 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and many of our other programmes in health, education and other sectors use mobile technology.

  • 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 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the increase of fees for (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory functions of the Land Registry above (i) operating costs and (ii) inflation in the event that the Land Registry is privatised under the Government’s preferred model of privatisation with a contract between Government and a private operator.

    Anna Soubry

    Under a contract-based approach, fees would still be prescribed in fee orders made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and set before Parliament. Under a regulator-based approach, fees would be controlled by the regulator.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with which individuals and organisations his Department is consulting to inform the life chances strategy.

    Priti Patel

    As is customary in the development of any Strategy, we have engaged in discussions with a range of organisations and individual experts as we develop the Life Chances Strategy.

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were returned to Vietnam under the assisted voluntary return scheme in each year from 2013 to 2016 to date; and how many such people had been subject to positive grounds National Referral Mechanism decisions in each such year.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The number of people returned from the UK to Vietnam in each year by Enforced Removals and Voluntary Returns is published on a quarterly basis in Immigration Statistics on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

    The information you requested can be found in tables rt_05 and rt_05_q of the returns tables: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/572383/returns5-q3-2016-tables.ods

    This link will help you to find the most updated returns data by country of destination. The data within this table can be filtered, enabling you to obtain information specifically relating to removals to Vietnam. Instruction on how to use the filters can be found on the ‘contents’ tab.

    We do not hold the requested data of how many such people had been subject to positive grounds decisions on the National Referral Mechanism in the requested format.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury Ministers on the implementation by UK Overseas Territories of public registers of beneficial ownership.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK continues to lead the way on beneficial ownership disclosure and to encourage others to do the same. We are having discussions at both Ministerial and official level with the Overseas Territories to emphasise the importance of this agenda. Any system should meet the following criteria: UK and domestic law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; these competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for financial services executives being paid according to the number of women in senior roles.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government has asked Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money, to lead a review into the representation of women in senior managerial roles in the financial services industry. One of Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s potential recommendations is to link variable pay for the Executive Team to reaching internal targets set by the organisation on the representation of women at a senior level.

    The government welcomes Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s work to date and will consider the final recommendations when the review reports next year.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is providing to those Burundians who have fled the country due to recent violence; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK Government is extremely concerned by the ongoing political unrest in Burundi, and its humanitarian consequences, including the flow of Burundian refugees to neighbouring countries.

    The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to the regional appeal, after the US. DFID is providing £14.25 million to support the relief efforts for refugees fleeing to Tanzania, the majority of which will be channelled through UN agencies (UNHCR and WFP). DFID is providing a further £3.9 million for the refugee response in Rwanda through both the UN and NGOs. This funding will be used by UN agencies and international NGOs to provide life-saving basic services to vulnerable populations, including full food rations.

    Additionally, DFID’s preparedness programme (started in 2014) has enabled UNICEF and WFP to prepare to assist up to 10,000 people in Burundi and to stockpile high energy biscuits for 45,000 people in Rwanda. The programme also helped UNOCHA strengthen humanitarian coordination in Burundi. DFID has provided technical support, in the form of secondment of experts, to support UN agencies working in Burundi.

    The START network (a consortium of international NGOs), which is supported by DFID, has released £442,327 in Burundi, £275,281 in Rwanda, £430,203 in Tanzania, and £330,000 in the DRC in support of the humanitarian response.

    The UK Government supports the process of opening consultations with the Government of Burundi, as provided for by Article 96 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, to encourage the Burundian Government to make the right choices for the citizens of Burundi and bring stability to Burundi.

    DFID will continue to monitor the situation closely with the FCO, and may consider additional funding, including within Burundi.

  • Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Monitor and with NHS England about ensuring that GPs are able to access specialist expertise in children and young people’s health, and what mechanisms they have to audit provision of specialist services and hold commissioners to account.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Health Education England’s (HEE) mandate sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for workforce planning, education, training and development in the health and public health system. These objectives and priorities are published on an annual basis. Officials are currently discussing the next HEE mandate.

    Within their three year training programme, about half of all General Practitioner (GP) trainees undertake a dedicated hospital placement in paediatrics. In addition, there are various initiatives around the country to increase access to child health training. These include clinics jointly staffed with paediatric and GP trainees, paediatric outreach clinics and multi-disciplinary meetings in GP surgeries led by paediatric consultants. A variety of e-learning, including the MindEd package – a free educational resource on children and young people’s mental health, is available.

    It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) to set the standards and outcomes for the education and training of doctors and to approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. HEE will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the Royal College of General Practitioners to seek to ensure general practice training meets the needs of patients.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes in July last year, which recognised the importance of earlier diagnosis for patients of all ages and contains specific recommendations for children, teenagers and young adults. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director to lead the implementation of a five year Strategy based on the recommendations in the report. Whilst the Taskforce was independent, the Department of Health and all of its Arm’s Length Bodies were represented on it and contributed to development of the Strategy.

    NHS England is now developing its work programme to take forward the recommendations in the Strategy. There have been no discussions with Monitor as this falls outside their remit.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of approved planning applications for housing that have yet to be built.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    As at 1 March 2016, data provided to the department by Glenigan indicate that there were full planning permissions for 658,000 homes in England on sites on which work had either not yet started or completed. Of these around 55,000 (8 per cent) were on unstarted sites granted permission more than three years ago. Typically permissions for these homes will have expired.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the average time it will take to process an application for temporary disabled students’ allowance after changes to that allowance; and whose responsibility it will be to assist applicants with such applications.

    Joseph Johnson

    We are working with higher education institutions to encourage the speedy resolution of disputes between a student and their institution as to whether support should be provided as a reasonable adjustment. The Student Loans Company will consider providing interim support in the form of Disabled Students’ Allowances through a new Exceptional Case Process where a resolution is not achieved prior to the student starting their course. This will ensure eligible disabled students are not left without support during this period.