Category: Speeches

  • 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 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the World Bank gender policy, and of whether the bank’s inspection panel has ever been guided by a gender safeguard.

    Baroness Verma

    The World Bank Gender Policy sets out how Bank staff should assess the gender dimensions of development in their work and is an important part of Bank’s commitment to drive progress on gender equality. The Inspection Panel assesses compliance with Bank policy including not only the Gender Policy but also with the Environmental and Social Safeguards, which includes requirements for a social assessment that may cover gender.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost to Highways England was of its contract with Amey for services in Area 7; and which other companies bid for that contract.

    Andrew Jones

    The contract awarded by Highways England was for a value of £422,720,000 over 15 years. This is the maximum spend allowable through this contract and includes for inflation over its duration. Other companies that bid for the contract were: –

    • Carillion Construction Ltd
    • Colas Ltd
    • Costain Ltd
    • Martin & McCann Ltd
    • Ringway Infrastructure Services Ltd
    • Skanska Construction Ltd
    • GC Landscapes Management Ltd
  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many families of deceased civil servants received death in service benefits in each of the last six years.

    Matthew Hancock

    Civil servants are eligible to be a member of either the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) or the Public Service (Civil Servants and Others) Pension Scheme (CSOPS) subject to when they joined the Civil Service. Depending on which scheme they are in, a lump sum death benefit of either two or three times the civil servant’s final pay is payable on their death in service, plus a pension to a surviving spouse or civil partner and any eligible children. Details of the benefits payable are in the rules of the schemes which are available at http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/about-us/scheme-rules

    The lump sum payable on death in service is payable to whoever the scheme member has nominated to receive it (this can be an individual or a corporate body such as a charity). The number of death benefit lump sums paid in each of the last 6 years is as follows:

    Scheme Year Number of death in service cases

    2010/2011 1195

    2011/2012 1119

    2012/2013 1007

    2013/2014 904

    2014/2015 664

    2015/2016 447

  • 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 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37807, on Thameslink railway line: rolling stock, whether he expects the Class 700 Thameslink rolling stock to come into revenue-earning service in 2016.

    Claire Perry

    The new Class 700 Thameslink trains are expected to enter into revenue earning service shortly.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dairy farmers there were in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    The number of dairy farms in England from 2011 to 2015 is shown below along with the number of cows in the dairy herd on these farms. The source of cattle population data is the administrative Cattle Tracing System (CTS) data.

    Year

    Number of dairy farms(a)

    Number of cows in the dairy herd

    2011

    9 041

    1 112 459

    2012

    8 663

    1 104 676

    2013

    8 342

    1 098 610

    2014

    8 092

    1 128 548

    2015

    7 982

    1 148 089

    (a) Sourced from Cattle Tracing System (CTS). Defined as the number of holdings with more than 10 female dairy cows over 2 years old in the milking herd (i.e. with offspring)

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of smart meters which rely on 2G technology.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government has not made an estimate of the number of smart meters that operate using 2G technology. Energy suppliers are incentivised to make sure they have procured communications to allow them to carry on operating smart meters for the whole of their life.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 12657, if he will commission an independent review into the procedures followed by the Tobacco Control policy team within his Department when awarding section 64 grants to Action on Smoking and Health.

    Jane Ellison

    There is no requirement to commission an independent review as the award of Section 64 grants to Action on Smoking and Health has followed the appropriate policies and procedures applicable to all Section 64 grants.

    The assessment of the grant application for funding from Action on Smoking and Health is undertaken by members of the Tobacco Control policy team.

    The assessment process is the same for all grants awarded under Section 64 powers. The assessment process uses standard business case criteria and consists of a Strategic Case, Economic Case, Financial Case, Commercial Case and Project Governance.

    The assessment is reviewed by the Department’s Voluntary Sector Grants Hub to ensure that the grant proposal is affordable within Departmental budgets; relevant Efficiency Review Group Controls have been considered; the grant has been assessed as delivering value for money and the grant is considered to be appropriate for the Grant funding route rather than procurement.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK plans to be represented before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Philippines v. China.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK is not party to the case of Philippines v China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is therefore not entitled to be formally represented before the PCA in this case.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Prime Minister, how many mental health services he has visited since May 2010; and what the (a) date and (b) location was of each such visit.

    Mr David Cameron

    Details of my visits within the United Kingdom are published on the gov.uk website.

    Most recently, on 11 January I visited Family Action in London where I announced £290 million of new investment over the next 5 years to provide mental healthcare for new mums, £247 million to invest in liaison mental health services in emergency departments, over £400 million to enable 24/7 treatment in communities as a safe and effective alternative to hospital and expanded services to help teenagers with eating disorders. This builds on previous government funding commitments for mental health over the last 12 months, including £150 million for young people with eating disorders and £1.25 billion for perinatal and children and young people’s mental health.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, under the Belfast Agreement 1998, which underlined equality and parity of esteem for Irish and Ulster Scots languages, both languages are treated in an equal way, and of the causes of any inequalities that that assessment has identified.

    Lord Dunlop

    Her Majesty’s Government has not made an assessment of whether, under the Belfast Agreement, both Irish and Ulster Scots languages are treated in an equal way. The Northern Ireland Executive has responsibility for issues relating to Irish and Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland under the terms of the devolution settlement.