Category: Speeches

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the implications for its policies of the Extra Costs Commission, initiated by the disability charity Scope in July 2014.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government is committed to improving the rights of disabled people when accessing and using transport. Though Government cannot currently comment on the Law Commission’s proposals as it continues to scrutinise the report, we are implementing measures to improve the transport rights of disabled people. These include sections 165 and 167 of the Equality Act 2010, and a strengthening of Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Best Practice Guidance for local authorities, both of which are expected in 2017.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what average time his Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.

    Alun Cairns

    The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

    “

  • Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of specialist skills and training available for armed forces personnel at (a) MOD Llanwrst and (b) MOD Fairbourne; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    The RAF constantly reviews its adventurous training to ensure the training being delivered best meets its requirements.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to made the drug Everolimus available on the NHS for treating the subependymal giant cell astrocytoma form of tuberous sclerosis complex.

    George Freeman

    A policy for the provision of Everolimus for Tuberous Sclerosis forComplex Related Renal Angiomyolipoma anda policy for the provision of Everolimusfor SubependymalGiant Cell Astrocytoma are currently in development. Once completed, each policy will need to be considered by the relevant clinical panels, the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group and the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group.

    It is NHS England’s intention that the policies will be published by the end of the financial year.

  • 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 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21806, what commitment he received from insurance industries that savings from government reforms would be passed on to consumers; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that such commitments are monitored and transparent.

    Dominic Raab

    On 8 December 2015, at a meeting with Ministers, representatives of leading insurers committed to pass on savings to consumers through lower premiums following the implementation of Government reforms. The Government will be monitoring the industry’s reaction to these reforms closely.

    The meeting on 8 December 2015 was the first Ministerial meeting with insurers to discuss the reforms announced in the Autumn Statement on 25 November. Lord Faulks subsequently met representatives from the claimant lawyer sector at the end of January 2016. Officials had previously met with both insurers and claimant lawyer representatives to discuss the reforms.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations on employment support and the housing benefit cap on page 81 of the Mental Health Taskforce report, published in February 2016; and what steps he plans to take to implement those recommendations.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We welcome the Mental Health Taskforce Report, which sets out how important employment can be in supporting people with mental health conditions, and how to improve current services. We have already gone some way to implementing the recommendation on employment and are improving support by developing a new Work and Health programme, which will be providing employment support to claimants with a health condition or disability and the very long term unemployed. We are investing £43 million in a range of trials to develop our evidence base on what works for those with mental health conditions; and investing in increasing employment support in therapy services. The Prime Minister also recently announced over £50m investment to more than double the number of employment advisors in IAPT services, so that they are linked in to every talking therapy service in the country.

    We will publish a White Paper later this year that will set out reforms to improve support for people with health conditions and disabilities, including exploring the roles of employers, to further reduce the disability employment gap and promote integration across health and employment.

    We work closely with the supported housing sector to ensure they are supported as effectively as possible, and highly value the work they do. As part of this we have commissioned an evidence review of supported housing. The results of this research will determine our future policy development and any appropriate exemptions.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department plans to develop standard technical guidance and best practice guidelines for the energy storage market to ensure the safety and consistency of installations.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC has provided more than £18million of innovation funding for energy storage since 2012 and this has included support for development of a Good Practice Guide on Electrical Energy Storage which was published in December 2014. The Good Practice Guide uses case studies and key lessons from recent energy storage demonstration projects to provide a practical reference guide for organisations which are interested in deploying or developing electrical energy storage in Great Britain.

    DECC officials are also involved in ongoing discussions led by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on technical guidance for electrical energy storage systems. Independent, professional bodies, such as the IET, are well-placed to lead development of relevant technical guidelines.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of confiscation of land (a) in Biafra and (b) owned by Biafrans by the Nigerian government.

    James Duddridge

    The UK fully supports the territorial integrity of Nigeria and President Buhari’s commitment to work for a secure and prosperous Nigeria for all Nigerians. We are committed to working with Nigeria to help tackle threats to Nigeria’s security and to address the underlying causes of instability which exist within Nigeria. We do not assess that there is institutionalised persecution of the Igbo or any other peoples by the Nigerian authorities.

    We are not aware of any patterns of land confiscation in Nigeria by the Nigerian Government. Nigeria does face the challenge of inter-communal violence between farmers and herdsmen over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water. We are aware that the Nigerian legislature is currently debating a bill on grazing routes and reserves for Nigerian herdsmen. Part of that debate focuses on balancing the rights of land owners with the requirements of herder communities.

    Through our development assistance the UK supports initiatives to reduce these conflicts and build bridges between communities. We will continue to work with the Nigerian Government, non-governmental organisations and civil society to improve the security situation and human rights for all the people of Nigeria.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to develop a cross-departmental strategy to provide more support to carers in England.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by unpaid carers and the importance of supporting them in their carer roles. This includes provision of and access to respite and replacement care.

    The Department has provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. The carers breaks funding of £130 million is now included in the Better Care Fund in 2016/17. The Department has also provided £186.6 million of funding in 2016/17 to local authorities for improved carers’ rights, as established in the Care Act 2014.

    The Care Act 2014 duty for local authorities to undertake carers’ assessments also provides an opportunity for the local authority and the carer to look at the support they need and the outcomes that they wish to achieve, including providing them with a break or taking up work, educational and leisure opportunities if they wish.

    The Department is committed to continuing to improve support for carers and is currently leading the development of a new cross-Government national carers’ strategy, due to be published by the end of 2016. We are currently consulting widely with a range of stakeholders and carers themselves to inform the development of the strategy.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of excluding Scotland from the scope of the net migration target.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Our immigration system is designed to work for the whole of the UK and surveys show that people in Scotland want to see net migration reduced. We have a Scotland-specific Shortage Occupation List to accommodate skills shortages which are specific to Scotland. Applying substantially different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harming its integrity, and cause confusion for applicants and difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.