Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take further steps to raise public awareness of the incidence of campylobacter in chickens.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Food Standards Agency will continue to use social and news media opportunities to raise awareness of campylobacter and let people know how they can reduce the risk from campylobacter in their home. The Agency leads the Acting on Campylobacter Together campaign under which the poultry industry seeks to reduce the levels of the bacteria on the chickens they sell.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) full-time equivalent civil servants work in his Department and (b) civil servants work full-time on the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

    Anna Soubry

    There are 2439 core full time equivalent civil servants working in BIS, including Sheffield and other locations. The Northern Powerhouse is a key ambition of this Government which requires input from officials across BIS and other Government Departments, across a wide range of policy areas. This supports places across the North to work collaboratively to direct and benefit from the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK citizens currently resident elsewhere in the EU his Department expects to return to the UK in the event of a vote to leave the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    Estimates suggest that more than 1.2 million UK citizens are living permanently elsewhere in the EU. These estimates do not include people who reside for part of the year in another Member State or British citizens travelling in the EU.

    British citizens living in the EU currently enjoy a range of rights to live, to work and to access pensions, health care and public services that are guaranteed through EU law. There would be no requirement under EU law for these rights to be maintained if the UK left the EU. Should an agreement be reached to maintain these rights, the expectation must be that this would have to be reciprocated for EU citizens in the UK.

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to include having dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease as criteria for (a) eligibility without further assessment or (b) eligibility subject to further assessment for the Blue Badge Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The extent to which a specific condition affects people will vary. If we were to provide automatic eligibility without further assessment by virtue of having dementia it may not reflect genuine need.

    However, the ‘subject to further assessment’ criteria do not preclude the issue of badges to people with mental/cognitive disabilities. Any permanent and substantial disability may qualify for a badge if it causes “very considerable difficulty in walking”. It is for the local authority to assess the degree of challenge on a case-by-case basis.

    The guidance was last updated in October 2014. There are no plans to update it at this time.

  • Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to make available data which sets out the results achieved from the Careers and Enterprise Company investment for pupils in secondary schools and colleges.

    Robert Halfon

    The Careers & Enterprise Company is making excellent progress and is having a real impact across the country by linking schools and colleges with employers and providers of careers and enterprise activities. The Company is delivering lasting, powerful connections between local businesses and nearby schools and colleges through its Enterprise Adviser Network. The Company has already appointed 78 Enterprise Coordinators and almost 1,200 advisers. Over 900 schools and colleges (in 37 out of 38 Local Enterprise Partnership areas in England) have been helped to develop better careers and enterprise programmes for their pupils. In addition, the Company has launched its £5 million careers and enterprise fund to boost provision for nearly 250,000 young people across England in 75% of ‘cold spot’ areas. It has also launched a £12 million Mentoring Investment Fund to scale-up mentoring and tackle disengagement across England. Details of the Company’s achievements and progress are summarised in their first annual report published in June this year. The report can be found here: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/posts/careers-enterprise-company-first-annual-review-published

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  • Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children who have had a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in each local authority area were excluded from school in the last five years.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not hold information on the number of pupils excluded with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

  • Lord Cotter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Cotter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Cotter on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to data published by the European Commission in its 2015 Annual Report on European SMEs, which found that access to finance and finding customers are some of the greatest issues faced by SMEs in the EU.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The European Commission’s Annual Report on European SMEs 2014/15 found that, access to finance for SMEs across the EU has decreased in importance with only 13% (down from 15% in 2013) citing it as the most pressing problem in 2014 behind a number of other issues. The UK’s SME Finance Monitor also found that 79% of SME loan and overdraft applications were successful in the 18 months to 2015 Q2, up from 67% in Q4 2013.

    The Government continues to take steps to improve access to finance. The British Business Bank, for example, is supporting £2.4 billion of finance to over 40,000 smaller businesses, and participating in a further £3.3 billion of finance to small mid-sized businesses, as of the end of June. In addition, the implementation of measures in the Small Business and Employment Act 2015 will require the largest banks to refer customers who have been declined finance to alternative providers via designated platforms.

    The report also highlights that finding customers remains a problem for SMEs but that this is relatively less problematic than in previous years. We are supporting SMEs by providing advice on a range of issues through Growth Hubs, which join up local resources; the My Business Support Tool which helps businesses find the support they need quickly; and the Business Support Helpline.

    Government has made public contract opportunities easier to find by making them all accessible on an improved single online portal. The Contracts Finder contains current public sector contracts (above £10,000 in Central Government and £25,000 in the wider public sector) and a forwardpipelineof potential contract opportunities up to 2020.

    Of the 50,000 plus businesses that make up the customer base of UK Trade & Investment, some 90% are SMEs.

    UKTI provides tailored help for SMEs, including: working out which markets suit their business; identifying export opportunities; introducing them to key contacts and setting up business meetings; and helping firms exhibit their goods and services at trade fairs.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19711, if he will provide equivalent data for the financial years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13.

    Priti Patel

    The data is not available in financial years (April-March) only in academic years (August-July). I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 5 January 2016 to her previous question 20685

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy on Bahrain of the analysis and conclusions of the report by Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, entitled Shattering the Façade, published in November 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have noted the report by Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain which assesses the progress the Government of Bahrain is making against the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry Report (BICI). In June 2014, the UN Human Rights Council presented similar findings by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. That is why we continue to encourage plus support the Government of Bahrain in ensuring full implementation of the BICI recommendations, as well as those accepted in their UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review. We are offering UK assistance to help them achieve this.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24278, how much has been set aside in his Department’s budget for potential costs associated with the decommissioning and disposal of HMS Ocean.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Much of the work to decommission Royal Navy ships is undertaken using contracts that provide support services for all ships conducting Fleet activities at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth. Costs are not attributed to individual vessels.

    Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) will be responsible for the removal of classified equipment and known hazardous materials from HMS OCEAN after the ship has been decommissioned. The DE&S financial plan will include a provision for this work but a figure has yet to be approved.

    The Disposal Services Authority (DSA), part of DE&S, disposes of defence equipment that is surplus to requirement. DSA costs are not attributed to individual platforms and information is not held in the format requested.