Category: Speeches

  • Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to embed the family test into its policy making.

    Brandon Lewis

    Officials in my Department have liaised with the Department for Work and Pensions as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. This has included training officials on applying the Test and disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the humanitarian effect of the Israeli government’s policy on demolition orders.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We believe these demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; are harmful to the peace process; and are, in all but the most exceptional of cases, contrary to international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that the destruction of any real or personal property in Occupied Territory is not justified unless it is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations. This is why Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and officials regularly raise the matter with the Israeli Government, emphasising our concerns.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the duration of ambassadorial postings (a) where HM Ambassador is a speaker of the official language of the country to which he is posted (b) where HM Ambassador’s primary foreign language is not that of the country to which he is posted.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The majority of Heads of Mission have a tour length of three or four years, unless they are posted to a hardship or conflict post where the tour may be shorter. Around 100 Heads of Mission roles require language skills and are designated “speaker slots”.

    We offer language training to Heads of Mission where this is required. The FCO Language Centre was re-opened in September 2013 to renew the focus and investment in languages as a core diplomatic skill to ensure that we get the right people with the right skills in the right jobs to deliver our foreign policy objectives. The Language Centre gives us a strong platform to grow our language skills as an organisation and develop a pipeline of talent to fill language slots on a continuous basis. It is essential that all our Heads of Mission have the necessary skills, including languages, to do their jobs. Many of our Heads of Mission will return to Posts where they have existing language capability, in these cases we will provide top up or refresher training. Our Head of Mission Appointment Boards take into account language skills as part of the overall assessment of suitability for a role. In some cases the best candidate may not already speak the language and for these roles we will provide longer training to reach the requisite level. We encourage all those who have undergone language training to maintain their language skills throughout their careers.

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many community hospitals have closed in each year since 2005.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold this information.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimates his Department has made of the range for the value of liabilities arising from the sale of the Green Investment Bank.

    Anna Soubry

    Government policy is to move the Green Investment Bank (GIB) in to the private sector. Following a sale, GIB’s contractual liabilities will be funded by its new shareholders. To the extent that HM Government retains a minority stake, the Government will contribute funds towards those contractual commitments on a pro rata basis for UK based investments.

    Separately, as part of the sale process, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has entered into an agreement with Poyry (provider of electricity market reports and price forecasting) (electricity market report and associated price forecast provider) (electricity market report and associated price forecast provider)(electricity market report and associated price forecast provider)to share information with potential bidders to help them to undertake due diligence. This agreement requires BIS to provide an indemnity to Poyry in relation to any resulting liability Poyry might incur. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills set out details of the indemnity in his written ministerial statement of 21 March (HCWS633) including his view that the likelihood of it being called upon is low. A Departmental minute explaining the procedure followed and describing the liabilities undertaken has also been placed in the Libraries of the House.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for UK Erasmus students, lecturers and research fellows in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    Over 200,000 British Students have been able to study abroad on the Erasmus programme. Access to this programme is just one of the many reasons why the Government believes we are safer, stronger and better off inside a reformed EU.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many applications to appeal a decision on (a) an asylum application and (b) an application for refugee family union in the First Tier Tribunal Asylum and Immigration Chamber the applicant paid a fee in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    There were 2,890 applications to appeal an asylum decision where a fee was paid by the applicant in the calendar year 2015.

    The number of applications to appeal a refugee family union decision is not collected by HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

    Notes to figures:

    1. The figure includes asylum, protection and revocation of protection appeals because they come under the umbrella term of ‘asylum’.

    2. Figures provided are taken from internal management information and not subject to the same quality checks as Official Statistics.

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the (a) NHS, (b) social care sector and (c) economy of obesity in each of the last five years.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The economic burden of ill health due to diet, physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol and obesity in the UK: an update to 2006-07 NHS costs estimated that overweight and obesity cost the National Health Service in the United Kingdom £5.1 billion per year. This figure was uplifted to £6.1 billion in 2014-15 to take account of inflation.

    The Foresight team published Tackling Obesities: Future Choices in 2007. This estimated the annual costs of overweight and obesity to society and the economy as £27 billion in 2015, based on obesity prevalence at the time. More recently the McKinsey Global Institute estimated the cost of obesity to the UK economy as £46 billion per year.

    No further estimates have been made centrally.

    Copies of The economic burden of ill health due to diet, physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol and obesity in the UK: an update to 2006-07 NHS costs; Tackling Obesities: Future Choices; and the McKinsey Global Institute’s report Overcoming obesity: An initial economic analysis are available at:

    http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/05/11/pubmed.fdr033.full.pdf+html

    www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287937/07-1184x-tackling-obesities-future-choices-report.pdf

    www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/how-the-world-could-better-fight-obesity

    “

  • Dame Caroline Spelman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dame Caroline Spelman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dame Caroline Spelman on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to Scorched Earth, Poisoned Air, published by Amnesty International on 29 September 2016, if he will comment on the alleged destruction of 170 villages in the Jebel Marra region of Darfur by the Sudanese armed forces since January 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​We are very concerned by the alleged destruction of villages as well as the other allegations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law violations in Jebel Marra. We are deeply troubled about the humanitarian situation in Darfur, which was made more acute by a renewed outbreak of hostilities in January and which has displaced at least 80,000 civilians; adding to the 2.6 million people long term displaced in Darfur. We continue to believe that urgent humanitarian access and a lasting cessation of hostilities leading to a permanent ceasefire are crucial to ending the conflict in Darfur and have made this point directly to the Government of Sudan, most recently during high–level discussions on 10-11 October.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps are taken by (a) his Department and (b) Ofcom to investigate objections to the content of a UK-licenced radio station made by a foreign government.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Any complaint made by a foreign government about a television or radio station that is licensed in the UK is a matter for Ofcom to deal with.

    Ofcom will apply the same procedures that they use for evaluating any other complaint. Those procedures are available from Ofcom’s website at:

    http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/guidance/complaints-sanctions/standards/

    “