Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with BT on the time taken to repair faulty telephone lines.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ministers have raised the issue of the time taken for service requests and repairs with senior management at BT and Openreach.

    Government supports the measures Ofcom announced in its Digital Communications Review to address the problem across all communication service providers, including: raising minimum standards for the time taken to install new lines and make repairs; and encouraging proactive behaviour in the maintenance of the network. Government expects Openreach’s performance to be consistently above the minimum standard.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether under the terms of its franchise agreement Govia Thameslink Railway is required to consult stakeholders before introducing a change to the timetable for its services.

    Paul Maynard

    For planned timetable changes, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is required to consult stakeholders before introducing them. However, when – as is the case for the revised timetable which came into effect on Southern and Gatwick Express services on 11 July a revised timetable has been introduced to mitigate the impact of official and unofficial industrial action – no consultation is required. GTR has an overriding obligation to act in the overall interests of passengers and to take all reasonable measures to avoid or reduce the impact of any disruption.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Guto Bebb

    The Wales Office is not an employer in its own right and payroll services are provided by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on our behalf.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which regulations her Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations her Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate she has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

    Andrea Leadsom

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to Question 15037:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-11-05/15037/.

    “

  • Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Falkner of Margravine on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the failure of London, Leeds, and Birmingham to maintain nitrogen dioxide levels within legal limits over the past five years, what assessment they have made of whether relaxing emissions standards for cars is compatible with public health and legal requirements to control urban pollution.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is committed to taking action on vehicle emissions testing that restores consumer confidence and delivers our wider air quality and climate objectives. We strongly support the current Real Driving Emissions agreement, which is expected to significantly reduce average real world NOx emissions from new diesel cars from 2017. It makes type approval requirements for diesel vehicles significantly more stringent by requiring manufacturers to ensure real-world emissions are maintained below 2.1 times the laboratory-testing limit in 2017 and at or below the laboratory-testing limit by 2020 (with a margin for measurement uncertainty). Issues relating to vehicle emissions are considered in the context of the UK Government’s plans for air quality. More detail is set out in the air quality plans published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the 17th December.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees were referred to her Department by the UN High Commission for Refugees under (a) the Gateway Protection Programme, (b) the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme and (c) the Mandate Refugee Scheme in each year since 2009-10; and how many such refugees in each year and for each scheme her Department refused after carrying out checks.

    James Brokenshire

    We do not report on how many people have been identified for resettlement in the UK under these schemes. Not all referrals translate into arrivals for a variety of reasons. In some instances, refugees choose to withdraw, for example, following the death of a family member, marriage or childbirth. Furthermore the Home Office also retains the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds. In addition we do not currently differentiate between cases that are refused or withdrawn and therefore do not hold the information on refusals in the format requested.

    Notwithstanding this, the Home Office is committed to publishing data on arrivals through the resettlement programmes in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 February 2016 and will cover the period October-December 2015. These numbers will be updated each quarter.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Government’s response to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s First Special Report of Session 2015-16, published on 11 February 2016, HC816, when he expects the internal review of his Department to be completed; what the key priorities of his Department are on which that review will be focussed; and if he will publish the conclusions of that review.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The internal review is expected to be completed in the Spring. Its remit is to advise on how the FCO can be more expert, agile and focused on the Department’s key priorities. I expect the review to set out a vision of the organisation the FCO should be by 2020. The review is internal. No decision has yet been taken on publication.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much school deficit has remained with local authorities after schools have converted to academy status.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not hold this information on local authority budgets

    Deficits for schools which convert to become sponsored academies remain with the local authority. It is right that these deficits remain with their local authority as these schools were the responsibility of the authority when they were found to be failing or underperforming and it is the authority’s responsibility for ensuring the school managed its expenditure satisfactorily.

  • Kirsty Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kirsty Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance he has issued to HM Courts and Tribunals Service on minimum standards for keeping appellants updated of future court dates and waiting times for those dates.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Tribunal Procedure Rules require HMCTS to notify appellants of their hearing date, time and place upon listing. If there is any change to a hearing date, such as a postponement or adjournment, HMCTS issues a further notice in writing to confirm the change. If an appellant has any questions or concerns about their hearing date they can contact the Tribunal via the HMCTS Contact Centre.

  • Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost was for maintaining his Department’s properties classified as void in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    Mark Lancaster

    Information on the cost of maintaining Service Family Accommodation (SFA) on Ministry of Defence (MOD) properties classed as void prior to 2014-15 is not held.

    For 2014-15 the cost was £5.590 million and for 2015-16 the cost was £5.714 million. This covers the standard cost of retaining SFA when it is vacant, regardless of whether any maintenance is required.