Category: Speeches

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many reports of lasers being shone into the cockpits of passenger aircraft landing or taking off from Heathrow Airport there have been in the last three years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The table below details the number of reports received by the Civil Aviation Authority of laser incidents targeted against aircraft landing or taking off from London Heathrow Airport.

    Year

    Number of reported incidents

    2012

    150

    2013

    144

    2014

    165

    2015

    95**

    ** A final analysis of laser occurrence reports received for the 2015 period will be available by the end of April 2016.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many infraction proceedings the EU has initiated against her Department in each of the last 10 years; what the reasons were for each such proceeding being undertaken; and what the outcome was of each such proceeding.

    Nick Gibb

    The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each member state can be found. This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be found here.

    http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en

    “

  • Lord Norton of Louth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Norton of Louth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Norton of Louth on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the Cabinet Constitutional Reform Committee has met since its appointment in May 2015.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, is generally not disclosed.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the proposed EU-wide recovery and resolution frameworks for failed central counterparties, and whether in their assessment there are any outstanding issues.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government welcomes the European Commission’s commitment to publish a legislative proposal on a recovery and resolution framework for central counterparties (CCPs) and will assess the proposals once published. Given the global nature of CCPs, the recovery and resolution framework will need to take into account ongoing work by the Financial Stability Board, the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to address levels of discrimination in the work-place for women who are pregnant.

    Margot James

    Pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination in the workplace is both unlawful and unacceptable, and has no place in today’s society. That is why the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) jointly commissioned independent research to better understand the issues so that appropriate steps can be taken to address the situation.

    The Government is committed to tackling pregnancy and maternity discrimination and we are taking action as promised in our response on 22 March 2016 to recommendations made by the EHRC. We are working with a range of partners including EHRC and Acas to promote opportunities for women, including pregnant women and new mothers; to ensure that female talent is recognised and rewarded; and to make more employers aware of their legal obligations.

  • Lord Touhig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Touhig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Touhig on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any plans to increase the number of military doctors working less than full-time.

    Earl Howe

    While there are currently no plans to increase the numbers of military doctors, there are plans to provide a limited number of already serving regular medical officers the opportunity to be employed at reduced levels of obligation, for a number of days worked per year for a bounded period of time.

    Applicants will shortly be invited to participate in this Flexible Duties Employment Trial, which is due to commence in early 2016.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals on increasing penalties for online copyright infringement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    A consultation was held during summer 2015 on proposals to increase the maximum custodial sentence for online copyright infringement from two to ten years, to harmonise it with the penalty available for physical infringement. The responses to that consultation have been analysed and officials at the IPO are now giving consideration to future direction and timing and will advise Ministers accordingly.

  • 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 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the Maritime Apprenticeships Trailblazer Working Group (TWG); when he expects Maritime TWG apprenticeships to be available to employees and employers in the shipping industry; and what estimate he has made of the number of new seafarer ratings that will be trained through apprenticeships developed through the Maritime TWG.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Maritime skills and apprenticeships, including the maritime trailblazer, were discussed at the first meeting of the new Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth on 30th November 2015. The group comprises Ministers and senior officials from across Whitehall including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and industry representative including from the Maritime Apprenticeships Trailblazer Working Group.

    The Maritime Apprenticeships Trailblazer Working Group is an employer led group. The able seafarer (deck) standard is now approved and ready for delivery and others are in development. Once a standard is ready for delivery it is open to any employer or training provider for delivery.

    It is too early to make an assessment on the number of new seafarer ratings that will be trained through apprenticeships, but the Department is currently reviewing seafarer projections across the industry.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s plans are for the delivery of IT and digital services after the end dates of current contracts.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department anticipates a shift in the way in which citizens will engage with the Department – with greater digital interaction in the future. Digital Technology, Data and Security capabilities are a key enabler of this shift. The Department is progressing its strategy to deliver the underpinning technology requirements, and this includes both in-house services and externally provided services through procurement exercises using open competitions under the EU Procurement Directives and call-off competitions under Government Frameworks, such as GCloud and Crown Hosting.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Minister of State for the Department for International Development, Desmond Swayne, on 16 March (HC Deb, col 937), what assessment they have made of measures required to confer on the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over crimes committed by Daesh in Syria and Iraq.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor has set out some of the complicated issues involved in the ICC investigating Daesh in her press statement of 8 April 2015. As neither Iraq nor Syria are State Parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC has no territorial jurisdiction over crimes committed on their soil. In order for Daesh’s crimes to be investigated by the ICC, Iraq and Syria would have to declare their acceptance of the Court’s jurisdiction, or the UN Security Council could refer the situation to the Court.