Category: Speeches

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of places available in local authority maintained nurseries in (a) Dartford and (b) Kent.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare and early education places, and make this report available and accessible to parents. The Department does not hold borough-level estimates centrally of the number of places in local authority maintained nursery schools. However, the number of pupils attending local authority maintained nurseries can be found in the statistical first release and underlying data published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015

    The Local authority and regional tables: SFR16/2015 (Table 7b)[1] indicates that 90 pupils were registered as attending local authority maintained nursery schools in Kent in 2015.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445755/SFR16_2015_LA_tables.xlsx

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  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Children’s Act 1989 to protect children from the effects of Parental Alienation syndrome and implacable hostility.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Guidance on Parental Alienation Syndrome is not issued to family court judges as the ‘syndrome’ is not recognised as such by many professionals in this country.

    The Children Act 1989 contains adequate provisions to protect against the effects of parental alienation or implacable hostility. These include the requirement for the court to ascertain the wishes and feelings of a child who is the subject of a parental dispute, commensurate with that child’s age and level of understanding and the power to request Cafcass to prepare a welfare report into any matters relevant to the child or the family.

    Cafcass practitioners are aware of the potential for children to be influenced or alienated by parental views and are alert to this possibility throughout the case.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that customers are able to receive utility and other bills in paper form on request.

    George Freeman

    My Department does not intervene in the billing arrangements of individual businesses in the regulated utilities.

    But I understand that most utility and other providers give customers the option to receive bills in paper form if they so request.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the number of people in the UK with high-level specialist skills in data science.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government recognises the need to increase the number of people with high-level skills in data science for the benefit of the UK, and is taking a range of measures to boost the supply of people with these skills.

    The Alan Turing Institute is a £67 million joint venture between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and five leading UK Universities (Cambridge, Edinburgh, Oxford, UCL and Warwick). It is the UK’s national institute for data science, and training the next generation of researchers is a key part of its mission.

    Other institutes supported by the Research Councils include the Hartree Centre (a centre of excellence in High Performance Computing), the Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, and the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge, which are all helping researchers to develop their skills to make better use of data.

    The Research Councils are taking other steps to increase the supply of researchers with data skills, for example all Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council-funded doctoral students are required to be trained in informatics, data analysis and computational methods as a core part of their training. They support numerous Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) involved in data analysis, including the University of Edinburgh’s Data Science CDT, and the Big Data and Cloud Computing CDT at the University of Newcastle. And the £19.5 million Q-Step programme is designed to promote a step-change in quantitative social science training in the UK.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data his Department collects on people who have exercised new pension freedoms who have not accessed the Pension Wise service.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The government committed to providing free, impartial guidance through Pension Wise, to help people make informed and confident decisions about how they use their defined contribution pension savings in retirement. It is available online, via the telephone and face to face. As of 29 October 2015, there were over 20,000 completed appointments for face to face guidance and 9,000 completed appointments for telephone guidance as well as over 1.7 million visits to the website.

    Pension Wise runs exit surveys of those who have completed an appointment It is not mandatory for a user to complete an exit survey. The government is committed to being open and transparent with Pension Wise data and will be making core data readily available by placing it on the government performance platform this autumn. The data will be in the public domain and updated regularly. HM Treasury is working with Pension Wise delivery partners to provide the level of detail that we require for reporting purposes.

    The Financial Conduct Authority, in line with its remit to protect consumers and ensure markets function in consumers’ interests, is monitoring developments in the retirement income market closely and has committed to take action where consumers are coming to harm or where the market is not operating competitively.

    The government recognises that people may wish to consult different sources of information before reaching a decision about their retirement income. In addition to Pension Wise, The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) provides independent, impartial information and guidance about pensions, free of charge, to members of the public. The Money Advice Service also provides free and unbiased information and guidance on all money matters.

    A number of pension providers offer financial guidance. Individuals can also access regulated advice from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority are jointly considering how financial advice could be made more accessible and affordable for consumers through the Financial Advice Market Review.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information she holds on the proportion of drivers who chose the option of attending a driver alertness scheme as an alternative to prosecution in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

    Mike Penning

    The investigation of road crime incidents is an operational matter for the police. If anyone wishes to complain about any treatment he or she has received, they should raise a complaint with the local Chief Officer, Chief Constable or Police and Crime Commissioner. The Police Reform Act 2002 stipulates the procedures to make a complaint and outlines the role of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). This ensures that police officers and staff are fully answerable for their actions.

    The Home Office does not centrally hold information on the number of motorists who chose to attend a driver alertness scheme. How the scheme is managed is an operational matter for the police.

  • Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support the Government has provided for the Waterfront regeneration project in Dundee.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Museum of Design, V&A Dundee will be a key central feature of the Dundee Waterfront Regeneration project. The Heritage Lottery Fund has contributed almost £14 million to the museum. The project is yet another example among many of a major national museum supporting culture outside London.

  • Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19049, if he will ensure that there will be no gaps in capability between the decommissioning of HMS Ocean and its role being taken over by other ships.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We will ensure that other ships are available to provide support to amphibious operations.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a security assessment has been made of the potential use of non-HM Passport Office (HMPO) sites for interviews when HMPO plans to replace face-to-face interviews with video-link interviews.

    James Brokenshire

    When commissioning new video interview sites, a security risk assessment is undertaken and the service has to be suitably accredited. Video interviewing, using this approach, has been used successfully for customers in other locations since 2007.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the effect of the fluctuation in the market price of crude oil on the continued operation of waste oil collection services.

    Rory Stewart

    The changes referred to do not amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. The changes made are to the ‘Environmental Guidance On Waste Incineration’, which now clarifies that small waste oil burners used to burn waste oil must meet the requirements of Chapter IV of the Industrial Emissions Directive or switch to non-waste fuels. This guidance can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-permitting-guidance-the-waste-incineration-directive/environmental-permitting-guidance-waste-incineration.

    A consultation on the changes to the guidance was undertaken between 14 September and 26 October last year. A summary of responses can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487892/waste-incineration-consult-sum-resp.pdf.

    The impact assessment for the changes to this guidance considered some sensitivities on the price of crude oil with regard to collection fees only. The impact assessment can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487895/waste-incineration-consult-ep-ia.pdf.

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