Category: Speeches

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the deficit in the light of statistics from the ONS recording the highest level of borrowing in six years.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government has made significant progress to date in reducing borrowing – the deficit has more than halved as a share of GDP since 2009-10 and the national debt as a share of GDP is forecast to be falling this year. But the job is not yet done – the deficit remains high among advanced economies.

    At Summer Budget the government announced £17 billion of consolidation measures; £5 billion from tax avoidance, evasion and imbalances in the tax system and £12 billion from welfare reform. The Autumn Statement and Spending Review laid out a further £18 billion; £12 billion savings to overall RDEL spending; £3 billion from the Apprenticeship levy and £3 billion from delivering reforms such as Making Tax Digital and further measures to tackle tax avoidance.

    In their November forecast, the independent OBR predict the deficit to fall in each year of this Parliament, reaching a £10.1 billion surplus by 2019-20.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people of each gender work in his Department.

    Mike Penning

    The Department publishes diversity report which contains workforce data broken down by gender on an annual basis. The last published report for 2013/2014 can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diversity-report-2013-to-2014

    “

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he will implement section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 on awards of costs; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As the Secretary of State said on his speech to the Society of Editors on 19th October 2015, "I am not convinced the time is right for the introduction of these costs provisions. Given the changes under way within the industry, the introduction of the new exemplary damages provisions, and the pressures on the industry, I question whether this additional step, now, will be positive and will lead to the changes I want to see". The Government is continuing to consider the matter.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) Ofcom has made of the number of (a) business parks which do not have superfast broadband and (b) businesses based in business parks which do not have superfast broadband.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    In its 2015 publication Connected Nations, Ofcom estimated that 68% of SMEs had access to superfast broadband in May 2015, and almost half (around 130,000) in certain business areas were unable to receive speeds above 10Mbit/s.

    The Government is supporting investment to provide superfast broadband coverage to 90% of UK premises by early 2016 and 95% by December 2017. In addition, BDUK’s Connection Voucher Scheme issued around 55,000 vouchers to businesses to enable to access Superfast broadband. However, this does not include the provision of leased lines which offer an alternative connectivity option for businesses.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new steps they are taking to improve identification and testing of people potentially infected with hepatitis C as part of a coherent approach to treatment of the population at large.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The United Kingdom Government takes the issue of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C very seriously. Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England continue working together with key stakeholders to establish a strategic approach to tackle hepatitis C, including monitoring treatment access and uptake, as well as establishing Operation Delivery Networks (ODNs).

    NHS England has invested in a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme to incentivise ODNs to meet their agreed rate of roll-out. If their treatment rates deviate from this agreed rate of treatment, they are no longer eligible for these incentives.

    PHE is working together with NHS England and the National Offender Management Service to improve coverage of blood borne virus testing for people in prisons through implementation of opt-out testing.

    PHE has also commissioned the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Certificate in the Detection, Diagnosis and Management of Hepatitis B and C in Primary Care to help raise awareness in primary care and among other professionals working with groups at high risk of chronic viral hepatitis infection. To supplement this, a new RCGP course was launched in April 2015, Hepatitis C: Enhancing Prevention, Testing and Care which comprises four lessons: understanding hepatitis C; preventing transmission; testing and diagnosis; and treatment and care.

  • Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they reconcile printing and delivering their pamphlet Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK to every household in the UK, with the statement by the Minister of State for Europe, Mr David Lidington, on 7 September 2015 that we have no intention of legislating to allow the Government to do things such as mailshots

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As the full excerpt below shows, the statement referred to by the Noble Lord relates to conduct and activity during the final 28 days of the referendum period, which are covered by the provisions of section 125 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Government will comply fully with these provisions.

    “Instead, new clause 10 provides a power to make regulations to exempt particular categories of publication from section 125. Any such regulation would need to be approved by an affirmative resolution in both Houses. We have also adopted the recommendation of the Political and Constitutional Affairs Committee that the Government should consult the Electoral Commission before any such regulation is made.

    While I understand the constructive intention behind the suggestion made by the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon), I think that at the end of the day the Government must be free to go to Parliament and ask whether it accepts or rejects a particular proposal. The safeguard here is that if Government new clause 10 is accepted tonight, both Houses will have the right to veto anything that the Government might bring forward under this new provision.

    Let me explain the kind of things I have in mind. They include, for example, modernising the press notice exemption, which is already in section 125, to take account of digital media, by making it clear that it is permissible to link to a press notice from a website or a social media site; allowing the publication of a document on government.uk; or clarifying that material passed on to the print or broadcasting media would be acceptable. None of those things is clear at the moment. Let me repeat that we have no intention of legislating to allow the Government to do things such as mailshots, paid advertising or leafleting.”

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what ministerial representation there will be at the CITES Conference of the Parties in September 2016.

    Rory Stewart

    We understand that the South African Government is intending to host a ministerial-level segment to open the 17th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP17) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 24 September to 5 October 2016.

    We are still considering UK Ministerial attendance so I am not able to confirm this at the current time. I am however keen for the UK delegation to play an active role at CoP17 in securing positive outcomes for endangered species at risk of over-exploitation as a result of international trade.

  • Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will make it its policy not to take a decision on the location of an additional runway until its reviews of UK airspace and the Aviation Policy Framework have been completed.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government remains fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects it has set out, including delivering runway capacity on the timetable set out by Sir Howard Davies.

    In the coming weeks the Government will carefully consider all of the evidence before reaching a view on its preferred scheme.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on work permits and immigration rules for EU citizens working in higher education, research and academia after the UK leaves the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    Department for Education officials meet regularly with Home Office officials to discuss a range of issues regarding EU students and staff. The two departments will continue to work closely as these issues progress.

  • John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many English secondary schools belong to an academy trust which has more than one school.

    Edward Timpson

    As of 29 October 2015, there are 1,093 English schools which provide some form of secondary education and are part of academy trusts with more than one school.