Category: Speeches

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the existence of links between the Taliban and Islamic State movements in Afghanistan and the abusive exploitation of extractive resources.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We assess that the Afghan Taliban leadership opposes Daesh’s presence in Afghanistan, where there has been reported fighting between the two groups. Our judgement is that the Taliban generate funding via illegal exploitation of Afghanistan’s natural resources, for example marble, talcum and lapis lazuli, and through extortion of payments from legal mining operations, but we have seen no evidence to suggest that Daesh is currently engaged in these activities.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits to the Calder Valley of a high speed rail link between Leeds and Manchester.

    Andrew Jones

    Since the publication of the March 2015 Northern Transport Strategy, the Government and Transport for the North have been taking forward a programme of work on an ambitious Northern Powerhouse Rail vision. Parallel work is also taking place to understand the capability of the North’s road network.

    Detailed analysis has not yet been carried out on the potential benefits of high speed rail links between particular locations across the Pennines. However the recent Budget allocated £60million to help develop the options for a High Speed 3 route between Leeds and Manchester.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his oral contribution of 21 March 2016, Official Report, column 1269, whether his Department plans to proceed with the removal of housing benefit for people aged between 18 and 21 years old.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government will be taking forward its plans to remove the automatic entitlement to housing support for new claims in Universal Credit for 18-21 year olds who are out of work from April 2017; as announced in the 2015 Summer Budget. The planned changes will ensure that vulnerable young people who are in need of support for their housing needs continue to receive it whilst maintaining a system that is fair to the taxpayer

  • Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wendy Morton on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received from each (a) local authority, (b) Police and Crime Commissioner and (c) Police Chief Constable seeking further powers in relation to responsibilities to stop unauthorised encampments in the last 12 months.

    Brandon Lewis

    We regularly receive correspondence from individual local authorities and MPs, concerning the powers available to enforcement agencies and operation of the planning system. The Government takes the issue of unauthorised encampments and associated problems seriously and will continue to keep it under review.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the National Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham turned down requests from other Category 1 Responders for assistance in the last two years; and for each such request (a) what type of request it was, (b) what reason was recorded for it being turned down and (c) which coastguard station turned it down.

    Mr John Hayes

    Her Majesty’s Coastguard does not specifically record occurrences when other Category 1 Responders or any other service requests assistance. Information may be held within the text narrative of an incident record but this would require a check of tens of thousands of records over the last two to five years.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in respect of the proposed Garden Bridge, whether the Department for Transport met each of the criteria set by the Treasury before funding was committed; if not, what action was taken to override the Treasury criteria; and what changes to procedures are in place to avoid any non-compliance with Treasury criteria.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Government funding for the Garden Bridge project was initially announced by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 2013 Autumn Statement. In a subsequent letter to the then Secretary of State for Transport, the Chancellor said that this funding had been committed on the basis that:

    • the Mayor of London would match it from Transport for London’s resources;
    • a satisfactory business case would be produced, demonstrating that the project provided value for money;
    • Transport for London would fund the Bridge’s ongoing maintenance; and
    • the Mayor would cover cost overruns or shortfalls in funding.

    The first criterion was met in full in advance of funding being transferred to Transport for London.

    In respect of the second criterion, a business case for the project was produced by Transport for London and assessed by the Department before any funding was transferred. The Department’s analysis suggested that the project had a wide range of possible benefit to cost ratios, and that whilst there were risk factors associated with such a unique project, it had a reasonable chance of delivering value for money. The funding was therefore made available with a number of conditions attached to it, including a cap of £8.25 million on the amount that could be spent before the start of construction. That particular condition was revised, with part of the funding now able to be used to underwrite the cancellation costs that would arise were the project to be cancelled. This followed a Ministerial direction by the previous Secretary of State for Transport in May 2016.

    In respect of the third criterion, funding of the ongoing maintenance costs will be a matter for the Garden Bridge Trust, but should the Trust be unable to cover these costs, the previous Mayor issued a Mayoral direction in June 2015 which approved the provision of guarantees by the Greater London Authority in relation to the Garden Bridge, subject to suitable terms and arrangements being agreed.

    In terms of the fourth criterion, the Government has made clear that there will be no more public funding for the project beyond what has already been committed.

    I receive regular progress reports from the chairman of the Garden Bridge Trust, and Department for Transport officials are in regular contact with their opposite numbers in Transport for London and the Garden Bridge Trust to discuss these and other matters. I do not consider any changes are necessary to these procedures.

  • Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports about VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad, whether they plan to pursue (1) Amazon, and (2) eBay, for any UK VAT that has been evaded by traders using those online marketplaces; and if not, why not.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity to tackle this issue. However, HMRC is unable to give details of its plans in respect of any individual taxpayer because of taxpayer confidentiality.

  • Lord Chidgey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which countries the short wave radio transmission of BBC World Service programmes has been jammed in each year from 1999 to 2014.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The BBC World Service has advised that short wave radio transmission has been jammed in the following countries: 2004 to present – Uzbekistan 2010 – China (Mandarin) 2012 to 2013 – Iran 2013 to present –China, which has also affected parts of India, Bhutan and Bangladesh

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the conclusions of the Social Market Foundation report, published in January 2016, Educational Inequalities in England and Wales.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The government is determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential. Thanks to the hard work of teachers across the country and our ambitious programme of reforms, 1.4 million more pupils are in good or outstanding schools compared to 2010.

    We believe that there is more that can be done. That is why we are introducing new measures to transform failing and coasting schools, funding the best academy chains to share excellence in the North and creating a National Teaching Service. This will send some of our best teachers to the areas that need them most, starting in the North West.

    We have also protected the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this Parliament, so that schools receive additional money for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. A review of funding for disadvantaged pupils by the National Audit Office in July 2015 found that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed in both primary and secondary schools since the introduction of the pupil premium in 2011.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Google operating systems are used by HM Revenue and Customs; and when use of those systems commenced.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) uses two Google operating systems.

    HMRC uses the Android Operating system in a small number of mobile phone handsets, equating to less than 4% of its mobile phone estate. This Operating System was first used in 2012 in a small number of handsets, before being rolled out more widely in 2014.

    HMRC also uses the Google Chrome Operating System in our video conference units. The Department started using this operating system for its video conferencing facilities in March 2014.