Category: Speeches

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which categories of young people will be exempt from the new restrictions to housing benefit eligibility.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Removal of automatic housing support for 18 – 21 year olds, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, will be introduced in April 2017. The Department is liaising with a range of key stakeholders as we develop the detail of the policy and once this work is complete we will bring forward detailed proposals.

  • Edward Leigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Edward Leigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Leigh on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s consultation on out-of-school education settings, launched on 26 November 2015, whether proposals to register out-of-school settings will require Ofsted inspectors to travel to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland to inspect tuition, training or instruction given outside of England by English-based institutions.

    Edward Timpson

    The Government wants children to be educated in a safe environment where they are not taught hateful and extremist views that undermine British values.

    The proposal to regulate out-of-school education settings, as set out in the recently published call for evidence, applies to settings located and operating in England only. It is not proposed that Ofsted inspect settings operating in the devolved administrations.

    Officials in the Department have been in contact with their counterparts in Wales and Scotland to discuss the proposal, but oversight of out-of-school education settings operating in those countries is a matter for the devolved administrations.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.293 of Budget 2016, how his Department plans to support the establishment of a Life Chances Investment Fund; and how much funding will be allocated to that Fund.

    Greg Hands

    The government will work with Greater Manchester to establish a Life Chances Investment Fund from April 2017. This will bring together into a single pot funding from the Troubled Families programme, the Working Well pilot, the Cabinet Office Life Chances Fund and Greater Manchester’s own resources. The precise size of the Fund will be agreed over the coming months. Further detail on the government and Greater Manchester’s plans for this Fund can be found in the document on further devolution to Greater Manchester agreed alongside the Budget. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/devolution-to-the-greater-manchester-combined-authority-and-transition-to-a-directly-elected-mayor.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reforming (a) pension protection arrangements and (b) corporate pension schemes.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The pension protection arrangements for defined benefit occupational pension schemes have been robust and effective.

    The Government keeps these arrangements under review, engaging relevant stakeholders, in order to ensure that members of pension schemes are properly protected, and considers long term as well as short term factors for the pension protection landscape.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of staff in his Department were (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information is provided in the following table:

    Financial Year

    Proportion of payroll staff (%)

    Proportion of non-payroll staff (%)

    2015-16

    99.4

    0.6

    2014-15

    99.7

    0.3

    2013-14

    99.9

    0.1

    2012-13

    99.9

    0.1

    2011-12

    99.9

    0.1

    2010-11

    99.9

    0.1

    Of the 520 non-payroll staff in the latest year the majority were employed to develop the technology for our major welfare reforms.

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the recommendations made by the UK Statistics Agency in August 2015, what plans his Department has to extend the range of benefit sanction data available by addressing gaps in information on repeat sanctions and hardship payments alongside the development of sanction data from the universal credit system.

    Damian Hinds

    The sanctions publication strategy which details the approach being taken by DWP statisticians to improve the sanctions statistics being developed, which include the addition of Universal Credit sanction statistics, can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-sanction-statistics-publication-strategy

    The latest release of sanction statistics within the Quarterly Statistical Summary: August 2016 includes an experimental monthly rate of claimants sanctioned and can be found (on page12) at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dwp-statistical-summaries-2016

    The related background information to support this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monthly-rate-of-claimants-sanctioned-background-information-and-methodology

    Management Information data on the number of applications and awards for hardship payments were published on 18th November 2015 and can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/jsa-and-esa-hardship-applications-and-awards-apr-2012-to-jun-2015

    We will consider the regularity of future publications of hardship statistics alongside our routine prioritisation of our statistical work programme.

    “

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints have been received by each regional office of the Crown Prosecution Service regarding each of those regional offices in each of the last three years.

    Robert Buckland

    The following table shows the number of complaints received by the 13 CPS Areas in the past three years:

    Area

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Cymru/Wales

    Not available*

    90

    121

    East Midlands

    Not available*

    168

    163

    East of England

    Not available*

    167

    152

    London

    Not available*

    219

    245

    Merseyside & Cheshire

    Not available*

    56

    39

    North East

    Not available*

    97

    69

    North West

    Not available*

    120

    140

    South East

    Not available*

    147

    118

    South West

    Not available*

    86

    84

    Thames & Chiltern

    Not available*

    189

    166

    Wessex

    Not available*

    80

    47

    West Midlands

    Not available*

    228

    293

    Yorkshire & Humberside

    Not available*

    149

    146

    CPS Direct

    Not available*

    118

    66

    * Due to a technical issue which the CPS is currently resolving, the Area breakdown of complaints received in 2013/14 is not available at this time. The CPS will write to the Honourable Member to provide these figures once the issue has been corrected.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government plans to take, other than by offering support to other countries in the region, to ensure that the UK meets its international obligations to refugees from the conflict in Syria.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is at the forefront of the response to the Syrian crisis and has committed over £1.1 billion to date. This makes us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. We continue to play a leading role in encouraging the international community to contribute generously to the UN appeals. We are exploring with the UN and major donors how best to ensure that the momentum on fund-raising is maintained in the longer term, including in response to the upcoming 2016 Appeals.

    The conflict raises significant protection concerns for civilians. We continue to call on all parties to the conflict to respect International Law and ensure free, unimpeded access for impartial humanitarian agencies to provide vital assistance to those in need.

  • Lord Clark of Windermere – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Clark of Windermere – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clark of Windermere on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what restrictions there are on army officers being selected by a political party as a candidate for an elected post, such as police and crime commissioner.

    Earl Howe

    Members of the regular Armed Forces of the Crown are disqualified from membership of the House of Commons by the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 and from election to the European Parliament by the European Parliamentary Act 1978. Such personnel must therefore apply for permission to retire voluntarily or resign or be granted a free discharge from the Service before their formal adoption as a Parliamentary candidate or prospective candidate. Such personnel must complete their last day of service before their formal adoption as a candidate or prospective candidate.

    No regular Service personnel or members of the Reserve Forces when serving on a full time Service commitment or additional duties commitment shall issue an address to electors or in any other manner publicly announce themselves or allow themselves to be publicly announced as a candidate or a prospective candidate for election to:

    UK Parliament, European Parliament, Scottish Parliament or Parliament of the Irish Republic for any Parliamentary constituency;

    the Northern Ireland Assembly or the National Assembly for Wales for any Assembly constituency;

    any legislative assembly of the Commonwealth; or as a

    Police and Crime Commissioner.

    Any person to whom this applies and who desires to stand as a candidate or who seeks election as described above must make an application through normal Service channels to retire voluntarily or to resign or to be granted a free discharge. Such an application should be made as early as possible. Approval of an application will depend on the exigencies of the Service. On leaving the Service, an unsuccessful candidate will have no right to reinstatement. A candidate or prospective candidate must take all steps within his power to ensure that no public announcement of his candidature is made before he has retired, resigned or been discharged.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on income to insurance companies of the changes to personal injury law and procedure announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; and if he will make a statement.

    Dominic Raab

    The Government received and analysed data from numerous sources when formulating the announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. We will continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders including other Government Departments, solicitors and insurers in taking forward the new reform package. The Government will consult on the detail of these measures in due course. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.