Category: Speeches

Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to maintain a strong commercial bus market in northern regions of the UK.

Andrew Jones

The forthcoming Buses Bill will provide local transport authorities, including those in the North, with a range of tools that will enable them to improve their bus services by introducing new franchising powers and stronger partnership arrangements, as well as a step change in the information available to passengers.

The Government is also supporting bus services outside London – including in the North – with some £250 million a year of funding through the Bus Service Operators Grant system.

01/01/2023
David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will ask her Canadian counterpart for (a) emissions data and (b) the cost of the boundary dam power station in Saskatchewan, Canada; and if she will place that information in the Library.

Andrea Leadsom

DECC officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in other Governments, including Canada, to exchange information on carbon capture and storage. Canadian counterparts will attend the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum in June which the UK is hosting. The exchanges include the progress of projects; however some of the specific information on the projects (such as Boundary Dam) is commercially sensitive and would not be disclosed. For the same reason we do not expect to publish any information in the House library.

01/01/2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many interventions by the Forced Marriages Unit led to criminal prosecutions of people perpetrating forced marriages.

Karen Bradley

The jointly led Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leads on the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. Figures on the number of cases reported to the FMU via its public helpline and email inbox are published annually and are available on GOV.uk. The figures include a breakdown of cases by age range. The FMU acts in an advisory capacity, and information on the number of cases which resulted in prosecutions is therefore not collated centrally.

We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to send a clear message that this brutal practice will not be tolerated in the UK. We are encouraged by the first conviction in June 2015, and the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) most recent report shows that the volume of referrals from the police to the CPS has risen from 67 in 2013-14 to 82 in 2014-15. But there is still work to be done, and we will continue to work with partners to lead efforts to tackle this abhorrent crime.

01/01/2023
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on the UK withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Faulks

The Government’s position on the European Convention of Human Rights remains clear. We cannot rule out withdrawing forever, but our forthcoming proposals do not include it. We are confident that we can replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights and reform our relationship with the Strasbourg Court.

01/01/2023

Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s planned expenditure is on UK defence attachés in each year to 2020.

Mike Penning

The following information shows Ministry of Defence funding for the Defence Attaché and Advisor Network to financial year (FY) 2019-20 including costs associated with the British Defence Section in Washington.

	FY2016-17	FY2017-18	FY2018-19	FY2019-20
Attaché Costs	£39,616,021	£39,372,162	£38,899,766	£40,433,147
FCO Platform Charges	£13,136,434	£15,470,882	£15,689,819	£15,970,923
Total	£52,752,455	£54,843,044	£55,589,585	£56,404,070

01/01/2023

Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of whether retrospective planning permission is more likely to be granted if the development in question is occupied.

Gavin Barwell

The Department has not made such an assessment.

01/01/2023
Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on job numbers in councils and housing associations of the measures contained in the Housing and Planning Bill.

Brandon Lewis

The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Housing and planning Bill on 22 October. A link to the impact assessment is at: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/housingandplanning/documents.html.

This document will be updated as the Bill progresses through Parliament.

01/01/2023
Baroness Parminter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish the report of the Lead Ammunition Group, which was submitted on 3 June, and their response.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report and will respond as soon as possible.

01/01/2023
Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Bahrain on the release of Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace in the last 12 months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We have raised Dr Al-Singace’s case with the Government of Bahrain, including at the highest levels, and continue to do so on a regular basis. We regularly discuss human rights issues with the Government of Bahrain – including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting, which was recently held in November 2015. I am aware that the Ombudsman’s Office met Dr. Al Singace when he was in Qalaa Hospital and subsequently opened an investigation. We will continue to monitor Dr. Abduljalil Al Singace’s case closely.

01/01/2023
Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will take steps to provide compensation for people in Scotland who have lost out financially as a result of the increase in the women’s pension age.

David Mundell

In-work and out of work working age benefits are available for those who have not yet reached State Pension age.

The women affected by the Pensions Act 2011 will reach State Pension age after the introduction of the new State Pension, which will be more generous for those historically worse off under the current system.

Further, a £1 billion concession was made, limiting the delay that anyone would experience to their State Pension age to 18 months, relative to the Pensions Act 1995 timetable. This mitigated the effect of the changes for those most affected by the Pensions Act 2011.

01/01/2023