UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department used to select sites for HM Revenue and Customs regional offices.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the planned locations of its future Regional Centres based on a number of key principles that will enable it to deliver more for less. In addition to cost, HMRC has taken account of the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, and the need to retain the staff and skills it requires to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

    HMRC estimates that Liverpool will be home to between 2,800 and 3,100 full time equivalent employees. Consolidation into the Regional Centre is expected to begin in 2019-20. HMRC plans to open the Regional Centre in Cardiff in 2019-20. It is likely that the office at Plas Gororau in Wrexham will close in 2020-21. HMRC will be holding one-to-one discussions with each of its people to discuss the next steps.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what grants have been made by the Leadership Equality and Diversity Fund; and for what purpose each such grant has been made.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Leadership Equality and Diversity Fund supports groups of schools to design and deliver bespoke leadership activity to help increase the diversity of those leading England’s schools. Programmes can target any of the nine protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010. The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

    In 2015-16 there are 40 projects. The full details and purpose of each project is available in the document, “Leadership Equality and Diversity Fund” published at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480857/leadership_equality_and_diversity_schools.pdf

    “

  • Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23581, who the best official is to contact with credible reports from an external organisation of civilian casualties.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Any credible concerns or evidence relating to the possibility of civilian casualties caused by air strikes may be submitted to the Ministry of Defence Ministerial Correspondence Unit, Main Building, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2HB, or by email to ParliBranch-Treat-Official@mod.uk

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the local licensing authorities on the introduction of five-year private hire operator licences by local authorities.

    Andrew Jones

    Five-year private hire vehicle operator licences were introduced in October 2015. Since that time, local licensing authorities have not made any representations to me on the subject.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those in the reserves of the armed forces have opportunities to use and develop linguistic skills.

    Earl Howe

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the valuable skill sets of our reservists, all of whom have full access to the MOD’s language schemes. We work to ensure that those reservists who already have a second language are able to use and develop that language. Any reservists employed in roles with direct requirements for language capability receive the same training as regular personnel.

    The MOD maintains a pool of linguists through the Education and Training Services (Reserves), which provides additional language capability to exercises, operations and Defence Engagement tasks. A new training programme, which makes use of courses and bespoke training provided by the Defence Centre for Languages and Culture, has recently been introduced to develop the skills of linguists in the reserves.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Education and (b) Northern Ireland Executive on increasing the involvement of children and young people of school age in commemorative events for the First World War.

    David Evennett

    My Department works in close partnership with the Department for Education on the First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours and Legacy 110 programmes for secondary schools, which we encourage schools to sign up to throughout the centenary period. To get even more young people involved in commemorations, we will soon launch the Great War Debate series for schools. We plan to hold one of these debates at the Clandeboye Estate, a First World War army training site, in November.

    Children will take part in all our national commemorative events to mark the Battle of Jutland in Orkney on 31 May, and the Battle of the Somme at Thiepval and Manchester on 1 July. As one example, over 1300 school children are due to visit the Experience Field at Heaton Park in Manchester on 1 July, as part of the Somme commemorations.

    Commemorative events in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland WWI Centenary Committee. The Chair of the Committee attends Government Advisory Group meetings where all aspects of the centenary programmes are discussed.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-06-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in relation to certificates of sponsorship used to support immigrants’ entry clearance or extension of stay applications, (1) how many sponsoring employers are currently registered, (2) where those employers are listed, (3) how many certificates of sponsorship are granted to each sponsoring employer, (4) whether such figures are available on application, and (5) what was the total number of those sponsored in the last two years.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There are currently 30,181 sponsoring employers on the register of licensed sponsors.

    The register is published on the “www.gov.uk” website and can be found on the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers

    The number of certificates granted to sponsoring employers differ depending on their recruitment requirements. Sponsoring employers may submit a request at the point their licence application is submitted. A sponsor can submit a further request to increase their allocation once licensed.

    A sponsor is not granted a pre determined allocation of Certificates of sponsorship (CoS) at licensing stage.

    The total number of CoS assigned to individuals in 2014 is 133,820.The total number of CoS assigned to individuals in 2015 is 131,617

  • Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many additional employees he plans to hire from outside the Civil Service for the purposes of managing the process of leaving the EU; in what roles those employees will be deployed; over what timescale those employees will be under contract; and what the cost to the public purse such employment will involve.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    None.

  • Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of additional teachers need in (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) science, (d) physics, (e) computer science, (f) modern languages, (g) geography and (h) history in (i) 2016-17, (ii) 2017-18, (iii) 2018-19, (iv) 2019-20 and (v) 2020-21.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education uses the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) to estimate the demand for the number of qualified teachers within state-funded schools in England each year using a range of assumptions, including projections for the numbers of pupils in schools, the number of teachers expected to leave the sector and the number of returnees.

    To estimate the demand for teachers for specific secondary subjects, the TSM uses the latest data on secondary subject take-up, defined by hours taught, and projected pupil numbers at Key Stages 3 to 5. It also takes into account the different age and gender demographics of the teacher stock for different subjects, which affect the likelihood of teachers of different subjects leaving the profession or retiring, and assumptions on the impacts of subject-specific policy changes.

    The estimate of teacher demand is published in part 1 of the TSM here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-supply-model

    The TSM’s primary purpose is to estimate the number of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) places required in the 2016/17 academic year to yield the required number of Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) entering the profession in 2017/18. The TSM is updated annually to reflect the latest available data.

    “

  • Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Neil Coyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how he plans for the two per cent council tax precept to fund care services to be monitored to ensure funds raised are used for disabled people, older people, and carers seeking social care and support from local authorities.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Details of how the two per cent social care precept will operate will be confirmed alongside the provisional local government finance settlement in due course.