Category: Speeches

  • David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to address the change in Britain’s self-sufficiency rating.

    George Eustice

    The government has a manifesto commitment to introduce a 25 year plan to grow and produce more food, both to increase consumption of British food in the domestic market and to export more.

    The UK Food Production to Supply ratio in 2015 was 61% for all food and 76% for indigenous-type food. This compares with 62% and 76% respectively in 2014. This has remained steady over the last decade.

    Global food security is dependent on a number of factors including increasing production sustainably, reducing waste and ensuring open markets around the world to facilitate trade.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the arrest and interrogation by Israeli police of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem, in particular regarding reports that children aged between six and 12 have been arrested and interrogated without a parent present.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We consistently raise the issue of detention of minors with the Israel government. On 27 August our Ambassador in Tel Aviv lobbied the Israeli Military Advocate General on Children in Detention where the issue of child detention was discussed. We are aware of cases when the Israeli police have detained children under 12, and subsequently released them once their age has been verified. When officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this with the police, they were told that the police do not hold children under the age of 12 but are not always aware that a particular child is below age.

    According to the law, the police may hold a child over the age of 12 suspected of involvement in a security offence without allowing his/her parents to be present at the time of his/her arrest and interrogation. This is true for both Israeli and Palestinian minors held on security offences. We continue to lobby for the Israeli authorities to consider changing the law for the sake of the well-being of the child.

  • Jo Stevens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jo Stevens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which trades unions will be represented in the proposed Institute for Apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    The independent Chair and Board members of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be appointed in accordance with the public appointments process.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department is making in reducing welfare dependency and increasing wages in Peterborough; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    The government is making good progress in moving to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare economy. In Peterborough the number of people claiming one of the main out-of-work benefits has fallen by over 3,400 (21%) since 2010. Average gross weekly earnings in Peterborough have risen by 12% since 2010, to £487 per week.

  • Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 10 February (HL5554), whether partners and spouses of Catering and Retail Services staff are also entitled to receive meals without charge.

    Lord Laming

    Partners and spouses are not entitled to receive meals without charge.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will ask her Chinese and Japanese counterparts to supply the Government with cost data relating to their new ultra super-critical coal-fired power stations.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Cost data relating to new ultra super-critical coal fired power stations in Japan and China are likely to be commercially sensitive to those directly involved. Whilst super-critical power stations are more efficient than earlier technologies, coal remains the most carbon intensive source of electricity generation.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when her Department will publish its most recent assessment of the effect of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is committed to making energy more affordable, supporting a more competitive, innovative, and smarter energy system that drives down bills. At the last Autumn Statement, the government also set out action to reduce the projected impact of policies on average household energy bills by around £30 a year from 2017.

    The Department intends to publish, in due course, an update on the projected costs of policies funded through supplier levies and obligations that impact consumer energy bills. In addition, the department continues to assess the impact of individual policy proposals on the energy bills of various consumers (including households and businesses), which it sets out in relevant policy impact assessments, available online at www.gov.uk.

    “

  • Lord Chidgey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has commissioned any research into migration to the EU from Horn of Africa nations, in the UK’s role as the Chair of the Khartoum Process.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    In response to the migration crisis, the Government is building its evidence base on the drivers and trends in migration flows. We are working with partners, including through the Khartoum Process, to obtain a more systematic quantitative and qualitative data on flows and drivers of migration in source, transit and destination countries.

    The UK is funding data analysis and evidence review work by the International Organization for Migration and the Open Data Institute on migration into the EU through the central Mediterranean route. The UK has also funded work for research into criminal networks facilitating human trafficking and smuggling in the Horn of Africa.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what work his Department is undertaking on identifying EU regulations that have a cost to British businesses that could be repealed or replaced.

    Margot James

    In the short term, the Government will continue to seek the amendment or repeal of EU rules within the framework of the European Commission’s Regulatory Fitness (REFIT) programme, in order to minimise the regulatory burdens imposed on UK businesses. The REFIT programme was established in 2012 to review the stock of existing EU legislation in order to identify burdens, inconsistencies, gaps or ineffective measures and address them.

    Building on the work of the Red Tape Challenge and the current Cutting Red Tape programme, we will continue our engagement with business to gather their views on their priorities for reducing EU regulatory burdens wherever possible once the UK has left the EU. My Rt Hon Friend the former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid) chaired a roundtable with business leaders, to discuss the challenges faced by businesses and ensure that the negotiation of the UK’s future relationship with the EU is carried out in the interest of UK companies, investors, potential investors and workers.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions on the demolition of Palestinian homes.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​We have not had any discussions with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.