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Category: Speeches

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the results collected to date by the study conducted for her Department by ADAS on neonicotinoid treated and non-neonicotinoid treated oilseed rape prior to any further emergency authorisation applications related to the use of neonicotinoids

    George Eustice

    The Government issued emergency authorisations in 2015 for the limited and controlled use of neonicotinoid seed treatments on oilseed rape. One of the conditions attached to these authorisations was that the authorisation holder should use the authorised area to generate data on both treated and untreated crops. This should include impact on adult and larval numbers, crop establishment/damage and effects on crop yields, resistance occurrence and management.

    This work has been taken forward by ADAS on behalf of the National Farmers’ Union. Their interim evidence (excluding the crop yield data which will not be available until after this year’s harvest) formed part of the evidence considered by the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides in respect of the 2016 applications and will be reflected in their detailed record of the discussion at their 4 May meeting. The report will not be finalised until yield data is available after harvest.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 116, Slavery in Mauritania.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We welcome the release of anti-slavery activists Biram Dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal Ramdhane following the decision of the Mauritanian Supreme Court. We also welcome the decision by the newly formed anti-slavery court to convict two men on charges of slavery.

    We continue to encourage the Mauritanian government to support the anti-slavery courts in prosecuting cases in full under the 2015 anti-slavery law and to take steps to facilitate the collection of data on slavery to support eradication efforts.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s report on the collision between the stern trawler MV Karen and a dived Royal Navy submarine in the Irish Sea on 15 April 2015 to be published.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s report of its investigation into this accident is due to be published in mid-October.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37452 to the hon. Member for Bristol West, on museums and galleries, which museums wholly reliant on local authority funding have closed in each year since 2009-10.

    Matt Hancock

    The Government is committed to ensuring that arts and cultural experiences, including those offered by museums and galleries, are available to everyone and not just the privileged few. Government provides support to local museums through Arts Council England (ACE), including a £10m Resilience Fund supporting museums at risk to explore new funding models and become more sustainable. Earlier this month, ACE ​announced the 2018-2022 investment round of £409m per year, which includes a £37m/year increase to focus on improving the amount spent outside London and on integrating museums into the arts portfolio.

    The modern model of museums funding is that there are very few museums entirely reliant on local authority funding. Where museums are run by local authorities, decisions on service provision are for those local authorities to take.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many of his Department’s policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps he has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments that have been carried out; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    Officials in my Department have liaised with the Department for Work and Pensions as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. This has included training officials on applying the Test and disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

  • Alex Chalk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alex Chalk – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department plans to spend per person on cycling in England outside London for each year until 2020-21.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government has agreed a four-year revenue and five-year capital settlement for local transport spend, which includes cycling and walking investment. The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to be published in summer 2016, will explain the Government’s investment strategy for cycling and walking.

  • Lord Tunnicliffe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Tunnicliffe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tunnicliffe on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they use to analyse the effectiveness of debt management advice.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    These questions have been passed on to the Money Advice Service (MAS). MAS will reply to directly to the Noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish the listed dates for flights to Sharm el Sheikh airport on which his Department advised against all travel to the region.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The advice against all but essential travel by air to or from Sharm el-Sheikh was issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 4 November 2015, and flights by UK carriers were suspended on the same day. Repatriation flights took place between 6–17 November 2015, supported by additional security measures.

    The Government is working closely with the Egyptian authorities with a view to a resumption of flights as soon as possible, whereupon scheduling of such flights would be a matter for the airlines concerned.

  • Baroness Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Crawley on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they recognise Islamic State’s treatment of the Yazidi people as an act of genocide.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yezidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Syria and Iraq who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.

    As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and other ministers have explained in response to similar questions, it is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred should be a matter for the international judicial system rather than legislatures, governments or other non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations of International Humanitarian Law, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

    Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in a Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh’s inhumanity.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the security of pensions invested in the British Steel pension fund.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The government continues to work closely with Tata on the future for the members of the British Steel pension fund. Members of defined benefit occupational pension schemes in the UK are covered by a robust framework of protection.