Category: Speeches

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department allocated to the Football Association in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15 and (f) 2015-16.

    David Evennett

    Through Sport England the Government has invested a record £47.5 million in the Football Association (FA) directly since 2010 to help grow and sustain grassroots football participation in this country. That equates to £8,176,302m in 2010/11; £5,550,910m in 2011/12; £5,042,685 in 2012/13; £10,287,050m in 2013/14; £9,175,259m in 2014/15 and £9,345,964m over this last year.

    Since 2010 the Government has also provided £10m each year to improving grassroots facilities in partnership with the FA and the Premier League through the Football Foundation, and we will look to invest a further £40m over the next 5 years to the FA’s Parklife programme that aims to deliver 150 football hubs in 30 English cities by 2020. Funding for Parklife began in 2015/16.

    The Government is also supporting the FA’s aim to increase the number of qualified coaches in this country by providing £10m over the next 5 years up to 2020, with a particular emphasis on supporting coaches from under-represented groups. This builds on the £3m The Department for Culture Media and Sport provided to the FA in 2012 for that purpose.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered to displaced people along the Thai-Burmese border.

    Rory Stewart

    DFID has a £33.6m four year programme providing humanitarian, health and peacebuilding assistance to Eastern border areas of Burma. This includes humanitarian assistance to the nine Burmese refugee camps in Thailand, as well as assistance to displaced and conflict-affected people in Eastern Burma. DFID is the second largest donor to The Border Consortium, who provide food and shelter to the Burmese refugee camps in Thailand. DFID also funds health and legal assistance to refugees in the camps.

    DFID officials visit the refugee camps regularly and work with implementing partners to monitor that our assistance is reaching the most vulnerable displaced people.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many residential properties purchased ahead of the construction of High Speed 2 are being let; and what estimate his Department has made of the total amount it will receive in rent payments from those properties.

    Andrew Jones

    As of 30th September 2016, the Department has purchased a total of 483 properties. The Departments estimate of income from the HS2 Portfolio is circa £7.5m per annum.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which current rail franchises include break clauses; and what is the purpose of each of those break clauses.

    Claire Perry

    Older franchise agreements including Chiltern (let in 2002) and Wales & Borders (let in 2003) have continuation reviews at defined points, which could allow the removal of a poorly performing operator. Newer franchise agreements do not have continuation reviews at pre-defined points but the Department has the right under the Franchise Agreement to terminate the franchise in the event of severe and continuing non-compliance with the Agreement.

  • Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Ministry of Justice has drawn up any contingency plans for the adaptation of UK law in the event of a UK withdrawal from the EU, and if so, whether they will make those plans available to Parliament.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of the UK’s EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain in order to get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. The Government is confident that the right agreement can be reached.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on support for the self-determination movement in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    On the matters of self-determination and legitimate government, we believe that governance of Bahrain is a matter for all political parties in Bahrain. That is why we encourage all political parties, including Al Wefaq who boycotted elections in November 2014, to engage constructively in political dialogue in order to reach an inclusive political settlement. Although we were disappointed by the opposition’s decision to boycott the 2014 elections, we commended the participation of a broad range of candidates which saw 14 independent Shia candidates win seats, of which three were women.

  • Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is her Department’s policy to publish details of repayments to the public purse made by cancelled or withdrawn free schools.

    Edward Timpson

    Total pre-opening revenue costs for Luton Girls’ Academy will be published by end March 2016. This will take into account a repayment of grant which was made by the Trust in July 2015.

    In line with the Government’s transparency agenda the Department’s policy is to publish expenditure data in a manner helpful to the public. With that in mind we publish the full pre-opening revenue cost of cancelled or withdrawn free school projects once the amount of expenditure, taking into account any repayments, has been finalised.

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of free wi-fi and improve bandwidth access for armed forces personnel in military bases in the UK to remove the need for such personnel to pay individual monthly subscriptions for access to the internet.

    Mark Lancaster

    Whilst there is no overall programme to deliver free Wi-Fi access to UK based personnel each service is making some provision. The Royal Navy has rolled out Wi-Fi to six Royal Navy and Royal Marine establishments and intend to continue to roll out services to all Royal Navy and Royal Marine establishments subject to funding availability within the next 12 to 24 months. The service is provided free of charge to all personnel based at, working in or visiting these establishments.

    There is currently no programme in place to roll out free Wi-Fi access across all Royal Air Force (RAF) stations, as facilities vary from location to location and any improvements are currently provided on application. The RAF has a scheme to provide improved free Wi-Fi access in communal areas, whereby public funding (from Local Initiative Grants or other permissible funding) covers the cost of the enabling works and a charity (the RAF Association) meets the running costs. To date, eleven RAF stations have benefitted from the increase in Wi-Fi access under this scheme, though other stations have provided free Wi-Fi in their communal areas through other individual initiatives.

    The provision of Wi-Fi in Army accommodation is under contract and is payable by those who use it. There are currently no plans for the Army to provide free Wi-Fi. However, once global connectivity is in place across Defence, the single Service Commands will be able to request WiFi through the catalogue service, subject to available funding.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many claims for asylum from people from Yemen were refused in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    There were 9 and 50 grants of asylum or an alternative form of protection, at initial decision, to Yemeni nationals in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

    There were 34 and 43 refusals of asylum or an alternative form of protection, at initial decision, to Yemeni nationals in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

    The Home Office publishes figures on asylum initial decisions by nationality in the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics, October to December 2015, is available from:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 50 of the White Paper, A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction, published in May 2016, if he will publish details of the appointment process for members of the new BBC unitary board.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As a result of the proposals set out in the White Paper the BBC, for the first time, will be responsible for appointing at least half of its own board members. This approach will enhance the independence of the BBC and its Board. For the public appointments to the new Unitary Board, these will be made in line with OCPA processes, with final approval coming from the Queen’s Council. Appointments made by the BBC to the new board will also follow public appointments best practice, including independent members on the selection panels.