Category: Speeches

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 March (HL6981), whether the money necessary to make all the destroyers operational will come from the First Sea Lord’s budget or from the reserve or contingency funds.

    Earl Howe

    All Type 45 Destroyers remain in the operational cycle and continue to be routinely deployed. The Type 45 power and propulsion improvement programme is currently considering a number of technical options and delivery models with competing industrial partners. The programme is not yet mature enough to confirm when the equipment upgrade will be completed.

    Funding for the Type 45 power and propulsion improvement programme is to be contained within the budget allocated to Navy Command.

  • 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 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the Libyan government on UK military training and mentoring for Libyan authorities; and what offers of such training and mentoring the UK has made to Libyan authorities.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) has not made a specific request to the UK for military training and mentoring for Libyan authorities. We have discussed with international partners how best we might support the GNA. That could include training Libyan Security Forces to provide their own security, and to the Libyan Coastguard to help tackle illegal people smuggling as agreed by the international Community at the Vienna Ministerial on 16 May. Any such support we and others provided would be in response to a clear request from the GNA.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS maternity units are under consideration by his Department for (a) downgrading and (b) closure.

    Ben Gummer

    This information is not held centrally.

    The Government is clear that the redesign of front-line health services, including maternity services, is a matter for the local National Health Service, where clinicians are best-placed to make the decisions in the best interests of their patients.

    All such decisions are locally led and any proposed changes to services are subject to meeting the four tests for service change: they must have support from general practitioner commissioners, be based on clinical evidence, demonstrate public and patient engagement, and consider patient choice.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 4 April (HL7211), what progress they have made on the National Litter Strategy for England; and when they expect it to be completed.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    We have made good progress on the Litter Strategy for England. We are working with the Department for Communities and Local Government and industry to develop an ambitious Strategy. Our goal is to deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering in England, ensuring that all our communities, natural landscape, roads and highways are free of litter. The Litter Strategy will focus on three key themes: education and awareness; improving enforcement; and better cleansing and litter infrastructure. These will be backed up by specific actions under each objective.

    To help us shape the Strategy, we have established a Litter Advisory Group, which includes representatives from local government, campaign groups and independent experts, as well as representatives from the packaging and fast-food industries. The Strategy will be published shortly, after the publication of Defra’s 25 year Environment Plan framework.

  • Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessments her Department has made of the effect of the relocation of the Visa and Entry Clearance Office from Dakha to New Delhi on people from Bangladesh applying for a visa to enter the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    An internal assessment of the potential impact of transferring decision making on UK visa applications from Dhaka to New Delhi was completed in early 2014. This assessment covered all key aspects of the move, including security, decision quality and customer service.

    There has been, and will be, no change to the customer experience when applying for a visa in Bangladesh. Customers are still able to apply in the same Visa Application Centres (Dhaka and Sylhet) and applications are decided within the same global customer service standards (15 working days for non-settlement or 60 days for settlement).

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of those eligible service personnel who have left the armed forces have participated in the Employment Support Programme of the Careers Transition Partnership in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    Personnel with between four and six years of Service are eligible for the Employment Support Programme (ESP). The latest information held on eligible personnel that have participated in the ESP is as at 31 March 2014.

    Between 2010-11 and 2013-14 the following percentage of the total Armed Forces outflow have participated in the ESP:

    2010-11 – 10%

    2011-12 – 6%

    2012-13 – 6%

    2013-14 – 8%

    Figures presented for 2013-14 are provisional as personnel can receive Careers Transition Partnership resettlement services up to two years before and after leaving the UK Armed Forces. Figures are revised annually in the Official Statistic publication with figures being fixed after two years.

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many standard visitor visas granted on appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) have been issued by UK Visas and Immigration (a) within one month, (b) between one to three months, (c) between three to six months, (d) between six to 12 months and (e) more than 12 months after that tribunal’s judgement in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    The time taken between receiving a determination from the First Tier Tribunal relating to a standard visitor visa and subsequent issue of visa can be found in the table below:

    Time between notification of allowed appeal and issued decision

    Period

    Under 1 month

    1-3 Months

    3-6 Months

    6-12 Months

    Over 12 Months

    YE Sep-13

    105

    35

    –

    –

    *

    YE Sep-14

    110

    60

    5

    5

    –

    YE Sep-15

    10

    5

    *

    *

    –

    All figures are obtained from local Management Information.

    Figures rounded to the nearest 5.

    ‘-‘ represents 0 cases ‘*’ represents less than 3 cases.

    “

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support action at the International Criminal Court in respect of UK nationals suspected of having committed war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide against members of the Yazidi community in Iraq.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We support the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its efforts to end impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern by holding perpetrators to account. As Iraq is not a Party to the Rome Statute, the Court has no territorial jurisdiction over crimes committed on Iraqi soil.

    Foreign fighters who are nationals of ICC States could potentially be held accountable by the ICC. In April 2015 the ICC Prosecutor did however, decide that as Daesh was led primarily by nationals of Iraq and Syria, and the ICC’s mandate was to investigate those most responsible, the jurisdictional basis to open a preliminary examination was too narrow.

    As part of our strategy to defeat Daesh we are working to counter the flow of foreign fighters. It is now a criminal offence to be a member of Daesh in the UK. We are also working to combat radicalisation and are monitoring those who pose a significant security risk. We have introduced powers to seize passports to stop them travelling, to remove British nationality from dual nationals of concern, and to prevent temporarily some British nationals from re-entering the UK

    We are also working to support the victims of Daesh’s brutality in Iraq. This includes funding projects to document crimes and support the victims of sexual violence.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doctors have (a) commenced and (b) finished their training in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The table provides figures on a United Kingdom basis for the number of trainees entering further training at Foundation Year 1 (F1) for the last 5 years. However, it should be noted that not all doctors commence their training in the UK at F1, and an accurate figure for these is not available.

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    7,314

    7,257

    7,330

    7,678

    7,478

    The General Medical Council (GMC) issue Certificates of Completion of Training (CCT) to doctors who complete a full GMC approved speciality training programme. The UK figures for the last five years available from the GMC are:

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    6,211

    6,406

    6,222

    6,429

    6,888
  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to consult family members and children in the London Borough of Lambeth about their experience of children’s services in the Borough.

    Lord Nash

    As part of Ofsted’s inspection of children’s social care services in Lambeth (reported on 12 May 2015), Ofsted met with children, young people, parents, carers, care leavers and Lambeth’s Children in Care Council, who provided direct evidence about their experiences of Lambeth’s children’s services.

    Ofsted inspectors also talk to young people as part of bi-annual visits to children’s homes; and take children’s and parents’ views as part of an annual survey of all children’s homes and fostering agencies. These surveys inform Ofsted’s lines of enquiry for subsequent inspections and decisions about the timing of inspections.

    The independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by the Hon. Dame Lowell Goddard DNZM, is taking evidence from those affected by child sexual abuse in Lambeth.