Category: Speeches

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Yazidi refugees have been supported into the UK from (a) Syria and (b) Iraq through the (i) Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, (ii) Gateway Protection Programme and (iii) Mandate Refugee Scheme.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We continue to work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify appropriate cases that they deem in need of resettlement for the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, the Gateway Protection Programme and the Mandate Refugee Scheme.

    Statistics on arrivals under each of these schemes are published in the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of statistics will be in the quarterly release on 1 December 2016 and will cover the period July – September 2016. We do not publish a breakdown of these statistics by religion or ethnicity.

  • Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to retain access to the Erasmus Plus programme after the UK leaves the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The referendum result has no immediate effect on students abroad under the Erasmus scheme or applying for 2016/17. Payments will be made in the usual way. Access to the programme after we leave the EU is a matter for the forthcoming negotiations. Consideration of other options will depend on the outcome of these negotiations.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many suicide attempts were recorded by health bodies in England for each year from 1995 to 2015; what that number was as a proportion of the population; what the ethnic backgrounds were of those people attempting suicide; and how many of those people were previously known to mental health services.

    Alistair Burt

    In 2012 the Department announced investment of over £1.5 million over three years on suicide prevention research and development.

    Data on the funding allocated to suicide prevention is not available from 1995. The tables below show the funding that was allocated from Department of Health programme budgets to suicide prevention between 2011/12 and 2015/16 and self-harm prevention from 2012/13 – 2015/16. Prior to this, funding allocated to suicide prevention was held within broader mental health strategy budgets.

    Funding allocated to suicide prevention between 2011/12 and 2015/16

    Year

    Funding allocation

    2011/12

    £75,000

    2012/13

    £100,000

    2013/14

    £100,000

    2014/15

    £130,000 *

    2015/16

    £90,000

    Total

    £495,000

    * Includes £70,000 allocated by the Department to Public Health England to publish Help is at Hand, suicide bereavement support document.

    Funding allocated to self-harm prevention between 2012/13 and 2015/16

    Year

    Funding allocation

    2012/13

    £330,000

    2013/14

    £330,000

    2014/15

    £330,000

    2015/16

    £330,000

    Total

    £1,320,000

    Source: Department of Health

    Information on the number of suicide attempts recorded by health bodies in England is not held centrally.

  • Lord Ramsbotham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Ramsbotham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ramsbotham on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government by what process Dr Tony Sewell was appointed to the Youth Justice Board.

    Lord Faulks

    The Secretary of State for Justice, appointed Dr Tony Sewell to the Youth Justice Board with the agreement of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The process followed was that recommended by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Details of the appointment were published on the Government website on 29 October.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office closures and staff reductions in HMRC offices in each area in Scotland between 2006 and 2013, on (a) local tax compliance across all heads of duty, (b) the Scottish economy, (c) equal opportunities in Scotland, (d) the environment and (e) staff whose offices have closed.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

    HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

    HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

    Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many National Enterprise Allowance advisers are employed as part of that scheme.

    Priti Patel

    The NEA is delivered by contracted providers who use a combination of paid and volunteer mentors to deliver business mentoring support. The exact number of mentors used by providers is not known.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new claims for universal credit have been made by people whose temporary employment contract has expired since the introduction of that credit.

    Priti Patel

    Universal Credit is paid on the basis of earnings. Information on types of contracts that claimants are on is not routinely collected.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of the (a) production and (b) subsequent support elements in the (i) UK and (ii) US of the Poseidon P-8A contract is; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 April 2016 to Question 33059 to the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock).

  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK’s international and diplomatic relations.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The decision in the forthcoming referendum is one for the British people alone to make. In the nearly 2 years I have been Foreign Secretary, I have visited over 70 different countries in 6 continents – and in no single one of them have I been told that Britain’s influence would be greater if it were not a member of the EU. On the contrary whether in China, in the USA, in Australia, in Nigeria, Britain is seen as more influential because of its membership of the EU. We get two bites of the cherry: Britain’s is a strong and influential voice in its own right; but it is also the voice of a leading Member State of the world’s largest economic block. Membership of the EU does not diminish Britain’s influence; it enhances it – and I speak from personal experience.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether any non-UK EU nationals were sent postal votes in error for the upcoming EU referendum.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission became aware of an issue with elections software used by a number of local authorities in England and Wales on 1 June that meant some non-eligible EU citizens had mistakenly received postal votes.

    The software provider has resolved the issue which means that all postal votes that have been sent to non-eligible EU citizens have been cancelled, including in cases where completed postal votes had already been returned.

    All of the affected electors have also been written to by their local Electoral Registration Officer with an explanation of what happened and have been told that they will not be able to vote at the referendum.