Category: Speeches

Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 29384, for what reasons the announcement of the award of the next East Anglia rail franchise has been delayed; and when he plans to make that announcement.

Claire Perry

The successful bidder will help us realise our ambitious plans for East Anglia’s rail network. We have been clear that as a minimum they must provide a modern service with state of the art trains and also introduce at least two 90-minute services each way between London and Norwich. In addition they must invest heavily in improving stations.

We advised an anticipated date for the award and continue to consider the bids. We will announce the new operator in due course.

01/01/2023
Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Royal Navy is taking to maintain its warship repair capability after the sale of RFA Diligence.

Harriett Baldwin

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 September 2016 to Question 45203 to the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Flick Drummond).

01/01/2023
Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to secure licences for existing off-patent drugs.

George Freeman

The Government does not normally apply for medicines licenses, which is rightly an obligation of the company who has developed the drug. The Secretary of State is the United Kingdom licensing authority for medicines and cannot become a routine applicant to himself nor can he become a routine participant in pharmaceutical markets which holders of licenses are obliged to do. The Government has not secured any licenses for off-patent drugs in the past five years.

01/01/2023
Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claimants lost their entitlement as a result of action taken by Concentrix in the last financial year.

Mr David Gauke

5,244 tax credit claims were amended as a result of checks undertaken by Concentrix during 2014-15. This includes both partial and full loss of entitlement cases.

01/01/2023
Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the law to protect vulnerable people from phone phishing and other communication scams.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government is cracking down on nuisance calls. Over the last five years the average fine issued has increased from around £5000 to £85000, we have strengthened the law to make it easier to clamp down on companies who break the rules and have increased the maximum fine to £500,000.

The Government takes all types of fraud extremely seriously. We are working closely with the City of London Police (CoLP), the national lead force for fraud, to help local forces and partners deliver protective advice to the public on fraud, including phone scams. CoLP operates Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, to ensure that the public has the information they need to protect themselves from telephone fraud. Action Fraud, for example, places an alert on its website when a serious threat or new type of fraud is identified – which members of the public can sign up to receive by email.

We are also working with Financial Fraud Action UK and the British Bankers’ Association who issue advice to consumers on how to protect themselves from phone scammers. Ofcom work with the Metropolitan Police Service, Action Fraud and landline providers to prevent criminals exploiting phone lines to defraud members of the public.

01/01/2023
David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will request the government of Burma to release former monk U Gambira from custody.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are aware of the arrest of U Gambira, a well known political activist and former political prisoner, on 19 January, for alleged immigration offences. Our Embassy in Rangoon is following the case closely. The UK regularly raises our concern over political prisoners with the government of Burma, both publicly and privately. Most recently our Embassy in Rangoon issued a statement on 25 January calling for the government of Burma to ensure that all remaining political prisoners are released. We remain concerned that some 78 remain incarcerated, and will continue to raise this with the Burmese authorities.

01/01/2023
Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the built environment on learning progress in schools.

Nick Gibb

The Department’s approach to the built environment is informed by a range of expert research.

The James Review of Education Capital, published in 2011 recommended the implementation of standardised designs for schools that could be continually improved upon and deliver buildings that ‘act as manageable tools for those delivering outstanding education to our children.’ In response to this the Education Funding Agency (EFA) developed ‘Baseline Designs’, which help to ensure that the Department’s funding goes further and that as many pupils as possible benefit from improved school buildings.

Alongside this, the Department recognises the importance of factors such as daylight, temperature and air-quality and offers guidance to schools, contractors and designers through EFA Building Bulletins and the requirements in EFA’s Facilities Output Specification, used in procuring new school buildings.

01/01/2023
Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s Single departmental plan: 2015 to 2020, published in February 2016, what targets she has set for the number of kilometres of fresh water to be enhanced in each year to 2020; and how her Department plans to achieve those targets.

Rory Stewart

River Basin Management Plans provide the framework for protecting and improving the water environment. Updated Plans covering the period 2016 to 2021 were published by the Environment Agency (EA) on 18 February. They complement Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan by promoting integrated catchment management of water and local decision-making, as well as contributing to flood resilience.

The Plans for England confirm over £3 billion investment in the water environment by 2021 leading to improvements in at least 680 water bodies by 2021, including an overall target to enhance at least 8,000km of fresh waters by 2021. The EA is currently working with Defra to profile the delivery of this target over the six years that the River Basin Management Plan covers, and are also working with partners to explore opportunities to deliver more.

The EA coordinates action by water companies, farmers, local groups, businesses and councils to achieve the targets set out in the Plans. These actions include reducing pollution from sewage treatment works, managing water abstraction, opening up rivers to salmon and other fish species, and improvements to the physical habitat.

01/01/2023

John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Members Estimate Committee

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the Members Estimate Committee, how much Short money the UK Independence Party has claimed since May 2015; and on what dates those payments were made to that party.

Tom Brake

The amount of Short money available to UKIP for 2015/16 since the May general election was £605,871. The amounts claimed and paid were as follows:

Date Paid	Amount
24 August 2015	£14,833.00
28 September 2015	£16,434.68
14 October 2015	£128,034.16
28 October 2015	£31,870.36
25 November 2015	£31,870.36
21 December 2015	£31,870.36
27 January 2016	£31,870.36
24 February 2016	£31,870.36
28 March 2016	£31,870.36
Total	£350,574.00

01/01/2023

Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-05-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the implications are of the findings of the report from the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, entitled DFID’s efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls, published on 17 May 2016, for her Department’s work on strengthening women’s rights organisations and networks in the developing world.

Justine Greening

I welcome ICAI’s recent review, which awarded my Department their highest rating, a green review score, for our work on tackling violence against women and girls. The review highlights the important contribution UK Aid makes to the lives of women and girls around the world and recognises the significant achievements of DFID to date on this vtial issue. My Department will provide a formal response to the ICAI findings in due course.

01/01/2023