Category: Speeches

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities will be affected by the sale of higher value council homes under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    The requirement to make a payment in respect of higher value vacant housing and to consider selling such housing applies to local authorities with a Housing Revenue Account. The scheme will therefore affect any such authorities who hold housing which falls within the definition of "higher value". That definition will be set out in regulations which are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. In addition Government has the power to exclude types of housing from the policy through regulations.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to restore compensation for war widows who remarried between 1973 and 2005.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Government remains sympathetic to the circumstances of those affected. We are reviewing the position, but need to take account of the wider consequences for other public sector schemes of making retrospective changes.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government has disbursed in aid to Afghanistan since 2007.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Between 2007 and 2013 (the latest figures available) UK bilateral aid expenditure in Afghanistan has totalled £1,422,500,000.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to raise awareness of financial scams targeting older people.

    Mike Penning

    The Government takes all types of fraud and financial scams extremely seriously. The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, published in 2013, places a strong focus on protecting those most at risk. The Home Office has recently completed a research project in order to better understand who in the UK is at risk from fraud and cyber threats, what makes them vulnerable and how to most effectively reach them. This will enable the Home Office and partners to develop ways to better protect the public, for example providing targeted fraud prevention advice.

    The Home Office also works with the City of London Police, which is the national lead force for fraud, to help all police forces to understand better who is vulnerable to fraud in their areas, and to work with local partners including the voluntary sector to help protect those vulnerable people from the threat from fraud.

    Action Fraud is the central reporting point for fraud and is operated by the City of London Police. It assesses the vulnerability of victims based on the financial and health impact of the reported fraud, and provides this information to forces. This enables police forces to make targeted interventions with those most at risk. When a serious threat or a new type of fraud is identified, Action Fraud places an alert on its website with advice for individuals to protect themselves from becoming victims. Members of the public can sign up to receive these alerts by email.

    The Home Office is also working closely with Financial Fraud Action UK and the British Bankers Association who have issued specific advice to consumers on telephone scams. This includes helping consumers know when they may be a target to these fraudsters, and advice on what information should never be shared, e.g. PIN number. In December last year Financial Fraud Action UK and the police announced a joint declaration to help consumers avoid becoming victims of financial fraud.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when (a) his Department, (b) NHS England and (c) Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust first received a copy of the Mazers report on Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

    Alistair Burt

    A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 40 items of correspondence expressing concerns about Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. This figure represents correspondence received by the Department’s Ministerial correspondence unit only.

    In 2014, NHS England initiated action including an investigation of the deaths of all patients of the trust who had been in receipt of mental health or learning disability services since 2011.

    We are advised by NHS England that a first draft of the Mazars report was shared with it and Southern Health Foundation Trust in September 2015. The Department has not received a copy of the report and the report is still to be finalised before publication.

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total number of recruits to the reserve forces in the UK for the last three years for which figures are available.

    Earl Howe

    I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 17 December 2015 to Question HL4348 to my noble Friend The Marquess of Lothian, which contains Future Reserve 2020 Volunteer Reserve intake for the previous three financial years.

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2015-12-08/HL4348/

  • Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the costs of bus franchising outside London.

    Andrew Jones

    The actual costs and benefits will depend on how franchising is implemented at the local level. The potential impacts of the Buses Bill proposals will be set out in the Impact Assessment which will accompany the introduction of the Bill.

    When considering the costs of bus franchising it will be important for the authority to consider alternatives as well as the costs and benefits of proposals.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of preparing and publishing the Shaw Report on the future shape and financing of Network Rail, published in November 2015.

    Claire Perry

    The Department’s estimated incremental costs for preparing and publishing the Shaw Report scoping document is £8356.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse of the assisted voluntary return scheme was in each year since 2004.

    James Brokenshire

    Up until January 1st 2016 the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) scheme has been outsourced but is now part of the Home Office Voluntary Return Service (VRS).

    The cost of the outsourced scheme in the years 2006 to 2015 is set out below. Data for 2004 to 2006 is incomplete and has therefore been omitted.

    Years

    £m

    2006-7

    22.2

    2007-8

    21.7

    2008-09

    10.80

    2009-10

    20.40

    2010-11

    17.30

    2011-12

    7.50

    2012-13

    8.77

    2013-14

    8.84

    2014/15

    10.86
  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the (a) extra cost to police forces and (b) extra staff hours in police forces resulting from the change in the level of reported cases of contact child sex offences in the last two years.

    Mike Penning

    Resourcing is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement to empower police forces to maximise specialist skills and expertise to prevent offending and resolve cases. This means that police forces must have in place the capabilities they need to protect children from sexual abuse.

    In 2015/16 the Government provided an additional £10 million to the National Crime Agency to create specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation. We have also made available £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which coordinates the handling of multiple non-recent child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support regional coordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling child sexual exploitation.