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Category: Speeches

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-11-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure parents using employer childcare voucher schemes are informed of the planned introduction of the tax free childcare scheme.

    Damian Hinds

    HMRC are working closely with parents, childcare providers and employers to develop communications and detailed guidance on Tax-Free Childcare, including information for families who currently receive Employer-Supported Childcare. HMRC are also developing an online calculator to help such families decide which scheme is right for them.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lisa Nandy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times her Department has met Wigan Council in 2015 to date.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office meets regularly with local councils throughout the year on a number of different matters. A central record of all the meetings that are held is not maintained.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from farmers on the price of fertilisers and other chemicals used on farm land and its relationship to the price of oil.

    George Eustice

    I have received no specific queries about price of fertilisers and other chemicals and their relation to the price of oil. The Government does have regard to the impact of prices for agricultural inputs on farmers and publishes the Agricultural Price Index (API), which is a set of indices of the prices paid and received by UK farmers for agricultural goods and services.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what procedures schools are required to follow in order to withdraw from an academy trust.

    Edward Timpson

    Where there are concerns about the performance of an academy the Regional Schools Commissioner may decide that the support of a new academy trust is needed to bring about the necessary improvements. In these cases the Regional Schools Commissioner may be able to use the termination powers set out in the academy’s funding agreement to require the academy to move to a new trust without the agreement of the academy or the existing trust. The Education and Adoption Bill will give Regional Schools Commissioners stronger more consistent powers to do this with failing and coasting academies.

    Where the academy is performing well this is a matter for discussion and agreement between the academy, the trust and the relevant Regional Schools Commissioner.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will require the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA, AQA and Edexcel examinations boards to offer GCSE and A-level Bengali examinations beyond September 2018; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    Exam boards are independent organisations and the department continues to work closely with them to secure the future of all the existing GCSEs and A levels in less-taught languages, including Bengali.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Care Quality Commission report, British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS-Richmond, Quality Report, published in November 2015, whether his Department plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on the administration of drugs.

    Jane Ellison

    The termination of pregnancies is a regulated activity. All providers of regulated activities must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and must meet all of the relevant Regulations under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, including meeting the fundamental standards of quality and safety, which includes independent sector termination of pregnancy providers and managers. The CQC is responsible for monitoring and, where appropriate, inspecting providers in relation to their ongoing compliance with meeting those requirements. Independent sector providers are also required to comply with the Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures which the CQC inspect against.

    The CQC has made a public commitment to undertake inspection of all independent providers of termination of pregnancy services using their new inspection approach and will continue to respond to risk as appropriate and take regulatory action as required.

    On the issue of whether the Department plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on consultation on disposal arrangements following termination, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 April 2016 to Question 32357.

    We have no plans to issue guidance to abortion clinics on the administration of drugs. The administration of drugs is managed through the CQC’s fundamental standards and through inspection visits.

    “

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women have been diagnosed with endometriosis in (a) Sunderland, (b) the North East and (c) England.

    Jane Ellison

    The number of people who have been diagnosed with endometriosis is not collected centrally.

    The table below shows finished hospital admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of endometriosis, for the year 2014-15. The data only include diagnoses of endometriosis where there was a hospital admission. There may be further cases of the condition that were diagnosed and treated in another healthcare setting, including hospital outpatient services.

    These data are not counts of people, as the same person may have been admitted to hospital on more than one occasion. These data are based on the patient’s normal home address.

    Count of FAEs for female patients with a primary diagnosis of endometriosis, for Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), North East England Government Office Region (GOR), and England in 2014-15:

    Region of residence

    FAEs

    Sunderland CCG

    109

    North East GOR

    718

    England

    18,011
  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in the Middle East on steps to tackle the refugee crisis in that region.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    The UK is at the forefront of international efforts to support over 4.8 million Syrian refugees to remain in host countries in the region until it is safe to return to Syria, and to support host countries to accommodate them.

    As part of this, we are working in partnership with host countries to help them to expand job and education opportunities for refugees in a way that will enable them to better support themselves and give them skills for the future, and we are helping host countries to cope with the impact of refugees on local services.

    The UK co-hosted the “Supporting Syria and the Region” conference in London in February, at which neighbouring governments made bold commitments to open up their labour markets to refugees, to improve regulation and the investment climate in their countries, and to ensure all children in their countries have access to quality education.

    The Secretary of State for International Development continues to lead engagement with regional partners on tackling the refugee crisis, including by delivering on the commitments made at the London Conference, which will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide quality education to 1.7 million children by the end of the 2016/17 school year. At the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in April she convened meetings between regional governments, the UN and World Bank and held bilateral discussions with key Ministers. And at the World Humanitarian Summit in May, she and other London Conference co-chairs convened a meeting of all interested parties to discuss and review progress.

    Looking forward, we will be using UN General Assembly in September as an important moment to review progress with key leaders on the Syria Conference implementation, including how all parties are all delivering on their commitments to support refugees in the region.

  • James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the total estimated net present value was of all outstanding equity loan advances in UK residential property held by government departments on the latest date for which information is available.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) operates and administers a number of current and past equity loan and equity share schemes for the Department for Communities and Local Government.

    The estimated fair value for all outstanding equity loans with HCA at end March 2016 is:

    Help to Buy: Equity Loan £3,629,294,000

    Other legacy home equity schemes £461,301,000

    Total £4,090,595,000

    The other legacy home equity schemes are: FirstBuy, HomeBuy Direct and First-Time Buyers’ Initiative.

    This information is set out in the HCA Annual Report and Financial Statements 2015-16 (Note 21) with further information about ‘fair value’ in Notes 1 and 31.

    The Ministry of Defence operated a scheme: Affordable Homes Ownership scheme (AFHOS) until March 2014. There are presently 259 live AFHOS loans with an initial value of £15.073 million. The net present value for this book is not estimated so this figure is the value of the equity at purchase.

    The Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive also operate equity loan and shared schemes for home ownership, on which they can provide information.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the extension of Right to Buy on affordable housing supply.

    Brandon Lewis

    Under the 2012 reinvigorated Right to Buy, every additional home sold, as well as those homes sold to tenants through the voluntary agreement with the National Housing Federation and housing associations, will result in an additional home being provided. This will lead to an increase in overall housing supply.

    The Government exceeded its affordable homes target over the last 4 years by 16,000 homes, delivering 186,000 new affordable homes.