Category: Speeches

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Anelay of St Johns to the private notice question from Lord Alton of Liverpool on 21 April, which members of the United Nations Security Council they believe would veto a referral to the International Criminal Court of evidence of genocide against Christian, Yazidi and other minorities in Iraq and Syria.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor set out some of the complicated issues involved in the ICC investigating Daesh in her press statement of 8 April 2015. It is not possible to refer Daesh itself to the ICC. Any referral would cover ALL potential crimes against international humanitarian law within a specified geographic area, rather than a specified organisation or set of actors.

    When efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014, it was vetoed by Russia and China. We expect that any Security Council resolution at this time seeking to refer the situations in Iraq or Syria to the ICC would likewise be blocked.

  • Sir Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Sir Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Nicholas Soames on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps are equipped with the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank; and what the allocation is to each such regiment of such tanks.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Challenger 2 is a highly capable Main Battle Tank and sits at the heart of the Army’s war fighting Armoured Infantry Brigades and is a key part of the UK’s capability. The current Challenger 2 fleet consists of 227 main battle tanks all of which would be available for operational use if required.

    The following Regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps are equipped with Challenger 2: The King’s Royal Hussars, Tidworth; The Queen’s Royal Hussars, Germany and The Royal Tank Regiment, Tidworth. We do not routinely comment on specific levels of readiness and locations for individual capabilities as to do so would compromise operational security, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

    As at May 2016 the Challenger 2 fleet was assessed to meet 100% of the fleet size and deployability requirements as set out in the 2015-16 Army Readiness Order.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Approved Premises have been operational and (b) people have resided in each of those premises in each year since 2010.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    100 Approved Premises have been operational since 2010. Figures on the number of individuals who have resided in each of the Approved Premises are not held centrally.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to retain the right of non-British EU citizens to vote in local government elections once the UK has left the EU; and, if so, by what legislative means.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    This issue will be a matter for the EU exit negotiations.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether their timetable for the HS2 Bill to achieve Royal Assent by the end of 2016 remains achievable.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The progress of the Bill is in the hands of Parliament and Royal Assent by December 2016 remains an achievable target.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that decisions of the Independent Appeals Panel do not allocate places in excess of a school’s planned admission numbers.

    Nick Gibb

    All parents are able to express preferences for at least three schools when applying for a school place. When parents are refused a place for their child, it is important that they are given the opportunity to appeal this decision.

    The appeal panel should consider whether the school’s admission arrangements were lawful, have been properly applied and balance the effect on the school of admitting another child against the parents’ reasons for wanting their child to attend the school.

    When considering an appeal for an infant class, however, appeal panels have less scope to admit over its admissions number. Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per school teacher and appeals for such classes can only be upheld in very limited circumstances.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department is having with (a) the Greater Manchester combined authority, (b) the metropolitan district councils of Greater Manchester, (c) Transport for Greater Manchester and (d) Highways England on the Greater Manchester Air Quality Action Plan.

    Rory Stewart

    Air quality control in the ten district councils of Greater Manchester is managed as a consortium led by the air quality and transport delivery arms of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), with input from Highways England. It is through this consortium that Defra engages on air quality matters.

    The latest Air Quality Action Plan progress report submitted by Greater Manchester GMCA was in March 2015. The next progress report is expected to be submitted to Defra for review early this month.

    Defra has regular discussions with Highways England to ensure that air quality outcomes are mainstreamed in their policy, and that adequate measures are put in place at strategic roads to address the impact of air pollution. Defra is also part of Highways England’s delivery programme board for the air quality element of the Road Investment Strategy.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the variation in the number of teaching hours provided to and fees paid by university students.

    Joseph Johnson

    No such assessment currently exists. However, in our Green Paper: “Fulfilling our potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice,” we proposed that the new Teaching Excellence Framework could consider information about levels of teaching intensity and contact hours. We will be setting out our response to the Green Paper in due course.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many leave to remain applications have been refused as a result of the good character test in each year for which information is available.

    Mike Penning

    We are unable to supply the information requested, as Leave to Remain (LTR) applications are not assessed or refused on the basis of ‘the good character test’ . LTR applications are assessed against a range of criteria, including on the basis of the applicants suitability – which may be their character, convictions, associations or other reasons which may mean that their being in the UK is not ‘conducive to the public good’.

    The specific refusal reasons entered onto the Home Office IT system during the assessment of a case, consist of a free-form text field, which can only be accessed on a case-by-case basis and therefore a wider Management Information report is not available for this question.

  • Lord Rosser – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Rosser – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rosser on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Bus Service Operators Grant in tackling isolation and loneliness in rural communities.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Under the Bus Subsidy Operators Grant (BSOG) system, the Government pays out some £250m a year to bus operators and local authorities to support bus services outside London. BSOG plays an especially important role in protecting services in rural areas as it supports an extra 25 million bus journeys a year in those areas, by helping extend the bus network and allowing operators to charge lower fares. Department for Transport analysis indicates that BSOG has helped extend the rural bus network by 13%, equivalent to an additional 38 million kilometres, providing residents with vital links to local services.