Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to help free Andargachew Tsige.

    James Duddridge

    The Government takes the detention and welfare of Mr Andargachew Tsege, who was transferred from Yemen and is imprisoned in Ethiopia, very seriously. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has raised Mr Tsege’s case 21 times with his Ethiopian counterpart. I have also raised this case most recently on 8 January. Our focus has been on lobbying for Mr Tsege to have access to a lawyer and a legal route through which he can challenge his detention. We will continue to lobby the Ethiopian government until Mr Tsege is given access to a lawyer, and our concerns about the process by which Mr Tsege was transferred to Ethiopia have been fully addressed.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the contribution of the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 13 April 2016, Official Report, column 374, how many (a) cases of offshore tax evasion were investigated by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and (b) individuals were subject to criminal investigation for offshore tax evasion by HMRC in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) undertakes a broad range of civil compliance activity to tackle offshore tax evasion. No definitive year by year assessment of the total number of HMRC investigations applying civil sanctions is recorded. Over 1,100 cases of offshore evasion are currently under investigation, with more than 90 individuals currently being investigated for offshore offences.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of alcohol consumption on levels of obesity; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The last Government’s “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England”, October 2011 states that alcoholic drinks can be high in calories and contribute to the energy imbalance that can lead to being overweight and obesity.

    We welcome the fact that some businesses are choosing to label calories voluntarily on their alcoholic beverages.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of Army Reserves successfully passed the annual mandatory training test in 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Military Annual Training Tests (MATTs) are a series of 10 tests which members of the Army undertake to ensure that individuals remain competent and proficient in basic military skills and attitudes. The number of MATTs individual members of the Army are required to take varies depending on the role or specialism they are in, whether Reserve or Regular. For example those working in HQ or specialist/professional roles are not required to undertake all MATTs. Those Reserves failing to pass the MATTs they are required to take risk not qualifying for their annual training bounty.

    The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • David Nuttall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Nuttall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of the 24 June 2015 to Questions 4118 and 4121 and the statement of the Minister for Europe of 10 November 2015, Official Report, column 239, in which he stated that ‘roughly like 40 per cent of the people from elsewhere in the EU who live in the UK are in receipt of benefits or tax credits of some sort,’ how this figure was calculated; how many EU citizens have been in the UK for less than four years; and of those people how many have made individual claims for tax credits.

    Priti Patel

    Details on how the proportion of EEA nationals who were in receipt of benefits or tax credits was calculated is detailed in the DWP ad hoc statistical publication “UK benefit and tax credit claims by recently arrived EEA migrants”. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-benefit-and-tax-credit-claims-by-recently-arrived-eea-migrants

    It was not possible to provide a more detailed breakdown within this ad hoc statistical publication on the claims made by individuals for different benefits or tax credits.

    “

  • Neil Gray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Neil Gray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people who died by suicide were social security claimants in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years.

    Alistair Burt

    The data requested is not collected centrally.

  • Lord Bradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) children, and (2) adults, had an appointment with an NHS dentist in each of the 10 districts of Greater Manchester in each of the last five years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Information is not available in the format requested.

    The attached tables show the unique number of patients who received National Health Service dental care in the previous 24 months. An equivalent measure covering the 12 month period is not available.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for Exceptional Case Funding there were in 2015; and how many of those applications were successful.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Legal Aid Agency publishes this information as part of its official statistics, the most recent edition of which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2015.

    Statistics covering the final quarter of 2015 will be published in due course.

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff of the National Probation Service have completed Prevent awareness training.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Working to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP) was developed by the Home Office in 2009. From 2009 to 2014 all probation staff in the former Probation Trusts were to be trained in WRAP.

    As part of the Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme, the National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) were formed on 1 June 2014, and 9,140 staff transferred from Probation Trusts to the National Probation Service.

    Since then, all new NPS staff have been receiving Prevent awareness training, and all existing NPS staff have been receiving refresher training.

    We are fully committed to ensuring that we have a properly trained workforce within the NPS. Prevent Awareness (WRAP) is one of a number of training programmes delivered to staff in the NPS to provide staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively manage offenders and protect the public.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost to the public purse has been of establishing the Sustainability and Transformation Plan Footprints Leadership Teams.

    George Freeman

    The Department does not hold this information centrally.

    However, as far as NHS England is aware, in the overwhelming majority of cases, leaders are not being paid over and above the remuneration they receive for their existing roles. Many Sustainability and Transformation Plans are supported by local programme teams which are funded by the constituent local organisations.