Category: Speeches

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support people affected by the rocket attack on Camp Liberty, Baghdad, on 29 October 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We strongly condemn the shameful attack against the civilian residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq on 29 October. Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad raised the attack with the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office on 30 October and made clear the importance of an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the incident and ensuring that all those responsible are brought to justice.

    In all of our engagement with the Government of Iraq on this issue, including at Ministerial level and in our statements, we have emphasised the importance of the Iraqi Government doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the residents of Camp Liberty. We support the United Nations’ calls for more to be done to protect the residents.

  • Neil Gray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Gray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on claimants of the extension of time for personal independence payment reassessments referred to in the OBR forecasts of November 2015; and what steps he is taking to address the concerns of people on disability living allowance whose reassessments will take longer to process as a result.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government is committed to delivering Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a safe and secure way, ensuring that we continue to roll it out to existing recipients of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) based on capacity, to ensure an effective and efficient service for claimants. Full PIP roll out started in July this year in a controlled way, allowing us to test, learn and improve the service before we ramp up at scale. From October, in line with previously published plans, we began the full rollout of PIP nationally. There are no delays in the claiming system and we are currently working at business as usual capacity. Existing DLA claimants are being kept informed about reassessment activity, including when or under what circumstances they may be invited to claim PIP, through a range of communication measures including information provided in the annual uprating letter or through information available on www.gov.uk.

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  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what projection she has made of the number of full-time equivalent staff working in the Environment Agency in each year until 2020.

    George Eustice

    There are no firm projections over the next 5 years of the number of full-time equivalent staff working in the Environment Agency. Formal budgets have not yet been allocated for 2016/17 to 2020/21.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people called for Jury service were in receipt of (a) jobseeker’s allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support, (d) working tax credit and (e) child tax credit in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and what steps he is taking to meet the costs of undertaking jury service for such people.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The information requested is not held.

    Jury service is an important civic duty. HMCTS is committed to offering support to those called as jurors. Financial provision is made for jurors who are on benefit and for those who suffer loss of earning whilst on jury service. Full details of that provision can be found at: www.gov.uk/jury-service/what-you-can-claim

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Leader of the House, what his Office’s wellness strategy is.

    Chris Grayling

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 3 March 2016, to Question UIN 27925.

    “

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what planning his Department is undertaking in relation to the effect of crypto-currencies on traditional banking models.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Digital currencies, and the distributed ledger technology that underpins them, have the potential to bring innovative services and products to UK customers and firms – particularly in areas like international transfers.

    The Chancellor announced in March 2015 that the Government will bring digital currency exchange firms into regulation in the UK to help the legitimate industry flourish, and to create a hostile environment for illicit actors. We will publish proposals on this regulatory regime in due course.

    As outlined in Deputy Governor, Ben Broadbent’s recent speech, the Bank of England is also exploring this emerging sector and the implications it could have for monetary and financial stability as part of its broader research agenda.

    Separately, academics at University College London’s (UCL) digital currency research centre have also been looking at how the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital currencies could be harnessed by central banks. The Government is encouraged to see this research from one of the UK’s world-leading universities. However, this a theoretical paper by an independent institution, separate from the Bank of England’s work and from Government policy.

    It is the Government’s ambition to foster the growth of legitimate digital currency firms as part of the wider FinTech ecosystem here in the UK. As part of this, the Government will consider the wider implications of a growing digital currencies sector for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole. Some parts of Government are also looking at how the benefits of distributed ledger technology can be harnessed to deliver greater innovation. However, the Government and the Bank of England do not currently have any plans to introduce a centrally issued digital currency.

    The UK has been rated as having the world’s leading FinTech ecosystem in a recent global benchmarking exercise and attracted c. £524mn in investment in 2015.

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether there have been any meetings between HS2 Ltd and King Street Energy Ltd to discuss the proposed gas storage project near Northwich.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    According to the Department for Transport’s records, representatives from HS2 Ltd met with King Street Energy on 25 September 2013 and 22nd May 2014 to discuss interactions with the proposed HS2 route.

    A further meeting between HS2 Ltd and King Street Energy is scheduled to take place later this year.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many meetings of the British-Irish Council Ministers of his Department took part in since May 2013.

    Joseph Johnson

    Information on Ministerial attendances can be found on the British-Irish Council website:

    https://www.britishirishcouncil.org/communique/ministerial-meetings

    “

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Written Statement HCW588 on Infected Blood Payment Scheme, whether his Department has made an estimate of how many bereaved people will receive less support after 2016-17 than they do now.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The reformed scheme will provide a payment to all those with hepatitis C, even if they have been treated, for the current spending review period. A review of the scheme will take place towards the end of this spending review period.

    All those who are currently bereaved partners/spouses and all those who will be bereaved partner/spouses in future will receive a £10,000 lump sum payment and will have continued access to discretionary support. Discretionary support will continue to be available to the bereaved, as well as to infected individuals.

    All infected individuals who are registered with Skipton as having hepatitis C stage 1 (nearly 2,500 people) will be eligible for the new stage 1 annual payment.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of cattle which have died of disease or were put down on account of disease in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    Defra collects data on cases of notifiable or reportable diseases, as per a legal requirement. The department does not estimate the number of all cattle or all pigs which have died of disease or were put down on account of disease as the department does not collect cattle or pigs death data.

    There have been no pig deaths due to notifiable disease in Great Britain in the last 5 years. There were two cattle deaths in 2015 from Anthrax. The most recent data on Bovine Tuberculosis is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain

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