UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Lord Ahmed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the granting of United Kingdom visas is regulated to ensure that they are meeting their stated targets in relation to visas from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and China.

    Lord Bates

    Performance against service standards for visa processing is routinely monitored through internal performance management processes, and is also subject to external scrutiny from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and the Home Affairs Select Committee. Data on how UKVI is performing against its processing targets is published here: https://visa-processingtimes.homeoffice.gov.uk/y

  • Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has been made of the cost to police forces of (a) the apprenticeship levy and (b) a single tier pension.

    Mike Penning

    Home Office officials have written to the National Policing Lead for Workforce Development to ensure that chief constables, who are the employers in each local force, are aware of the opportunity that apprenticeships present as they strive to develop greater workforce flexibility. A number of forces have already taken steps to develop apprentice models and a cross-force working group has been established by forces to consider the matter.

    We worked closely with policing partners, as part of Spending Review preparations, to understand the impacts on forces of transition to the single-tier state pension. We continue to keep this under review.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s policy is on the provision of precautionary mastectomies for women who have not been diagnosed with breast cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance to the National Health Service on bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy in its clinical guideline, Familial breast cancer: classification, care and managing breast cancer and related risks in people with a family history of breast cancer (June 2013). This is available at:

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg164/chapter/1-recommendations

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24141, what categories of security incident were classed as other security breach in that answer.

    Mark Lancaster

    Other security breaches include incidents which represented a failure of a control but did not result in the loss of any information. Such breaches would be the contravention of security policy, damage, denial of service, malicious software and personal security.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent from the public purse on industrial tribunals in the last 12 months.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) legal fees for employment tribunals for the last twelve months, where invoices have so far been received (January 2015 – December 2015), total £46,385.52. The FCO is in the process of recovering £3,000 of this following a Costs Order in our favour.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to which location he plans to relocate his Department’s functions out of London.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department has not yet made final decisions on its future estate. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise has already informed the House, the current plans for the Department’s future estate are for:

    • A combined HQ and policy centre in London
    • Business-facing centre, likely to be in South Wales
    • Institutional and Research funding centre, likely to be in Swindon, but may initially also include Bristol
    • Further education funding centre – location yet to be decided but may initially be in Coventry
    • Higher education student finance centre, initially in Glasgow and Darlington
    • A regulation centre likely to be in Birmingham
    • A combined regional footprint for where service delivery to local users need to happen on a local basis, comprising the BIS Local offices and local service delivery
  • Jack Lopresti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jack Lopresti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Lopresti on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the UK’s (a) payments to the EU, (b) receipts through EU schemes and (c) receipts through the UK rebate in each year between 2020 and 2030.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Treasury’s approach to estimating the net cost of the EU budget to the UK over the long term is set out in Annex B of HM Treasury Analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives, publicly available at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/517415/treasury_analysis_economic_impact_of_eu_membership_web.pdf

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that staff in her Department receive religious literacy training.

    Nick Gibb

    We currently have no plans to carry out religious literacy training in the Department.

    Civil Service Learning, the main training portal for Civil Servants, has a broad range of diversity and inclusion courses, which are available to all civil servants. There is also a two day course covering both Abrahamic and Dharmic religions for officials who need a more in depth understanding to carry out their role.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to monitor the effect of the change from disability living allowance to personal independence payments on the standard of living of the recipients of those payments.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are designed to contribute towards the extra cost of having a disability. PIP is a modern benefit that maintains the key principles of DLA; it is a non-means-tested, non-taxable cash benefit available to people in and out of work. In addition, it takes proper account of mental health conditions and targets resources on those who need support. Most people will continue to receive support under PIP and, in fact, a greater proportion of claimants are receiving the highest rates of the benefit than in DLA – 23 per cent compared to 15 per cent on DLA.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to limit the use of accessible toilets solely for disabled people.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Department for Communities and Local Government has commissioned research into existing guidance in Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) of the Building Regulations, including on the use of accessible toilets, and that research will help to guide the way forward where any change to existing legislation is needed. Legislating to restrict use of accessible toilets raises many complex issues including in defining who would, and who would not, be entitled to use such facilities and whether this would be enforceable. Government takes the view that current arrangements are practicable without the need for further legislation and, as a result, does not intend to pursue this further at this time.