UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of torture in Egyptian detention facilities.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain deeply concerned with reports of torture in Egyptian detention facilities and we have raised this on a number of occasions with senior Egyptian officials in Cairo and in London, most recently on 5 May. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Human Rights Report 2015 designated Egypt a human rights priority country and recorded that, “In 2015, reports of torture, police brutality, and forced disappearance increased. A local NGO documented reports of 676 cases of torture and 137 deaths in detention.”

    The UK unreservedly condemns the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as a matter of fundamental principle. The UK will continue to be a leader in advocating strong international systems to combat torture in all its forms.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many notifications her Department has received under section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 relating to slavery or human trafficking of (a) children and (b) adults.

    Sarah Newton

    We published guidance on the Modern Slavery Act on GOV.UK and a circular was sent to all bodies who are subject to the duty. We will publish data on notifications received and carry out further awareness-raising activity later this year.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to increase the uptake of Mandarin.

    Nick Gibb

    Between 2012 and 2015, entries for Chinese GCSE in England increased by 34%.

    We introduced the Mandarin Excellence Programme this year for highly motivated pupils. It has started in 14 schools with more to follow over the next two years.

    The programme will result in at least 5,000 young people heading towards a high level of fluency in Mandarin by 2020.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lisa Nandy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department’s spending on (a) temporary agency staff, (b) consultants, (c) non-payroll staff, (d) administration and (e) marketing and advertising was in (i) 2014-15 prices and (ii) as a share of her Department’s total budget in each year since 2010-11.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s expenditure in each successive year 2010-11 to 2014-15 and for the categories identified (a) temporary staff; (b) consultants; (d) administration and (e) marketing and advertising and as a percentage of each year’s total budget for the core Department is given in the table attached. We have interpreted (c) “non-payroll staff” to mean “temporary staff and “consultants”.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect removing the family premium from new claims for housing benefit the ability of claimants affected to move outside their local authority area in order to take up better paid work.

    Justin Tomlinson

    This policy alters just one premium added to Housing Benefit for working families: support continues through the Child Benefit disregard and for families in receipt of Child Tax Credits.

  • Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) secondary and (b) primary schools are academies.

    Edward Timpson

    As of January 2016, 18% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools are academies, including free schools, studio schools or Universal Technical Colleges.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Midland Expressway on the proposed sale of the M6 Toll road.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government has regular discussions with Midland Expressway Limited as the operator of a key part of the country’s road network.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Security Council has been involved in establishing the national requirement of 19 destroyers and frigates, and whether close allies were also consulted.

    Earl Howe

    The National Security Council was consulted at each stage of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). It gave direction on the full strategic approach required from Defence, rather than individual capability planning decisions. This Review also featured unprecedented levels of consultation with our closest allies.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Government minister will be responsible for distributing the £80 million Violence Against Women and Girls Transformation Fund.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government is providing £80 million of dedicated funding up to 2020 to tackle violence against women and girls. This funding will provide core support for refuges and other accommodation-based services, a network of rape support centres and national helplines, and from April 2017 will also include a new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Service Transformation Fund.

    The VAWG Service Transformation fund will support local programmes which encourage new approaches that incorporate early intervention, establish and embed the best ways to help victims and their families, and prevent perpetrators from re-offending. Criteria for applications to the fund will support these aims. Full details of the how the fund will be administered and the criteria for applications will be published in due course.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether purdah arrangements for the EU referendum apply to policy statements to be published by NHS England on the commissioning of treatments.

    George Freeman

    Whilst the pre-election guidance for the European Union referendum has yet to be published, it is not anticipated that it would prevent the routine publication of clinical commissioning policy statements which are a ‘business as usual’ function of NHS England.

    The Cabinet Office publishes pre-election guidance for civil servants which also applies to NHS England and other arm’s length bodies. This can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants

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