Category: Speeches

Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to conduct a systematic analysis of existing science and research-based infrastructure in the UK for the purpose of guiding his Department’s future investment priorities.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is considering the National Audit Office’s recent report on capital investment in science projects, and will respond in due course.

All funding decisions are subject to BIS and HM Treasury’s rigorous scrutiny process and must pass a robust business case process before spending is approved.

January 1, 2023
Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that customers who were sold cashback warranties by PowerPlan and who did not receive their cash deposits having not claimed against those warranties receive compensation.

Anna Soubry

The liquidation of the companies involved in the cashback scheme is ongoing. The liquidators have the right to take action against the company if they consider the cashback scheme created an obligation to fund any liabilities.

My hon. Friend from Grantham and Stamford is meeting the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group to discuss their findings shortly.

January 1, 2023
Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37876, what (a) number and (b) proportion of penalty charge notices issued between January and December 2015 related only to medical exemption certificates.

Alistair Burt

Between January and December 2015, a total of 34,142 penalty charge notices were issued to patients declaring they held a valid medical exemption certificate, which the National Health Service Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) was unable to verify. This equated to 7.92% of all penalty charge notices issued.

During the same period, a total of 9,170 of these were subsequently retracted when the patient proved their right to exemption. This equated to 26.86% of all penalty charge notices issued for medical exemption certificates.

Often the reason the penalty charge notice is retracted is because the patient has not informed the NHSBSA of a change of address or surname. This means the record of the medical exemption does not match the patient information on the prescription form. If a patient provides details of a valid medical exemption certificate, the penalty charge notice is retracted and the medical exemption record is updated to ensure further notices are not issued in error.

Following the introduction of prescription charge exemption checking, it became apparent some people receiving penalty charge notices had a qualifying medical condition, but had not applied for a medical exemption certificate. In response, a new process was introduced in early spring 2015. This means that if someone submits a valid application for a medical or maternity exemption certificate within 60 days from date of the penalty charge notice, the outstanding penalty charge is cancelled but the prescription charge is still recovered.

January 1, 2023
Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 2 August 2016 to Question 42624, what the evidential basis is for the conclusion that a decrease in the prominence of copyright infringing websites in search engine results has resulted in a decrease in infringement.

Joseph Johnson

Publically available research from industry clearly shows a decrease in traffic to the most high profile Bit Torrent indexing websites following changes to search engine algorithms to demote websites which have been the subject of large numbers of copyright infringement notices. While it is not possible to say exactly how this equates to changes in infringement, traffic levels to these websites are likely to be highly correlated with levels of infringing activity.

The work of the Ministerial roundtable group on search and copyright is supported by research from OFCOM, which gives the group a periodic snapshot of the prominence of copyright infringing websites in search results for various search terms.

January 1, 2023

Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what domestic visits (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have made since July 2016; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Caroline Dinenage

Domestic visits made by the Secretary of State for Education and Ministers in their official capacity are listed in the following table:

Minister	Date	Visit/Purpose
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	July 2016	Visit to DfE site in Coventry to meet staff
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	July 2016	Visit Walsall College (West Midlands) to meet staff and students
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	August 2016	Visit to Southfields Academy (London) to meet students receiving their A-level results
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	September 2016	Visit to Ashburnham Community School (London) to meet staff and students
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	September 2016	Speaking about gender balance at Women at the Top Event by Financial Times
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit Prudhoe High School (Northumberland) to open the new building
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit to Roehampton University to open Chadwick Hall
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit to UTC Oxford to meet with staff and students
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit to the University of Derby, Buxton and Leek FE College
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit to the Oasis Academy Limeside to meet staff and students
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit to the Schools North East Summit to speak at the conference
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit to DfE Site Manchester to meet staff
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit to City College to meet staff and students
The Rt Hon Justine Greening, Secretary of State	October 2016	Visit to North City Children’s Centre

Caroline Dinenage, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years	September 2016	Speaking at Early Implementers National Meeting (London)
Caroline Dinenage, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years	October 2016	Speaking at National Mumandworking Awards (London)
Caroline Dinenage, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years	October 2016	Speaking at the opening of the London Stock Exchange
Caroline Dinenage, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years	October 2016	Speaking at the Fawcett Society (London Marriot Hotel (London)
Caroline Dinenage, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years	October 2016	Speaking at the Women’s Business Council three year on event (London)
Caroline Dinenage, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years	October 2016	Speaking at the Advertising Association Front Foot breakfast event (London)

Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	July 2016	Visit to Seabridge Primary School (Newcastle) for the launch of their teacher recruitment film
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	July 2016	Visit to All Saints National Academy (Walsall) to meet staff and pupils
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	July 2016	Visit to Leeds to speak at Teach First Impact Conference
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	August 2016	Visit to UCAS (Cheltenham) on A Level results day
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	September 2016	Visit to King Solomon’s Academy (London) to speak at graduation ceremony
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	September 2016	Visit to Kensington Primary Academy (London) for opening ceremony.
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	September 2016	Visit to Havant Academy (Hampshire) to meet staff and pupils
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	September 2016	Visit to South Farnham School (Surrey) to meet staff and pupils
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	September 2016	Visit to the Brakenhale School (Bracknell) to meet staff and pupils
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards	October 2016	Visit to the Spanish Embassy for ‘National Day of Spain’ reception.

The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visit to Westminster Academy to discuss careers
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visit to Central Eltham Youth Project for work readiness training
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Speaking at Edge Annual Lecture (London)
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visits to New College Durham (Durham) to meet staff and discuss further education and apprenticeships,
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visits to Derwentside College (Durham) to meet staff and discuss further education and apprenticeships,
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visits to Churchill Community College (North Tyneside) to meet staff and discuss further education and apprenticeships,
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visit to Unipres Corporation (Sunderland) to discuss apprenticeships
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visit to Blackpool and the Fylde College (Blackpool) to meet staff and discuss further education, visit to Moore Park Primary School to attend a primary futures event.
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visit to Blackpool BuildUp (Blackpool) to meet staff and discuss careers
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visit to Cambridge Regional College (Cambridge) to view further education and apprenticeships provision
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visit to Greene King (Bury St. Edmunds) to see apprenticeships in action
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	September 2016	Visit to West Suffolk College (Bury St. Edmunds) to see further education and apprenticeships provision
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	October 2016	Visit to the National College (London) focusing Digital Skills
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	October 2016	Visit to Blackfen School for Girls (Sidcup) focussing on careers
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	October 2016	Visit to MiddletonMurray (Sidcup) to discuss apprenticeships and traineeships
The Rt Hon Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Education	October 2016	Visit to Sarah Bonnell School (London) to discuss careers

Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science	July 2016	Visit to British Library for the launch of the India Digitalisation Project
Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science	July 2016	Visit to Manchester to speak at the EuroScience Open Forum and for a meeting with university vice-chancellors
Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science	September 2016	Attendance at Festival of Education at University of Buckingham
Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science	September 2016	Visit to the University of Nottingham to open the University Enterprise Zone.
Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science	September 2016	Visit to Loughborough University to speak to students and staff.
Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science	September 2016	Visit to Nottingham Trent University to speak at Universities UK Conference
Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science	October 2016	Visit to Birkenhead for RRS David Attenborough Keel Laying Event and visit to Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts

Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	July 2016	Speaking at Education Policy Institute (London)
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	September 2016	Speaking at Foundation for Leadership in Education Summit (London)
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	September 2016	Taking part in panel discussion at Education and Employers Governance Conference (London)
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	September 2016	Speaking at Teach First Business Leaders Council (London)
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	September 2016	Speaking at British Chamber of Commerce
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	September 2016	Visit to Kings Langley School (Hertfordshire) to attend opening ceremony
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	September 2016	Visit to King Solomon Academy (London) to meet staff and pupils
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	October 2016	Attendance at On Side Youth Zone Meeting (London)
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	October 2016	Visit to DfE site in Manchester to meet staff and attend Head Teacher Board,
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	October 2016	Visit to Manchester Academy (Manchester) to meet staff and pupils
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	October 2016	Visit to New Islington Free School (Manchester) to meet staff and pupils
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	October 2016	Visit to King’s Leadership Academy (Warrington) to attend opening ceremony
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System	October 2016	Attendance at discussion at Ormiston Academies Trust Annual Lunch (London)

Edward Timpson, Minister of State for Vulnerable Children and Families	July 2016	Visit to Manchester to speak at ADCS Annual Conference
Edward Timpson, Minister of State for Vulnerable Children and Families	July 2016	Visit to Manchester to speak at Council for Disabled Children Conference and visit Trafford Council to meet care leavers

January 1, 2023

Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many families with children living in bed and breakfast have been so accommodated for more than six weeks; and how many families with children were living in bed and breakfast accommodation in (a) each local authority in the East Midlands and (b) England in each year since 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department for Communities and Local Government collects figures for the number of households in temporary accommodation as snapshot figures at the end of each quarter. Theattached table shows the number of families with children who were accommodated in Bed & Breakfast hotels (including shared annexes) on 31^st December for each year 2010–2014, who were resident for more than 6 weeks, in the East Midlands and England.

Numbers for individual local authorities have not been provided, as they generally relate to very small numbers of households and therefore risk disclosing personal information.

The law is clear that bed and breakfast accomodation should only be used to house homeless in an emergency, and for no longer than six weeks.

January 1, 2023
Wayne David – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what security checks her Department carries out on refugees from Syria who are admitted to the UK.

Mr John Hayes

The Syrian nationals admitted to the UK under the UNHCR Resettlement Programme are some of the most vulnerable displaced people and they are taken directly from the region.

We take security extremely seriously in cases referred to us for resettlement, working closely with the UNHCR who have their own robust identification processes in place. When refugees arrive in the UK they have been through a thorough two-stage vetting process to ensure we know who is entering the country. This includes the taking of biometric data, documentation verification and interviews. Potential resettlement cases are screened and considered by the Home Office for suitability for entry to the UK: we retain the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds. For reasons of national security, we cannot provide further information on the details of the screening process itself.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will support a claim by (a) petroleum suppliers who supply home heating oil and (b) other petroleum suppliers for a derogation from the EU rules on the amount of weekly rest required by such suppliers’ drivers; and what stage that application for a derogation has reached.

Andrew Jones

In December 2015 the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers sent the Department for Transport an application for the UK to submit a request to the European Commission, under Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) 561/2006, for a derogation on the weekly rest requirement in the EU drivers’ hours rules for drivers of tankers delivering domestic fuel. This application is being considered and a decision on whether to support it and apply to the Commission will be made in due course.

January 1, 2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the possible connection between potato consumption and diabetes in pregnancy.

Jane Ellison

No such discussions have been held.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to increase public awareness of personal health budgets.

Alistair Burt

NHS England provides a comprehensive programme of training and support for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to help them to develop and publish a local offer of personal health budgets by April 2016. CCGs are now also required to include their personal health budget offer in their Health and Wellbeing Strategies, which are published in the public domain. To increase public awareness further, NHS England funds a national network of people with lived experiences of personal health budgets who champion their use both nationally and locally.

NHS England has made it clear that CCGs have a duty to inform people who are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare that they have the right to have a personal health budget, for example including information in the letter that informs individuals they are eligible. NHS England is currently consulting on the new CCG Improvement and Assessment framework, which will ask CCGs to submit the number of personal health budgets in their local area. The results of this will be used to inform the public of how many personal health budgets have been given locally and how their area compares with the rest of the country.

January 1, 2023