Category: Speeches

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff of her Department work on its teaching blog.

    Nick Gibb

    The teaching blog has received an average of 758 visits per week, and 15,938 visits in total. The costs are only in staff time and image usage of £2.50 per image as the blog is hosted on the GOV.UK platform. The blog is run by the Department’s social media team as a small proportion of one member of staff’s overall workload.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with representatives of Japanese businesses operating in the UK on the memorandum presented by the Japanese government to the Prime Minister at the recent G20 summit.

    Greg Hands

    Ministers and senior Government officials have held regular discussions with Japanese investors operating in the UK since the referendum in June. This continued after the Japanese Government published their memorandum on 2 September. My Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade and my Noble Friend the Minister of State for Trade Policy have met with the Ambassador of Japan to the United Kingdom Mr Koji Tsuruoka. On 4 October my Noble Friend the Minister of State for Trade Policy met Japanese investors to hear their views and my Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Trade also met Japanese investors while in Japan on 5-6 October.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of protests at border crossings between Nepal and India on the supply of (a) fuel, (b) medicine and (c) blood to Nepal.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The current disruption in the Terai and at a number of border posts has affected the importation and distribution within Nepal of supplies of goods. This has included fuel, food and health commodities, such as vaccines and medicines. Acute shortages of diesel, petrol as well as cooking gas have been felt across Nepal for the past weeks. This has had an impact on movement around the country as well as distribution networks for key commodities.

    DFID Nepal is currently working with the Ministry of Health and Population, World Health Organisation and other partners to undertake a rapid assessment of the health impacts of the crisis, including the availability medicines and blood products at health facilities. DFID is also engaging with the Government of Nepal, as well as our development and humanitarian partners, to track the current situation. DFID continue to urge all parties to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue as soon as possible and resolve the current difficulties.

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities affected by the recent flooding have applied to his Department for funding under the Bellwin scheme.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    As at 16 December, the 11 local authorities listed below had registered for financial support from the Bellwin scheme for the December 2015 severe weather events. More local authorities are expected to register for the scheme in the coming days and weeks.

    Allerdale Borough Council

    Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council

    Carlisle City Council

    Copeland District Council

    Cumbria County Council

    Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner

    Eden District Council

    Lancaster City Council

    Northumberland County Council

    South Lakedale District Council

    Wyre Borough Council

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review the affordability of public transport for people in full-time education; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The legislation which regulates the bus industry does not require bus operators to offer reduced fares to young people. However, bus operators in most areas do offer discounted travel tickets to various groups of young people on a commercial basis. Government recognises the importance of accessible transport to all young people and we are working with the sector to encourage operators to continue to improve their offers.

    Whilst there is no requirement for local authorities to provide free transport for 16-19 year olds attending further education, some local authorities do also provide discretionary travel concession schemes for young people.

    Current estimates indicate that around 50% of young people aged 16 to 19 receive at least a third off standard bus fares.

    In terms of rail services, young rail passengers are able to purchase a 16 – 25 Railcard where they can save a third on most standard class rail fares.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what reports she has received from the Metropolitan Police in the Royal Borough of Greenwich of delays in processing Disclosure and Barring Service applications.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides a formal monthly performance report to the Home Office and Home Office Ministers. This includes updates on the performance of police forces in meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) standards for the time taken to complete local disclosure checks.

    The DBS monitors the performance of all police disclosure units and works closely with any force, including the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) which is having difficulty in meeting its targets. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan in place at the MPS. London Boroughs do not operate their own disclosure units.

    The number of applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in each of the last 12 months is listed in the table below.

    Month

    Total Disclosures Issued to Applicants from the Constituency of Greenwich and Woolwich

    Disclosures that took longer than 60 days

    February 2015 – January 2016

    11,446

    1,688
  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23178, if he will announce a date for the introduction of section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government is continuing to actively consider how best to address problems wheelchair users face when using taxis and private hire vehicles, including the possible commencement of Section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

  • Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the event of the UK leaving the EU, UK citizens living in EU member states will retain all of their rights as UK citizens and will continue to be treated the same as if they were resident in the UK.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    British citizens living in the EU currently enjoy a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, health care and public services that are only guaranteed because of EU law. There would be no requirement under EU law for these rights to be maintained if the UK left the EU. Should an agreement be reached to maintain these rights, the expectation must be that this would have to be reciprocated for EU citizens in the UK.

  • 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 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each NHS trust spent on cleaning services in the last year for which figures are available.

    Alistair Burt

    The total amount spent on cleaning services by National Health Service hospital trusts is as shown in Table 1, below:

    Table 1: Cleaning Services Costs by Year

    Year

    Cleaning Services Costs (£ millions)

    2009/10

    897.2

    2010/11

    938.6

    2011/12

    936.5

    2012/13

    933.9

    2013/14

    904.1

    2014/15

    929.2

    Table 2 (attached separately) gives information on cleaning spend for each NHS hospital trust for 2014-15.

    “

  • 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 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Vietnamese government on human rights abuses and persecution of Christians.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Government is committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief around the world, and to being a strong voice internationally in defence of this fundamental right. We raise these and other human rights issues with the Vietnamese government regularly and at all levels. We also work with non-government organisations and likeminded embassies on human rights issues in Vietnam. I raised concerns about the general human rights situation in Vietnam with the Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister during the UK-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue in London in March 2016. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed human rights with the Vietnamese Prime Minister during his visit to Vietnam in April 2016. We will continue to raise these issues with the Vietnamese authorities, including a concerning report from Amnesty International which has just issued on the treatment of prisoners of conscience in Vietnam.