Category: Speeches

Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the level of inequalities experienced by LGBTI people in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ben Wallace

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, a non-departmental public body established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, is responsible for equality issues in Northern Ireland.

The Commission is sponsored by the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (OFMdFM). The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland or OFMdFM would be best placed to provide an assessment of the level of inequality experienced by LGBTI people in Northern Ireland.

01/12/2022

David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people died on the roads in each region in incidents where a driver was using a mobile telephone in each of the last three years.

Andrew Jones

The Department holds information on the number of personal-injury road traffic accidents where the attending police officer judged that a driver using a mobile telephone contributed to the accident. This includes both cases where ‘hand held’ and ‘hands free’ telephones were deemed to contribute to the accident. The table below provides the number of fatalities in road traffic accidents that were reported to the police in which at least one driver was allocated the contributory factor ‘driver using mobile phone’ by region for 2012 to 2014.

Fatalities in reported road accidents in which the contributory factor ‘driver using mobile phone’ was reported: GB, 2012-2014

Region	2012	2013	2014
North East	2	1	1
North West	1	2	1
Yorkshire and the Humber	2	5	1
East Midlands	1	1	4
West Midlands	2	2	0
East of England	1	2	3
South East	3	2	9
London	1	0	1
South West	2	4	1
Wales	1	2	2
Scotland	1	5	1

Total	17	26	24
Note: Includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported

“

01/12/2022

Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a requirement that private landlords have a certificate confirming their accommodation has reached a minimum condition before it can be let.

Brandon Lewis

Local Authorities have powers under the Housing Act 2004 to assess the risks and hazards in properties, and to require landlords or owners to remove hazards, and to prosecute if they fail to do so. If a property is found to contain serious hazards, the local authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action in relation to the hazard. This could include serving a notice for the landlord to carry out improvements.

The Government wants to crack down further on the small minority of rogue and criminal landlords who exploit their tenants by renting out unsafe and substandard accommodation and are taking forward proposals through the Housing and Planning Bill. The legislation will enable local authorities to:
- access a database of rogue landlords and letting agents helping councils keep track of them and target enforcement action;
- seek banning orders for the most prolific and serious offenders;
- issue civil penalty notices of up to £5,000 for certain breaches of housing legislation, ring-fencing resources for housing compliance activity;
- extend Rent Repayment Orders to cover situations where a tenant has been illegally evicted, the landlord has failed to rectify a serious health and safety hazard in the property or has breached a banning order, allowing local authorities to retain the money for housing purposes.
- apply a more stringent ‘fit and proper’ person test for landlords letting out licensed properties.
The majority of landlords in the private rented sector provide decent accommodation with surveys showing that 84% of tenants are satisfied with their accommodation, and staying in their homes for an average of 3.5 years.
01/12/2022
Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times Medway Secure Training Centre has contacted an external teaching agency to request a teacher since it was awarded the contract.

Andrew Selous

G4S, which holds the current contract for Medway Secure Training Centre, has once used an external teaching agency to recruit one member of teaching staff.

Prior to 2010 education at Medway was provided by Manchester College. Information on this provider’s use of agency staff is not held centrally.

All STC staff, both temporary and permanent, must undergo background checks and be approved by the Youth Justice Board prior to appointment.

01/12/2022
Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many defibrillators there are in public places in Preston constituency; and what the location of those defibrillators is.

Jane Ellison

This information is not collected centrally.

01/12/2022
Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Armed Forces Covenant fully addresses the healthcare needs of all active and retired servicemen and women with (a) post-traumatic stress disorder and (b) other conditions.

Mark Lancaster

The Armed Forces Covenant sets a number of goals with respect to healthcare, including that members of the Armed Forces community should enjoy the same standard of, and access to, healthcare as received by any other UK citizen in the area where they live. With regard to Mental Health, the Armed Forces Covenant states that veterans should be able to access mental health professionals who have an understanding of Armed Forces culture.

The Ministry of Defence provides primary healthcare for all Service personnel including mobilised Reservists. The provision of veterans’ healthcare, including for those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions, is primarily the responsibility of the National Health Service in England and the Devolved Administrations. Veterans in England, Scotland and Wales are entitled to priority access to secondary healthcare for conditions suspected to be due to their service in the Armed Forces, subject to the clinical needs of others. In Northern Ireland, the mental health needs of returning ex-Service personnel continue to be addressed either through the Ulster Defence Regiment and Royal Irish Aftercare Service, through Combat Stress, or directly within the mainstream Primary Care and Mental Health services.

For a summary of our approach to ensuring that our serving Armed Forces personnel receive the very best mental healthcare provision, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 September 2015 to Question 9141 to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson). http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-09-07/9141/

For details of the steps we have taken to ensure that veterans are provided with the support they need, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 September 2015 to Question 9865 to the hon. Member for Inverclyde (Mr Cowan). http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-09-10/9865/

01/12/2022
Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of reforms proposed in the review of the Feed-in Tariff scheme on the viability of future renewable energy projects.

Andrea Leadsom

We published an impact assessment on our proposals, which included the deployment projections for each option proposed. This is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-a-review-of-the-feed-in-tariff-scheme.

We will issue a revised Impact Assessment with the Government Response based on the evidence we received through the consultation. This will include information about the potential effects on the viability of future projects.

“

01/12/2022
Barry Gardiner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to remove the climate diplomacy function of his Department in response to the UNFCCC Paris COP 21.

James Duddridge

The Government takes the risk posed by climate change very seriously, and the UK remains a global leader on climate change action. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris COP21 will aim to keep the goal of limiting global temperature rise to below 2 degrees within reach, but is not the end game. Whatever the outcome of COP21, the Government will continue to engage with international partners on climate policy issues, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will work closely with Department of Energy and Climate Change, Department for International Development and other relevant departments to this end.

Demonstrating the UK’s commitment to climate action, the Prime Minister announced at the UN General Assembly on 27 September that the government will provide a further £5.8 billion from the existing 0.7% official development assistance (ODA) budget to the UK’s International Climate Fund in the next spending round, between April 2016 and March 2021.

01/12/2022
Caroline Spelman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Spelman on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department last had contact with (a) Rebecca Prosser and (b) her family.

Mr Hugo Swire

Members of the consular team in Jakarta have visited Rebecca Prosser twice. The first visit took place on 2 June, shortly after her arrest, and lasted 30 minutes. The second, which lasted over two hours, took place on 10 September when she was moved from house arrest into a detention facility. Normal practice is to visit detainees in Indonesia every three months.

Consular staff are in regular contact with Ms Prosser’s employer’s representatives, her legal team and her family. Since court proceedings began, we have provided a weekly written update to Ms Prosser, her family and their MPs. Our most recent contact with Ms Prosser’s family was on 21 October.

01/12/2022
Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what review his Department has conducted of average waiting times for NHS services across England and Wales in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

Although the Department does not conduct reviews of average waiting times in the National Health Service in England, NHS England publish on a monthly basis a full and comprehensive set of data on NHS performance against operational waiting time standards. Health is a devolved matter in Wales.

01/12/2022