Category: Speeches

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) permanent staff, (b) temporary staff and (c) contractors are employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment; and how many such staff he expects to be employed at that Establishment in each of the next three years.

    Michael Fallon

    There are 4,920 permanent staff and 890 contractors employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). These figures represent full time equivalent staff, rounded to the nearest ten.

    Contractors working at AWE but employed by sub-contractor companies are not included as this information is not held centrally.

    Over the next three years, staffing levels will depend on programme demand.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he consulted the board of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills prior to his decision to withdraw its funding.

    Nick Boles

    The Commissioners of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) were not consulted during the spending review process prior to the decision taken by Whitehall Departments to withdraw funding.

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has subsequently been working closely with the UKCES’s Strategic Management Group of Commissioners to manage the implications of the decision.

  • Baroness Garden of Frognal – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Garden of Frognal – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that adequate ring-fenced funding is provided to local authorities to enable them successfully to deliver the Government’s childcare provision targets.

    Lord Nash

    We have already announced over £1bn funding for the early years entitlements within the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant by 2019-20, which includes £300m to uplift the funding rate to providers. The increase to the funding rate is based on robust evidence from the Review of the Cost of Childcare. We have made clear our commitment to maximise the amount of this funding which reaches front line childcare providers, and will consult on proposals for achieving this as part of our consultation on early years funding reform later this year.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the consultation into mandatory reporting.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government will launch a full 12 week public consultation later this year.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-18.

    to ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that the new Education Cannot Wait fund will focus on the most marginalised children, including girls and children with disabilities.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has played a leading role in the development of Education Cannot Wait – a fund for education in emergencies. A key focus for Education Cannot Wait will be on ensuring that marginalised children and young people are able to access a quality education. This includes refugees and internally displaced children, as well as children facing barriers to their education because of their gender, disability or other factors.

    This focus is reflected in the Fund’s indicative headline results, which commits to providing “Inclusive education [that] reaches the most marginalised children and young people in crises” with a target of “100% of supported education opportunities demonstrate increase in education for girls, disabled and those in remote locations”.

    The UK will continue to engage closely during Education Cannot Wait’s inception phase, to ensure that this commitment is fully reflected in its final design and results frameworks.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with other Commonwealth countries on sharing trade negotiating capabilities and resources.

    Alok Sharma

    We have been consulting, and will continue to consult, a broad range of stakeholders, including governments and businesses, on the implications of the referendum result for trade. We have been encouraged by the interest coming from a range of non-EU countries, including some of our closest allies. Across government, we are preparing options for our future trade policy for the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) to consider. We are also rapidly building civil service capacity and capability on trade.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Aliens’ Employment Act 1955 makes it a requirement that all UK based staff recruited to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK must be British nationals or dual nationals where one of those nationalities is British.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce blood tests for the detection of ovarian cancer on the NHS.

    George Freeman

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 November 2015 to Question 16523.

    “

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement of 1 December 2014, HC Deb, 46W, what assessment he has made of the performance of the pilot scheme allowing individuals to be summoned rather than arrests being made at night.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    On 2 June, the Minister of State, my noble Friend, The Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE met the Israeli Military Advocate General and discussed the pilot scheme allowing individuals to be summoned rather than be arrested at night. We understand that the scheme has functioned well and has been used in a significant proportion of arrests. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv continue to push for further progress on the issue of children held in military detention with Israeli officials. On 23 November, an official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv met Israel’s Chief Prosecutor and discussed the issue of child detention and on 27 August, our Ambassador to Tel Aviv lobbied the Israeli Military Advocate General on Children in Detention where the issue of child detention was also discussed.

  • 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 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of (a) Tornado and (b) Typhoon aircraft in the Forward Available Fleet are classed as short term unserviceable as a result of undergoing (i) short term maintenance and (ii) other short term works.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The information requested is detailed in the attached table.

    The Forward Available Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable. Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis. Dependent on the nature of the work, aircraft may be designated as requiring either ‘short-term maintenance’ or ‘short-term works’.

    The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in the Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

    Decommissioning and disposal are part of the same process and are therefore grouped together.