Category: Speeches

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the state of UK relations with Iran.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    16 January 2016 marked Implementation Day of the Iran nuclear deal which, along with the subsequent lifting of international sanctions, has the potential to represent a new era in Iran’s relationship with the wider world. Since the Foreign Secretary reopened our Embassy in August 2015, significant progress has been made in developing the bilateral relationship between the UK and Iran. We welcomed Foreign Minister Zarif to London on 4 February 2016, in what was the first bilateral visit of an Iranian Foreign Minister since 2003. We look forward to the Business Secretary leading a trade delegation to Tehran in May, building on previous visits by Lord Maude and Transport Minister Robert Goodwill.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to other EU member states at the Council of the EU on cessation of Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance II funding to Turkey in 2014-20.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance funding is used to promote political reform and human rights, cut corruption and strengthen the rule of law and to bring Turkey – and other EU accession countries – up to EU standards, economically and politically. It has also been used to help Turkey respond to the migration crisis. It promotes cooperation on issues that matter to the UK, such as the rule of law, organised crime and migration. Improving the business environment in Turkey and other EU accession countries will lead to more commercial opportunities for British goods and investment.

    As the Prime Minister has made clear, Turkey’s EU accession is not remotely on the cards for many years to come.

    Turkey has to negotiate 35 different chapters. Since EU accession negotiations with Turkey started in 2005, only one chapter has been closed. Decisions to open chapters, to agree that conditions have been met and to close chapters all require the unanimous agreement of EU Member States. Once all chapter negotiations have been completed and closed, there must be another unanimous decision on accession. All 28 Member States then have to ratify an accession treaty, and the European Parliament has to approve the accession. Some EU Member States have already committed to undertake a referendum on Turkey’s accession to the EU. In the case of the UK, under the European Union Act 2011, ratification cannot take place without an Act of Parliament to approve the new accession. We can therefore ensure that our requirements are respected in any future EU enlargement.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are supporting victims of rape in Rwanda.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    DFID places the empowerment of girls and women at the heart of all its programmes in Rwanda spending £4.6 million over the four years 2014-2018 on a programme aimed specifically at combatting the triggers of gender based violence. The Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey reported a 6.7% decrease between 2010 and 2015 in the number of women experiencing physical violence.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to pharmacy funding on the availability of essential medicines.

    David Mowat

    The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, under the National Health Service Act 2006.

    Our assessments include consideration of the potential impacts on the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services, including the supply of medicines, access to NHS pharmaceutical services, supplementary hours, non-commissioned services, individuals with protected characteristics, impacts on other NHS services, health inequalities, individuals with restricted mobility and access to healthcare for deprived communities.

    An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

    Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.

    Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    We want a clinically focussed community pharmacy service that is better integrated with primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View. This will help relieve the pressure on general practitioners and accident and emergency departments, ensure better use of medicines and better patient outcomes, and contribute to delivering seven day health and care services.

    The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, Dr Keith Ridge has commissioned an independent review of community pharmacy clinical services. The review is being led by Richard Murray, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund. The final recommendations will be considered as part of the development of clinical and cost effective patient care by pharmacists and their teams.

    NHS England is also setting up a Pharmacy Integration Fund to support the development of clinical pharmacy practice in a wider range of primary care settings, resulting in a more integrated and effective NHS primary care patient pathway.

    The rollout of the additional 1,500 clinical pharmacists announced by NHS England will help to ease current pressures in general practice by working with patients who have long term conditions and others with multiple medications. Having a pharmacist on site will mean that patients who receive care from their general practice will be able to benefit from the expertise in medicines that these pharmacists provide.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects new rolling stock to be introduced on the forthcoming Transpennine Express franchise; and whether that rolling stock is planned to be diesel or electric powered.

    Andrew Jones

    Bids are currently being evaluated for the TransPennine Express (TPE) franchise and we expect to announce the winning bidder and its rolling stock plans by the end of the year. When the detailed plans for TransPennine electrification are confirmed, the Department will work with the TPE franchisee to ensure that the necessary rolling stock is put into place; this is expected to take place during the franchise term.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employees were identified as being paid less than the national minimum wage following HM Revenue and Customs enforcement activity in each of the last five years; and how many of those employees were compensated in full.

    Mr David Gauke

    In 2014/15, HM Revenue and Customs identified 735 incidences of non-compliance and issued penalties of £934,660. They recovered arrears for 26,318 workers.

    I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 218083 for numbers of workers for the previous years, to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on arrears, and to the answer provided to her at UIN 205613 with regard to penalties.

    I further refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 211605 for information on recovery of arrears.

  • Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review the effectiveness of the general power of competence.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Conservative led coalition Government gave a commitment that a post implementation review of the provisions of the Localism Act 2011, including the provisions relating to the general power of competence, would be undertaken within three to five years following implementation. We will honour that commitment.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees how many agency staff are employed by the House of Lords; and whether those staff are paid the London Living Wage.

    Lord Laming

    The House currently employs approximately 34 agency staff in each sitting week. The majority of these staff are deployed in Catering and Retail Services.

    The House of Lords is accredited by Citizens UK (CUK) as a London Living Wage Employer. The terms of its accreditation licence require that contractors and sub-contractors with dedicated staff who are based on parliamentary premises are paying those staff at least the London Living Wage.

    In accordance with the terms of the accreditation licence, all agency staff are paid at least the London Living Wage rate from day 1 of week 9 if they are working on parliamentary premises and employed for at least two hours of work in a week, for 8 consecutive weeks in a year.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to prevent family and legal visits being cancelled in prisons in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    Maintaining family ties, including through visits, plays a vital role in helping prisoners turn away from crime.

    All convicted prisoners are entitled to a minimum of two visits every 28 days and this has not changed since 1992. Extra visits can also be granted.

    The Public Sector Prisons benchmark provides prisons with a core day and staffing resource to deliver all required activities and services. Part of the benchmark provision is the delivery of social and legal visits and there is an expectation that these are critical activities which will not be cancelled.

  • Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the potential merits of the Children’s House model for children who are victims of abuse.

    Mike Penning

    This government has made tackling child abuse a priority. We set up the first ever cross-government Child Protection Taskforce to overhaul the way police, schools, social services and others work together in tackling this abhorrent crime. We have also invested an extra £100m to support vulnerable children and we are providing £7m for services supporting child abuse survivors.

    We have not had any ministerial discussions about the Children’s House model, but more widely the Government is committed to improving the experience of child witnesses in the criminal justice system. We have increased the number of intermediaries to support them to give their best evidence. In addition, vulnerable witnesses can give evidence away from the courtroom and away from the court building at remote sites set up nationally in each criminal justice region.