Category: Speeches

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Libyan refugees currently residing in Tunisia.

    Baroness Verma

    Since 2014, UNHCR has co-ordinated inter-agency efforts to prepare for a possible influx of refugees and asylum-seekers from Libya, at the request of the Tunisian government and in close cooperation with UN agencies and partners. Its most recent assessment reported that there were 928 people of concern residing in Tunisia, mostly from Syria.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 27438, on children: maintenance, on what basis those cases have been referred for arrears cleansing or validation.

    Priti Patel

    Cases on the 1993 and 2003 are being selected for closure in groups determined by case characteristics. This process started in July 2014 and is planned to last until the end of 2017. When a case going through this process has its on-going maintenance liability ended, it is then referred for “arrears cleanse”. This process involves checking several elements of the case, to ensure that the final debt balance is stable and validated. This validated debt balance is moved to the 2012 system

  • Lord Farmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Farmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Farmer on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent on Children’s Centres since June 2010, (1) in total, and (2) in each financial year.

    Lord Nash

    Between April 2010 and March 2015 the total spent on children’s centres was £5.2 bn.

    Local authorities must meet their statutory duties on children’s centres from funding that currently forms part of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Business Rates Retention Scheme.

    Since April 2010, local authorities have reported spending on children’s centres through an annual return to the Department of Education (Section 251 returns; available on GOV.UK).

    There will be variation in the way local authorities deliver their services, which may not be captured in within this data. In addition, other government funding, including that for public health, adult skills training and troubled families may also be used locally to support services delivered wholly, or in part, through children’s centres again this will not be included in this data.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what coastguard personnel responded to the incident off Portobello beach in Edinburgh in the early hours of 15 May 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) from Fisherrow and Queensferry were tasked to respond to the incident off Portobello beach in Edinburgh in the early hours of 15 May 2016.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department’s press release of 11 August 2016, entitled Largest ever list of National Minimum Wage offenders published, how much additional money declared by each social care employer which was identified in that press release was owed to its workforce after the use of HM Revenue and Customs’ self-correction process.

    Margot James

    Employers who self-correct arrears owed to workers are not named for any additional arrears identified. Due to the small number of cases involved, publishing aggregate self-correction data could allow individual employers to be identified, and would amount to naming them for a second time.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the Government’s strategy is for nursery schools.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Maintained nursery schools make a very important contribution to social mobility as a result of their being primarily based in deprived areas. That is why, as we introduce new funding arrangements in the early years, we are providing local authorities with supplementary funding of £55 milion a year for maintained nursery schools for at least two years to maintain their stability. This maintains their current funding, and is part of our record investment in childcare – £6 billion per year by 2020. We will work in partnership with providers and consult the sector, including on what happens after this period, in due course.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to encourage more teachers with qualifications in English and mathematics to take up posts in further education colleges.

    Nick Boles

    Our Further Education Workforce Strategy[1] published in 2014 sets out the steps government has already taken to encourage more teachers with qualifications in English and Mathematics to take up posts in further education colleges.

    Since 2013, bursaries of up to £25,000 have been available to attract new graduates with relevant degrees to teach English and Mathematics, and to specialise in teaching students with SEN within the FE sector. To date, over 950 bursaries have been provided to graduates. The government is committed to supporting the development of the teaching workforce in FE and has invested over £30m since 2013 to fund a range of programmes and incentives to improve the quality of leadership, teaching and support staff in the sector – with a priority on English and Maths.

    Furthermore, 3,800 existing FE teachers have benefited from enhancement programmes designed to improve teacher confidence and knowledge of new GCSE English and Maths qualifications.

    Further information on Further Education teacher training can be found in the ‘Get into Teaching’ website[2] and FE advice websites[3].

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-workforce-strategy

    [2]https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/

    [3] https://www.feadvice.org.uk/

    “

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Dunlop on 25 November (HL3646), on what dates over the last 24 months the government of the Republic of Ireland attended in any capacity meetings held under section 1 of the 1998 Belfast Agreement; where the meetings were held; and what was discussed.

    Lord Dunlop

    The Government has held regular meetings with the Irish Government over the last two years. The Irish Government has not been in any negotiations or been involved in discussions about Strand one issues under the Belfast Agreement. As the Government set out in its Northern Ireland manifesto at the election, we are committed to upholding the well-established three-stranded approach.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many IT contractors were employed by HM Revenue and Customs on a self-employed basis in 2015.

    Mr David Gauke

    There were no IT contractors employed on a self-employed basis in 2015.

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in providing alternatives to Operation Stack in Kent in the event of further serious disruption to the operation of the channel ferries or the Channel Tunnel.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has listened to the communities and businesses of Kent and taken action to deal with the causes and effects of Operation Stack. In Autumn Statement 2015, the Chancellor announced up to £250m for an off-road lorry area.

    Highways England completed a public consultation on proposals on 26 January 2016 and is now carefully assessing all the responses. Subject to the outcome of this assessment, the Government intends to make public its next steps shortly.

    As an interim measure, the Government secured the use of a site at Manston in North Kent last summer. The Department for Transport and Highways England continue to work with Kent partners, including the county and district councils, emergency services, hauliers and ports to reduce the impact of Operation Stack on Kent should it need to be implemented.