Category: Speeches

  • Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the effect of the Government’s welfare programme on social and economic inequalities in Scotland.

    David Mundell

    We have fully assessed the impacts on equality of the measures in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill and the wider budget, meeting our obligations as set out in the Public Sector Equality Duty. The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Bill on 20 July.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of rough sleeping in town centres on the use of town centres by the general public.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. But one person without a home is one too many, which is why we are maintaining homelessness funding over this Spending Review period, building on our significant investment since 2010. We will increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We have also protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.

    It is for local authorities to determine what homelessness services are required to best meet the needs of their local area, including provision of suitable accommodation. More rough sleepers are being found and helped quicker thanks to our investment in StreetLink, which gives the public a means to act when they see someone sleeping rough. Since the launch of StreetLink in December 2012, over 16,000 rough sleepers have been found and connected with local services so that they can get the help that they need to get them off the streets. We are committed to do more to improve services for homeless people with complex needs. Building on London’s approach of using social investment to improve outcomes for rough sleepers, we will be setting up a new Social Impact BondFund to help the most complex and entrenched rough sleepers.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Leader of the House, further to the Written Answer by Lord Dunlop on 9 February (HL5480), what discussion she has had with the Northern Ireland Office about answering parliamentary written questions in full.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    As Leader of the House, I regularly stress to departments the importance of giving full and timely answers to Questions for Written Answer. The content of each answer is a matter for the Minister concerned, and each Minister is responsible to the House for the answers they provide. That direct accountability is important: that is why Ministers in this House must provide personally signed answers to members.

    The Ministerial Code says that “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament”. It also makes clear that “Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest”. In addition, there is a longstanding rule of this House that all answers should be complete and comprehensible. I shall continue to make this guidance clear to all Ministers.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will now consider acknowledging mass atrocity prevention or the prevention of identity-based mass violence to be a matter of national interest and a national priority.

    James Duddridge

    The UK continues to be strongly committed to early and effective international action to prevent mass atrocities. The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 underlined the importance the Government attaches to upholding international humanitarian law and to the prevention of mass atrocities through effective implementation of the UN agreed principle of the Responsibility to Protect.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how prison officers were informed of changes to their pensions following the transfer from Classic to the Alpha Scheme; and how those changes affected the employment contracts of such prison officers.

    Andrew Selous

    During the consultation period with The Pension Scheme Executive in the Cabinet Office, the Prison Officers Association (POA) published various bulletins and communications confirming the change in pension arrangements. Additionally NOMS HR circulated communications through their internal Intranet system which is available to all staff. The intranet article directed staff to the Civil Service Pension website which held the details about the pension changes being introduced. Cabinet Office issued letters to all staff informing them of the pension changes. NOMS policy is to not issue new employment contracts or variations for routine legislation changes.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the Health and Work Innovation Fund his Department plans to allocate to programmes for people with arthritis.

    Justin Tomlinson

    At the spending review, the Work and Health Unit secured £115m of funding, including at least £40m for a Work and Health innovation fund.

    The Work and Health Innovation Fund will trial new ways to help working age disabled people and people with health conditions get in, stay in, and return to work as well as benefit from improved health outcomes. This will include support for people with musculoskeletal conditions, including arthritis.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what reductions they aim to achieve in rates of (1) stillbirths, (2) neonatal deaths, and (3) brain injuries, in (a) single pregnancies, and (b) multiple pregnancies, by 2030.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In November 2015, the Secretary of State announced a national ambition to halve the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth by 2030. This ambition applies to both single and multiple pregnancies.

    The Department will publish an annual report on the progress towards achieving this aim and will include information on twins and multiple births. The first report will be published later this year.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department holds on the average length of time between obtaining the first medical practitioner’s signature and the second medical practitioner’s signature for an abortion HSA1 form.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Comprehensive and comparable data is not collected centrally on waiting times for abortions performed in both the National Health Service and independent sector. Information on the average time between the two medical practitioners’ signatures is also not collected centrally.

    Because of the way information is stored the number of places where abortions took place in England and Wales is only available from 2013 to 2015 and is shown in the table below. All independent sector places perform abortions under contract from the NHS (previously known as NHS agency).

    Table: The number of clinics at which abortions took place, by clinic type, England and Wales 2013 to 2015

    Year

    Total number of clinics

    NHS Hospital

    Independent Sector

    Private Hospital

    2013

    348

    234

    97

    16

    2014

    354

    223

    117

    14

    2015

    385

    220

    151

    14

    “

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will discuss with (a) EU partners and (b) the World Food Programme to ensure food supplies to people affected by the famine in Ethiopia.

    Grant Shapps

    We are extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has shown great strides in development but remains fragile in the face of extreme climate events such as El Nino. The Government of Ethiopia is fully engaged and prioritising efforts to address the needs, having spent many years building up crisis response systems. The international community is working in support of the Government and the UK along with the EU, is one of the leading donors to the response. We are in daily contact with the World Food Programme (WFP) which is delivering supplies to people affected in support of the Government. A joint Government-UN assessment has just taken place and we are also assessing that food supplies reach those affected. We have also recently provided additional funding to WFP’s relief programme.

    DFID’s Permanent Secretary Mark Lowcock visited Ethiopia from 9-12 November, and discussed the situation with senior members of the Ethiopian Government and partners. We are urging others to do more to support the Government response to the crisis.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people are classified as long-term unemployed in the East Dorset District Council area.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.