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Category: Speeches

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether there is a correlation between staffing levels on trains and stations and the number of reported sexual offences on trains and in stations.

    Claire Perry

    The Government considers the safety of passengers on the railway to be of paramount importance and is committed to reducing crime, anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime wherever it occurs in the transport system. The Department for Transport does not hold any information on whether there is a correlation between staffing levels on trains and stations and the number of reported sexual offences.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for packing and selling beef and poultry with an unknown origin in each of the last three years.

    Jane Ellison

    Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

    Data are reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food and drink analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues:

    23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

    29,324 analyses were undertaken in 2013/14, 19,386 for compositional issues and 9,938 for labelling and presentation issues.

    26,940 analyses were undertaken in 2012/13, 16,982 for compositional issues and 9,958 for labelling and presentation issues.

    Data are also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13 respectively, 75, 57 and 78 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

    The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Analysis of data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths have been caused by air pollution in each of the last 10 years.

    Chris Skidmore

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

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Parkinson’s disease have been transferred from long-term disability living allowance to personal independence payment in the last three years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    As at February 2016 (the latest data available), I estimate there were about 4,600 working age people in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) whose main disabling condition is recorded as Parkinson’s disease on the DLA computer systems, and who will be invited to apply for Personal Independence Payment in the future, or may have been invited to claim within the past 6 months.

    As at July 2016, there were 1,300 claimants in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who have been reassessed in the last three years, having previously been in receipt of DLA, and whose main disabling condition is recorded as Parkinson’s disease or Parkinson’s syndrome on the PIP computer systems.

    The length of a PIP award is based on an individual’s circumstances. For some of the most severely disabled claimants, a review could be as long as ten years after the initial award, at which point only a light-touch review, rather than a face-to-face assessment, will be necessary.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data his Department collects on the (a) demographics, (b) pension pot size and (c) decisions taken after the consultation of people accessing the Pension Wise service.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The government committed to providing free, impartial guidance through Pension Wise, to help people make informed and confident decisions about how they use their defined contribution pension savings in retirement. It is available online, via the telephone and face to face. As of 29 October 2015, there were over 20,000 completed appointments for face to face guidance and 9,000 completed appointments for telephone guidance as well as over 1.7 million visits to the website.

    Pension Wise runs exit surveys of those who have completed an appointment It is not mandatory for a user to complete an exit survey. The government is committed to being open and transparent with Pension Wise data and will be making core data readily available by placing it on the government performance platform this autumn. The data will be in the public domain and updated regularly. HM Treasury is working with Pension Wise delivery partners to provide the level of detail that we require for reporting purposes.

    The Financial Conduct Authority, in line with its remit to protect consumers and ensure markets function in consumers’ interests, is monitoring developments in the retirement income market closely and has committed to take action where consumers are coming to harm or where the market is not operating competitively.

    The government recognises that people may wish to consult different sources of information before reaching a decision about their retirement income. In addition to Pension Wise, The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) provides independent, impartial information and guidance about pensions, free of charge, to members of the public. The Money Advice Service also provides free and unbiased information and guidance on all money matters.

    A number of pension providers offer financial guidance. Individuals can also access regulated advice from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority are jointly considering how financial advice could be made more accessible and affordable for consumers through the Financial Advice Market Review.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Muslim women reported being the victim of abuse or hate crime in each police authority area in England and Wales in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015; and how many such reports (i) have been investigated, (b) resulted in prosecution and (c) resulted in a conviction.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold the requested information. While the Home Office collects information on the number of recorded hate crimes by police force area, we cannot tell from these data the religion or the sex of the victim.

    The Home Office does not hold information on prosecutions; these figures are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

    I refer the Right Honourable Member to my answer of 3 November in response to question 13254. In the future, we intend to collect a breakdown of religion-based hate crime data from the police to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on collection and publication of data on mortality rates of over 75s in mental health trusts.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department’s ministers and officials meet with representatives of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues, including mental health.

    Currently, the CQC monitors various aspects of the mortality rate for over 75s. This age threshold was applied to take account of age within the analysis of indicators which relate to deaths that may have resulted from physical health problems, given that deaths due to natural causes are likely to increase with age.

    The CQC are planning further work in 2016 to develop its approach to monitoring mortality among people in contact with trusts that provide mental health services.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much real estate the Government owns in Plymouth.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government owns the following properties in Plymouth:

    • Buildings : 8 Freeholds, 21 leaseholds and 8 Private Finance Initiatives
    • Land: 7 freeholds and 4 leaseholds

    Details available at the following website: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/epims.

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for how long HM Revenue and Customs is required to keep records on individual tax credit cases.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) retains records of tax credit claims for the tax year of the claim plus five years.

    The length of time HMRC is required to retain other tax credit records is depends on the type of record retained. Retention periods for individual documents can be found at:

    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tcmanual/tcm0322580.htm

    “

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider providing funding to the Women’s League of Burma and its members to support ongoing work documenting cases of rape and providing support for victims of sexual violence.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK has previously provided funding support to the Women’s League of Burma, including towards the publication of some of their research into sexual violence in Burma. The organisation is invited to contact our Embassy in Rangoon directly if they have specific requests for future support.