Category: Speeches

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

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to respond to the report by 4Children Britain’s Families Thriving or Striving?, and in particular the surveyed views of young people aged 16–24 that they wanted more political education in schools.

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum includes an improved programme of study for citizenship education at key stages 3 and 4. The programme of study is designed to prepare pupils to play a full and active part in society and fosters political awareness. In citizenship lessons, pupils learn about democracy, government, and how laws are made and upheld. These lessons should equip pupils to explore political and social issues critically, to weigh evidence, to debate, and to make reasoned arguments.

    In partnership with youth organisations, the Cabinet Office has published a collection of democratic engagement learning resources developed in partnership with organisations such as UK Youth and Scottish Youth Parliament. They are designed to enable different groups, including young people and students, to discuss the importance of democratic participation and registering to vote. These learning resources, such as Rock Enrol!, are available to download for free and can be used in schools to encourage young people to participate in democracy and register to vote.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 February (HL5864), whether the term UK troops includes members of 13 Squadron, based at RAF Waddington, and of 39 Squadron, based at Creech Air Force Base in the US.

    Earl Howe

    This Government has demonstrated its commitment to the war powers convention by its willingness to hold Parliamentary debates in relation to air strikes in Iraq and Syria in 2013, 2014 and 2015. However, we have no intention of defining the precise circumstances, including the identity of specific military units, capabilities or types of operation, under which we might be obliged to act first and to notify Parliament afterwards, in order to avoid presenting our adversaries with opportunities to exploit that definition against the UK or our interests.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of in work personal independence payment (PIP) claimants who will no longer be able to work as a result of his Department’s proposed changes to PIP aids and appliances points.

    Justin Tomlinson

    As confirmed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in his statement to the House on 21 March, the proposed changes to PIP will not be going ahead.

    We spend around £50bn every year on benefits alone to support people with disabilities or health conditions, with spending on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) having increased by more than £3 billion since 2010. The government is committed to talking to disabled people, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers to ensure the welfare system works better with the health and social care systems and provides help and support to those who need it most.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Pensions Regulator will appoint an investment bank and retail consultancy to support its investigation into the events preceding BHS going into administration.

    Baroness Altmann

    Parliament gave the Pensions Regulator independence in how it operates. It is for the Regulator to determine how it wishes to undertake any investigation into matters relating to the BHS pension scheme.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to enable environmental health officers to assess excessive noise in a neighbourhood on a daily basis.

    Rory Stewart

    Local authorities have a range of powers available to them to assess excessive noise from residential and commercial properties. These are set out in various pieces of legislation, including the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Noise Act 1996.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights record of the government of Bangladesh; and if he will make a statement.

    Alok Sharma

    As I said during the adjournment debate on Bangladesh on 8 September, we are concerned about the protection of human rights in Bangladesh. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office named Bangladesh as one of 30 Human Rights Priority Countries in its 2015 report. The report cited the confrontational actions of the two main political parties, extremist attacks against secular writers and religious minorities and pressure on free speech, plus continued use of the death penalty as particular areas of concern.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the average length of time people going through the National Referral Mechanism remain supported by the Salvation Army following a Reasonable Grounds decision, in each fiscal year since 2009-10.

    Sarah Newton

    This information has been provided by the Salvation Army.

    YEAR, JULY-JUNE

    AVE. SUPPORT PERIOD, DAYS

    2011-2012

    91

    2012-2013

    115

    2013-2014

    80

    2014-2015

    130

    2015-2016

    129

    This data only includes individuals who have received a Conclusive Grounds decision and have exited support.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UN Security Council decisions on Women, Peace and Security, whether they have made representations to the UN that future peace conferences or peace negotiations on the situation in Syria should include a direct role for Syrian women’s groups.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The second meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Vienna on 14 November agreed an outline timetable for Syrian peace negotiations, leading to transitional governance, a new constitution and elections within eighteen months. The International Syria Support Group will now meet on a regular basis, in parallel with Syrian-led discussions facilitated by UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan De Mistura, to take forward this process.

    Ministers and senior officials have made regular representations to the UN Special Envoy and other UN officials to impress upon them the importance of the inclusion of Syrian women’s groups in the peace process. We continue to encourage the moderate Syrian opposition to be gender-inclusive and were pleased that a senior female activist accompanied the Syrian National Coalition President, Khaled Khoja, on his official visit to the UK earlier this month. Our programmes of support to grass roots peace-building initiatives and civil society groups inside Syria support this objective, and are designed to ensure that Syrian women’s voices are heard and that they are represented in political negotiations.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the change in the proportion of the working age population employed by the public sector in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland between 2010 and 2015.

    Mr Rob Wilson

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

  • Baroness Coussins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Coussins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Coussins on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to the campaign by Public Health England and various cancer charities to raise awareness of bladder cancer.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The “Blood in Pee” campaign focuses on early symptoms of bladder and kidney cancer. The campaign has run twice at a national level from 15 October to 20 November 2013 and 13 October to 23 November 2014, following successful local and regional pilots and will be re-running from 15 February to 31 March 2016. The campaign will use a wide range of media, including national television and radio advertising, to promote the key message “If you notice blood in your pee, even if it’s just the once, tell your doctor”.

    Public Health England (PHE) works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are also targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals. PHE also works closely with the devolved administrations to ensure consistency of messages on their own campaigns and initiatives.

    The Department notifies key stakeholders including charities about forthcoming campaigns and has engaged with relevant charities to review the campaign leaflet and source case studies for the bladder and kidney campaign. A copy of the leaflet has been attached

    Information for the general public will be available on NHS Choices. This is an online only resource.