Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in African countries about numbers of (a) elephants, (b) rhinoceroses and (c) lions in those countries.

    George Eustice

    The London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, which the Government hosted on 12-13 February, brought together 42 countries, including four Presidents of African states, to discuss the decline in numbers of elephants, rhino and other species affected by the scourge of the illegal trade in wildlife. Conference participants agreed an ambitious political declaration, containing 25 practical commitments to action that will help to eradicate the demand for wildlife products, strengthen law enforcement and support the development of sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by wildlife crime.

    Prior to the Conference, my colleague Lord de Mauley represented the UK Government at the African Elephant Summit in Botswana on 2 to 4 December 2014. This was attended by numerous government ministers from across Africa and the status of the African elephant at a continental level was discussed. During the summit, Lord de Mauley held bilateral discussions on illegal wildlife trade issues with the President of Botswana. Separately, he met with the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa, to discuss the crisis facing African wildlife affected by poaching and illegal trade. The Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, also had discussions about the effects of the illegal wildlife trade on numbers of key species with the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources, Professor Judy Wakhungu, during a visit to Kenya in November 2013.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-12.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, columns 509-10W, on electoral registration, whether his Department provides funding to Bite the Ballot to increase voter registration.

    Greg Clark

    It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence under section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where the offence committed corresponds to an offence which would lead to automatic inclusion in the children’s barred list, with the right to make representations, under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 in each of the last four years.

    Damian Green

    Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. It is not possible to separately identify findings of guilt for sexual offences committed outside England and Wales from those committed within England and Wales. This information could only be obtained from the individual courts at disproportionate cost.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2014, Official Report, column 401W, on mental health services, whether the Mental Health Intelligence Network has been established.

    Norman Lamb

    The Mental Health Intelligence Network has been established and is due to launch its web resource and a supporting suite of indicator tools and supporting resources on 18 June 2014.

    The key aim is to provide intelligence to enable better service commissioning and to support service improvement to facilitate the delivery of consistent country-wide best practice care.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, columns 622-3W, on the Electoral Register: fraud, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of concern about electoral fraud in the UK and other EU countries.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it regularly monitors comparative international research on electoral matters. Comparing the UK with other countries around the world, Gallup polls place the UK in the top third of countries in terms of confidence in the honesty of the electoral process.

    The most recently available Gallup data from 2007-08, showed that 40% of UK respondents said they did not have confidence in the honesty of elections in the UK. This was slightly lower than the findings from Germany (44%) and Italy (43%), but significantly higher than those from Denmark (5%), Finland (8%) and Sweden (8%).

    Full findings are at the following link:

    http://www.gallup.com/poll/111691/Worldwide-Views-Diverge-About-Honesty-Elections.aspx

    “

  • Mark Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities in the UK maintain a register of accessible or adapted homes; and what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on registers of accessible housing.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Department does not hold this information.

    The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities are able to access suitable accommodation which meets their needs.

    Accessible housing registers can be useful and we are aware that some councils and social landlords have incorporated such an approach within their lettings scheme.

    The Government believes it is more important that people who require accessible housing are given the right level of priority under a council’s housing allocation scheme, and that councils and social landlords are able to make the best use of affordable housing in their area, including accommodation which is accessible or has been adapted.

    That is why, through the Localism Act, we have retained the statutory reasonable preference requirements which ensure that priority for social housing is given to those who need to move on medical and welfare grounds (including grounds relating to a disability). We have also made sure that council and housing association landlords have the flexibility to use their social housing stock in a way which best meets the needs of individual households and their local area.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have been given a prognosis that engagement in work is unlikely in the longer term have been placed in the work-related activity group for employment and support allowance since October 2008.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested is shown in the table below:

    Outcomes of functional assessments by prognosis of 2 years or more for the ESA work-related activity group, Great Britain: October 2008 – September 2013

    WRAG: Claimants with a prognosis of 2 years or more

    New Claims – Initial assessment

    11,800

    New Claims – Repeat assessment

    19,700

    Incapacity Benefit Reassessments

    73,100

    Source: Data in the tables above is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare.

    Notes:

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

    2. The outcome recorded is the final DWP Decision Maker’s decision or the recommendation made by the Atos Healthcare Professional where the Decision Maker’s decision is not yet available.

    3. The data presented above comes from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. It related to new and repeat ESA claims and Incapacity Benefit (IB) claims reassessments. In October 2008, ESA replaced IB for new claims. Starting with a trial in October 2010, and reaching a full scale national roll-out in April 2011, existing IB claims began to be phased out, with claimants reassessed to see if they qualify for ESA instead.

    The reassessment of existing incapacity benefits claimants started in October 2010 with a trial in the Burnley and Aberdeen areas. These are included in the table.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of patients with cancer of the unknown primary first presenting at accident and emergency.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England expects that the treatment and care for patients with Cancer of Unknown Primary reflects patients’ needs and preferences and that services are provided taking into account National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

    Public Health England leads on developing a public health strategy for England which aims to tackle ‘upstream’ factors to reduce risks from cancer caused by tobacco, alcohol and obesity and to promote health through improved diets and exercise promotion. The National Health Service has a key role to play in supporting local authorities by commissioning smoking cessation services, specialist alcohol services, as well as through raising awareness of lifestyle risks with people who are in contact with NHS services and providing intensive support where needed.

    Alongside supporting Public Health England to increase symptom awareness amongst the general population, NHS England is also working to increase cancer symptom awareness amongst healthcare professionals, and to provide support to general practitioners in early diagnosis.

    In 2013-14 NHS England made £2.3 million available to support improved symptom awareness and early diagnosis. The majority of this funding was provided to strategic clinical networks which have the function of coordinating a more strategic approach to the development of cancer commissioning and provision in England. They also support early diagnosis through delivery of transparent data about performance in outcomes. For example, new indicators on stage of diagnosis of cancer and diagnosis through emergency routes are being introduced as part of the clinical commissioning group (CCG) outcomes indicator set in 2014-15. This will support CCGs to understand how their local communities are performing in relation to cancer outcomes.

  • Stephen Gilbert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Gilbert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gilbert on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were temporarily exempt from the benefit cap due to their housing benefit being reduced were in temporary accommodation between April 2013 and January 2014.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available. People whose housing benefit entitlement is reduced such that their overall benefit falls below the cap threshold are not subject to the cap.

  • Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to European governments to secure as quickly as possible restitution for British citizens who had assets seized by the Nazis.

    Mr David Lidington

    I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 30 January 2014, Official Report, column 689W. Since January, the British Government has engaged at Ministerial or official level with the Germans, Poles and Russians on restitution and looted art.