Category: Speeches

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Dan Rogerson

    The data in the table relates to staff in core Defra only.

    Financial year

    Percentage of staff who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings who have not declared their ethnicity

    Percentage of staff who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings who have declared themselves to be white British

    2009-10

    No dismissals

    No dismissals

    2010-11

    No dismissals

    No dismissals

    2011-12

    100%

    0%

    2012-13

    No dismissals

    No dismissals

    2013-14

    No dismissals

    No dismissals

    Employees declare their ethnicity and national identity on a voluntary basis.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what process the Government adopted to (a) identify and (b) select priority investors in the recent Royal Mail privatisation.

    Michael Fallon

    The process of investor engagement commenced 12 months prior to the Initial Public Offering (IPO). In the initial period, Royal Mail’s management met with over 60 high quality institutions to educate them about the business. During pilot fishing in early September 2013, the management team and the Government’s banking advisers engaged further with a focused group of 21 well-informed and longer-term investors. Initial indications of potential demand were received from this group; this gave the Government the confidence to proceed with announcing the Intention to Float on 12th September 2013.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of staff within her Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Karen Bradley

    Table 1 provides information on the proportion of staff within the Home
    Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of
    the last 4 financial years (2009-10 to 2012-13) and who were white. It is
    planned that information for 2013-14 will be published in January 2015.

    It has not been possible to provide information further broken down as white
    British staff as historical data is not collated in this way and could only be
    provided at disproportionate cost.

    Individuals can be dismissed for a variety of reasons (such as conduct,
    performance, or attendance). It is not possible to identify those dismissed
    following disciplinary proceedings without incurring disproportionate costs.

  • Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) men and (b) women in (i) Brigg and Goole constituency, (ii) Yorkshire and Humber and (iii) the UK have died from coronary heart disease in each of the last five years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

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

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are claiming (a) disability living allowance and (b) personal independence payment following an adverse effect to a medical procedure.

    Mike Penning

    No data on causation of a health condition or disability are collected for disability living allowance or personal independence payment.

  • David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to better protect the rights of private sector tenants from irresponsible landlords.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Government is committed to a better private rented sector that offers security, stability and decency. We are already changing the law to require all letting agents to join Government approved redress schemes which will allow tenants to seek compensation where they are the victims of bad practice, such as being charged hidden fees.

    To encourage greater understanding of tenants’ rights, we will shortly publish a new How to Rent guide for tenants. We are also developing a model tenancy agreement to help tenants achieve greater security of tenure when needed, and a code of practice on property management.

    The Government has provided £6.7 million to a number of local authorities to help them tackle rogue landlord activity.

    We are also encouraging local authorities to use their existing powers to improve standards. They already have wide powers to tackle rogue landlord activity and poor property conditions and to encourage their use.

    Through the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 the current £5,000 cap on fines for certain housing and planning offences will be removed and rogue landlords will be liable to potentially unlimited fines. Where the fine is currently capped at less than £5,000, the maximum fine will be quadrupled

    Finally, we published a discussion document on 24 February, inviting views on how property conditions in the private rented sector could be improved. Closing date for comments was 28 March. We are now considering the proposals we have received. We will announce the outcome of our review in the summer.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making on their consideration of (1) protection of metadata, (2) remedies against lookalikes, and (3) equalisation of penalties for physical and digital copyright infringement.

    Viscount Younger of Leckie

    (1) The issue of protection of metadata was considered as part of the industry-led Copyright Hub project, to which the Government contributed initial funding. This involved key players seeking cross-industry agreement to help keep metadata with copyright works and resulted in the publication of a voluntary Code of Practice on Creating and Maintaining Metadata in Images. It is clearly important for industry to take up that code of practice, before Government could consider whether or not any further action may be appropriate.

    (2) The Government is considering the case for granting a civil right of action to business against lookalike packaging, for which it launched a review of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs). The Review commenced this spring, and the initial call for evidence closed on 19 May. The Government is keen to continue engaging with stakeholders on this issue; a structured roundtable has been scheduled for 14 July. The final report is expected to be published in October.

    (3) The Intellectual Property Office has commissioned Inngot Ltd to carry out a review of the use of copyright infringement sanctions. The review has commenced and is expected to report in November. Data gathering for copyright infringement sentencing is already underway, with a broad range of industry stakeholders being consulted including trade bodies; IP rights owners and IP legal professionals. The Government will consider what further action is needed once the final report has been published.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 221W, how many three and four year olds in each parliamentary constituency are accessing the free early years entitlement outside of reception classes.

    Elizabeth Truss

    This information is provided in the accompanying table, which will also be placed in the House Library.

  • Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any cost-benefit analysis of the reduction of carbon monoxide emissions as a result of the planned HS2 high-speed rail link.

    Baroness Kramer

    The Government has not made any cost-benefit analysis of the impact of HS2 on carbon monoxide emissions.

    The HS2 Economic Case quantifies the impact of HS2 on non-traded direct Greenhouse Gas emissions (which include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) resulting from changes in petrol/diesel use from road and rail passenger transport as a result of HS2. This analysis estimates that the full HS2 Y-Network generates benefits of £101 million (2011 prices, NPV) from reduced non-traded Greenhouse Gas emissions.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on (a) the trial in Bahrain of Mohammed Abdulla Al-Tajer and (b) his treatment in custody.

    Hugh Robertson

    We are aware of the case of Mohammad Al-Tajer. We understand he spent four months in detention in 2011 before his case was moved from the National State Safety Court to the civilian courts, as recommended by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, where he was sentenced to one month in prison. We understand that he appealed the verdict and was acquitted by the High Appeal Civilian court. We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to meet all of its human rights obligations, and adhere to international standards.