Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to instruct the various investigative and regulatory authorities to give priority to suspect deposits, in particular laundered money and investments, originating from Russia and Ukraine.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Government is committed to tackling money laundering and ensuring that the UK is a hostile place for the proceeds of corruption.

    Prior to EU sanctions being agreed, the Treasury contacted anti-money laundering supervisors suggesting that they emphasise the increased risk in relation to Ukraine to their firms and remind them of the need to have appropriate systems and controls for due diligence, ongoing monitoring and reporting of suspicious transactions.

    It is not possible to comment on specific operational matters.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 469W, on Secure Colleges: Leicestershire, what steps have been taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the cohort.

    Jeremy Wright

    The requirements set out within the tender for the design and build of the Secure College pathfinder took into account departmental experience of providing safe custodial environments. The initial design for the Secure College pathfinder was evaluated against these requirements as well as design, operation and security considerations.

    The Ministry of Justice will be working with Wates, the preferred design and build bidder, over the coming months to refine the initial design. This will include ensuring that different groups of young people can be accommodated discretely, if needed, within the site.

    The safety and wellbeing of young people is central to all plans for the design and operation of the Secure College pathfinder.

  • Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of death sentences handed down so far during 2014 in Egypt; and whether they have discussed the issue with the government of Egypt.

    Baroness Warsi

    The British Government is aware of 559 people who have been sentenced to death in Egypt during 2014, including 529 by a court in Minya on 24 March. We are deeply concerned by these sentences. We have raised this issue with the Egyptian government, most recently during the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague)’s meeting with Foreign Minister Fahmy on 2 April. The Foreign Secretary asked the Egyptian government to review these sentences as a matter of urgency and to ensure that the individuals’ human and legal rights were properly upheld. The Foreign Secretary also made a statement on 24 March in which he expressed his concern over the sentences.

    It is the long-standing policy of the British Government to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances.

  • 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 2014-06-18.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which wards, in which town, county and constituency had a postal vote turnout greater than 90 per cent at the last General Election.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission does not hold the data requested at ward level.

    The Commission collects electoral data at each set of polls. In nearly all cases this is collected down to the level of individual contests, which means that it only holds ward level data for local elections.

  • 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 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what safeguards were (a) sought and (b) put in place to ensure that priority investors would continue to invest over a longer period of time in respect of the privatisation of Royal Mail.

    Michael Fallon

    More than 500 would-be investors in Royal Mail were approached in the lead up to the sale including potential long term institutional investors.

    As is standard practice for any flotation, we did not seek to lock in any investors in as they would have paid less for a stock they could not trade.

    We understand that the majority of the shares, other than those owned by government, the Royal Mail workforce and retail investors, are currently held by long term institutional investors.

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the contracts for personal independence payments assessments were awarded to Atos and Capita; and how many applications they were forecast to have processed by (a) March 2014 and (b) March 2015.

    Mike Penning

    The start date for both ATOS and Capita contracts was the 31st July 2012.

    No forecast figures are available for numbers of applications processed.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his policy to encourage civil servants to use video conferencing in order to reduce costs; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Yes. Video conferencing can be used to reduce costs but specialist equipment can be required. Officials and ministers also make use of telephone conferencing.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what contingency arrangements have been put in place by the Department’s Child Maintenance Group to ensure that the Child Maintenance Options Service answers all calls promptly and there is a good service; and how often those contingency arrangements were invoked in the last year.

    Steve Webb

    The Child Maintenance Options service has an effective business continuity plan in place, which includes the ability to divert calls to other trained colleagues and deploy a variety of telephony-based solutions such as Interactive Voice Response.

    There were around eight occasions in which contingency measures had to be used in the last year for reasons including brief local power outages, activation of the fire alarm system and occasions where call demands exceeded forecasted volumes.

    Steps have been taken to prevent or minimise any reoccurrence of these events, including the installation of an uninterrupted power supply and better forecasting as we fully establish the impact of recent changes such as the use of Child Maintenance Options as a mandatory gateway to the statutory scheme.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-04-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidelines exist for the sale of assets and land belonging to HM Revenue and Customs.

    Mr David Gauke

    The guidelines for the sales of assets and land belonging to HM Revenue and Customs are contained in “Managing Public Money” published by HM Treasury.

  • Andrew Turner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Turner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he has taken to support small and micro-businesses in creating new jobs.

    Nicky Morgan

    Support for small and micro businesses is part of the Government’s long term economic plan to back business and create jobs. From April this year, businesses can access a £2000 Employment Allowance. Over 90% of the benefit of this allowance will go to small businesses – reducing the cost of creating new jobs.

    In addition, from April 2015 we will abolish employer NICs for all under 21 year olds making it cheaper for businesses to employ young people.