Category: Speeches

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what salary the Chair of NHS Property Services receives for (a) that role and (b) his other roles in the Department of Health and the NHS; and for what hours he is contracted to work in each of his roles.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    Mr Robin Williams holds the following positions within Department/National Health Service organisations:

    Chair of NHS Property Services Limited (NHS PS)

    He receives a directors’ fee of £60,000 per annum, less any tax and/or National Insurance contributions payable monthly in arrears for this role. He is required to devote 10 days a month to this role. He was appointed in April 2014.

    Non-Executive Chair of NHS Professionals Limited (NHSP)

    He receives a directors’ fee of £60,000 per annum, less any tax and or National Insurance contribution payable monthly in arrears for this role. He is required to devote 8 days a month to this role. He was appointed in January 2010.

    The workload on both posts is such that the time commitment is the monthly average over the year. On his appointment to NHS PS, he formally confirmed his other commitments did not prevent him fulfilling his contractual obligations to NHSP.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-03-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the value of the financial settlement paid to the Department for Work and Pensions by Atos upon their withdrawal from the Work Capability Assessment Scheme.

    Lord Freud

    Information regarding the financial settlement between the Department and Atos Healthcare for early exit from the contract to deliver Work Capability Assessments is commercial in confidence.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what consultation he has had with local authorities about the extension of fines to letting agents who fail to publish their fees tariff in full.

    Kris Hopkins

    Requiring letting agents to be transparent about their fees will prevent the small minority of rogue agents from imposing unreasonable, hidden charges. This common sense approach avoids excessive state regulation which would just push up rents for tenants. This and mandatory membership of redress schemes will give local authorities the tools they need to weed out the cowboys that give agents a bad name; and drive up standards.

    We have not received particular representations from local authorities on this issue. We will undertake a New Burdens assessment in due course in the usual way.

  • Lord Boateng – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Boateng – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2014-03-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Lord Chancellor or any Minister in his Department last met the chief executive officer of the Legal Aid Agency; and whether they discussed (1) the issue of publicly funded representation at inquests for the families of deceased victims, and (2) the provision for publicly funded representation at the inquest of the family of Cherry Groce.

    Lord Faulks

    The Chief Executive of the Legal Aid Agency has regular meetings with ministers at the Ministry of Justice.

    Following a review of its decision in the Groce family’s case, the Legal Aid Agency made a funding request to Ministers. Ministers have considered the request and have granted funding.
  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what performance indicators for the renewal of existing passports have been met by each passport office administrative centre.

    James Brokenshire

    Straightforward passport applications from applicants in the UK have a published expected turnaround of three weeks. For the financial year 2013-14,
    99.58 percent of customers received their passports within that period.

    Achievement of turnaround times is a national objective and specific targets are not focused on individual offices. This approach allows HM Passport Office
    to channel resources and distribute applications to meet capacity.

  • Mr Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mr Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gareth Thomas on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to encourage the Government Procurement Service to adopt (a) UN Global Compact and (b) ILO standards; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    This Government’s procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of value for money, which means the optimum combination of cost and quality over the lifetime of the project.

    The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires commissioners to consider the economic, environmental and social benefits of their approaches to procurement before the process starts, at the pre-procurement stage.

    Wider socio-economic criteria can be taken into account at tender evaluation stage if they relate directly to the subject matter of a contract from the point of view of the contracting authority.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Phillips – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the integration of remotely piloted aircraft systems into UK civil airspace.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport leads on policy for the operation of civil remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) in the UK. We are working with international Governments, regulators and the industry – including the European Commission and International Civil Aviation Organization – on the development of regulation for the safe integration of RPAS into UK and European airspace.

    The UK Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency have a statutory responsibility to deal with the detailed Regulation.

    In addition, the Department for Transport currently chairs the cross-Government Working Group on RPAS and sits on the Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation & Assessment Steering Board, which both seek to enable the safe and routine use of RPAS in all classes of airspace without the need for restrictive or specialised conditions of operation. This will be achieved through the coordinated development and demonstration of key technologies and operating procedures.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Michael Fabricant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2014 to the hon. Member for Crawley, Official Report, column 219W, on War Memorials: World War II, what the reasons are for the disparities between the income per visitor from grant-in-aid and LIBOR fines allocated to the (a) Royal Navy Museum, (b) National Army Museum, (c) Royal Air Force Museum and (d) National Memorial Arboretum; if he will take steps to reduce such disparities in future; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Service museums and the National Memorial Arboretum play an important role in the heritage of the three Services and the nation, and it would be inappropriate for visitor numbers to determine the provision of funding.

  • Julie Hilling – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Julie Hilling – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Hilling on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Government’s welfare reform policies in Northern Ireland.

    Mr Andrew Robathan

    We have worked hard with the Executive to adapt our reforms flexibly to Northern Ireland circumstances. They will ensure work always pays, and help lift people out of poverty by moving them into work. When fully implemented, Universal Credit will make over 3 million low to middle income households across the UK better off.

  • Mr Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Nick Gibb on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of education standards in primary schools in Surrey. [R]

    Mr David Laws

    In Surrey local authority, 89%, 85% and 86% of primary pupils achieved level 4 or above in the reading test, writing teacher assessment and mathematics test respectively. The performance of Surrey is higher than all schools nationally where 86%, 83% and 85% achieved level 4 or above in reading, writing and mathematics respectively.

    This information is published in table 11 to 16 of the “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2: 2012 to 2013”[1] statistical first release. This is available in the “Local authority and regional tables: SFR51/2013” document. This document also contains information on pupil progress.

    [1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2012-to-2013

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