Category: Speeches

  • Lord Condon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Lord Condon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the progress of the roll-out of high speed broadband, and in particular of the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government’s programme is making good progress and has now made available superfast broadband to over 0.5 million premises in the UK. The pace of deployment has increased from 10,000 premises a week gaining availability of superfast broadband in early 2014 to 20,000 a week now and this will increase to 40,000 per week by the Summer of 2014.

    With respect to impact on SME’s, the Broadband Impact Study – Impact Report, an expert report by analysts SQW (with Cambridge Econometrics), revealed the Government’s investment in superfast broadband will deliver a major boost to the UK economy; for every £1 the government is investing in broadband, the UK economy will benefit by £20 by 2024. It also demonstrated that the benefits will be shared across the UK, helping the rebalancing of our economy; approximately 89 per cent of the benefits will be in areas outside London and the South East of England with rural areas set to benefit most.

    The report focussed on impacts of mass market broadband services – i.e. ‘affordable broadband’ for SMEs and households – and estimated that by 2024, net annual GVA impacts attributable to intervention include:

    · £0.8 billion from safeguarding local enterprise employment,

    · £5 billion from productivity growth for broadband-using firms,

    · £0.3 billion from improved teleworker productivity, and

    · £0.2 billion from increased labour force participation.

    The majority of these benefits will be to SMEs, and over half to rural areas.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Berkeley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government for how many spills a year the Environment Agency has licensed the upgraded Mogden sewage works; and how many were achieved in the first year of operation.

    Lord De Mauley

    Mogden Sewage Treatment Works has an Environmental Permit issued by the Environment Agency to discharge treated and storm effluent to the Thames Estuary at Isleworth. The discharge of storm effluent is permissible only when the capacity of onsite facilities for treatment and containment are exceeded. This includes a 77,000m³ storm tank.

    The permit does not specify a number of spills per year. It requires the works to provide secondary treatment for a specific flow rate of incoming sewage.

    The current version of the permit came into effect on 31 March 2013. During the subsequent 12 months, Thames Water reported 54 occasions when the works discharged storm sewage to the Thames. Thirty-four of these were during the wet weather in January and February.

  • Baroness Goudie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Goudie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to encourage other donor governments and developing country partner governments to pledge support at the Global Partnership for Education replenishment in June.

    Baroness Northover

    DFID are working closely with other international donors and developing country partner governments to support the GPE replenishment. We are meeting regularly with donor governments to discuss support for the GPE replenishment. We are also liaising closely with GPE to ensure that the new funding model works to increase domestic financing to education.

  • Lord Addington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Addington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the changes to the Disabled Students Allowance, what criteria will be used for assessing complex needs in candidates with specific learning difficulties or dyslexia.

    Viscount Younger of Leckie

    Discussions are underway with experts in the sector. Disabled students whose needs cannot be met by the reasonable adjustments made by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) will continue to receive support through Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs).

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote the enhancement of urban (a) green infrastructure and (b) waterways.

    Nick Boles

    The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should plan positively for the creation, protection, enhancement and management of green infrastructure. This is supported by the recently published planning guidance which includes guidance on green infrastructure.

    The maintenance and promotion of inland waterways is a matter for navigation authorities rather than Government. However, Government provides grant in aid funding to the two largest navigation authorities in England and Wales – the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of the data on levels of child mortality in the UK published by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    We have no reason to question the accuracy of the data from the Global Burden of Disease study. Any limitations of the estimates made and methodology used are clearly set out in the published article.

    The findings reflect other studies which show that the United Kingdom child mortality rate continues to fall, but not as much as in comparable European countries.

  • 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 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 20 October 2011, Official Report, column 1099W, on electoral register, what proportion of pupils between the ages of 16 and 18 on the National Pupil Database were registered to vote in each year for which data is available.

    Greg Clark

    The information requested is not held centrally.

    The National Pupil Database does not include information on pupils’ eligibility to be registered.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funds the Crown Estate received from offshore wind farms in each coastal constituency in each of the last five years.

    Nicky Morgan

    It is not possible to breakdown the revenue The Crown Estate receives from its offshore activity against constituency boundaries onshore.

    The Crown Estate’s Annual reportand accounts is available at http://ar2013.thecrownestate.co.uk/ and includes a section on Energy and Infrastructure.

    “

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Chinese authorities regarding reports that Christian communities in and around the City of Wenzhou are fearful following attacks on churches and threats made against other Christians.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have continuing concerns about restrictions on freedom of religion and belief in China. We are aware of particular cases such as the demolition of Sanjiang church in Wenzhou and of raids on churches and threats made to Christians.

    We continue to raise our concerns publicly through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy and the quarterly updates to this. We also raise our concerns directly with Chinese officials. We next plan to do so during the forthcoming UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made implementing the recommendations of Getting It Right for Victims and Witnesses, Cm 8288, published in January 2012; and if he will make a statement.

    Damian Green

    We have made great progress in implementing all recommendations from the ‘Getting it right for victims and witnesses’ consultation.

    • From 1st October this year the majority of support services for victims of crime will be commissioned locally by PCCs, who are best placed to understand the needs of victims in their community. MoJ are nationally commissioning a number of services for victims and witnesses, specifically the Homicide Service, the court based witness service and the rape support fund, as well as some national helplines for victims.
    • Support services, whether commissioned locally or nationally, will for the first time be focused on outcomes, supporting victims to cope with the immediate impacts of crime, and as far as is possible, help them to recover.
    • The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime came into force on 10 December 2013. The Code gives victims of crime clearer entitlements from the criminal justice system and tailors services to individual need so they get the right support at the right time. It also includes a section dedicated to people under 18, their parents and guardians and a separate chapter for businesses.
    • We wanted to give victims a stronger voice in the criminal justice system. That is why the new Victims’ Code entitles victims to make a Victim Personal Statement to leave the in no doubt about the impact of their crime on the victim. The Code now includes an improved complaints process.
    • The Government has also published the Witness Charter alongside the Victims’ Code, which demonstrates our commitment to improving all witnesses’ experience of the criminal justice system.
    • We are currently piloting pre-trial cross-examination in Leeds, Liverpool and Kingston–upon–Thames Crown Courts, allowing vulnerable witnesses to give evidence in advance and sparing them from facing questioning during the trial.
    • We reformed the Victim Surcharge in October 2012 to increase fines and extend it to a wider range of cases to ensure more offenders pay towards the cost of victims’ services. Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) were increased from 1 July 2013 for the same aim. A clause included in the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014 will prevent offenders sentenced in the magistrates’ courts from discharging the Surcharge as additional days in custody.
    • We implemented a revised Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in November 2012 that focuses on seriously injured victims of serious crime.
    • More money than ever before will be available for services to support victims of crime, with a potential total budget of up to £100m, double MOJ’s current spending of around £50m.