Category: Speeches

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Uppal on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the need for local authority pension schemes to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment decision-making.

    Brandon Lewis

    These issues are matters for individual local authorities that administer pension funds to consider when deciding upon their investment strategies. Each administering authority is required to publish a statement of principles, which should address such issues. Statutory guidance states that the authority must report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of their policies.

    Notwithstanding, local authorities need to focus on delivering a good rate of return for their fund and value for taxpayers, given local government pensions cost taxpayers (via employer contributions) almost £6 billion a year.

  • 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 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on defining complex needs for the Disabled Students’ Allowance.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Extensive discussions are underway with a wide range of stakeholders to help inform the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) Guidance for 2015/16, due this autumn. The guidance will set out the conditions under which DSA will apply. Students will continue to undergo individual study needs assessments, but their needs will be met by DSA and Higher Education Institutions through their duties under the Equality Act.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many spare (a) generator step-up transformers and (b) transmission transformers are held in the UK.

    Michael Fallon

    Electricity generation in the U.K. is privatised and the decisions on spare step-up transformers are for the individual generator businesses. Electricity transmission operations in the U.K. are private, regulated businesses. Decisions on spare transmission connected transformers are matters for the transmission businesses, to meet the licence conditions under which they operate; they form an important component in the provision of reliability of supply. The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not hold data on generator step-up transformer or transmission connected transformer quantities held as spares by industry.

  • Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Quirk on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 14 May (WA 533), if school exclusion data for the years 1980 and 1990 are not held by the Department for Education, from where they can be obtained.

    Lord Nash

    Permanent exclusions data was first collected in 1994/95. Information on fixed period exclusions was only collected from 2003/04.

    Information on exclusion rates prior to 2005/06 was collected via the Termly Exclusions Survey rather than the School Census.

  • Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time was between a deportation order being made on a foreign national offender and their deportation in each year since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    The average length of time between a deportation order being made on a foreign
    national offender and their deportation in each year since 2010 is as follows:
    143 days in 2010, 148 days in 2011, 174 days in 2012 and 187 days in 2013.

    The increase in average time taken is driven mainly by serving more deportation
    orders earlier in the process, sometimes up to 27 months before sentence end
    date, to enable removal to take place as early as possible within the Early
    Removal Scheme (ERS) period. The by-product of starting the deportation process
    earlier is that we have to wait longer to enforce a person’s removal, which
    artificially inflates the view on the average time taken to deport.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many days of employee absence there were in each Government department in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Francis Maude

    It is for individual departments to provide detailed information on absence for each of the last ten years.

    This Government is working to reduce Civil Service absence levels and we know that the average days lost per employee has fallen from 8.7 in June 2010 to 7.4 in December 2013. Average Working Days Lost per staff year are now at their lowest reported figure since 1999, whilst the total number of days lost in the Civil Service is at its lowest recorded level.

    The figures for the Cabinet Office are:

    Dec

    2003

    Dec

    2004

    Dec 2005

    2005-06

    2006-07

    2007-08

    2008-09

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    Yr to Dec 2013

    3.5

    3.0

    4.2

    4.1

    3.3

    4.8

    4.8

    3.6

    4.0

    3.7

    2.7

    2.5

    and can be found online here at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-absence-data

    “

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2014, Official Report, column 693W, on bus services: disability, how many public service vehicles (a) in each region and (b) operated by each operator have been issued with PSVAR certificates.

    Stephen Hammond

    I refer the Honourable Member to my answer of 20th March 2014. As indicated there the Department for Transport’s annual bus statistics (published in September 2013) show that 78% of buses in England have been issued with PSVAR certificates, while 92% of buses are low floor.

    The following table provides a breakdown of PSVAR certificates for each region:

    Region Buses with certificates %Buses having certificates
    East Midlands 1,400 72%
    East of England 1,970 67%
    London 8,880 97%
    North East 1,370 73%
    North West 3,900 76%
    South East 2,690 71%
    South West 1,950 63%
    West Midlands 2,730 77%
    Yorkshire and the Humber 2,800 69%
    England 27,680 78%

    The figures in this table are compiled from annual operator returns to the Department for Transport, which are not broken down by region. To compile the regional level estimates, each operator has been assigned to its main region of operation.

    The returns are made under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947, and figures for individual operators are therefore considered as commercially confidential.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 6 May 2014, Official Report, column 66W, on asylum: children, which local authorities have used the fund and how much to support asylum seekers who are care leavers in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The total amount of funding provided in each of the 5 years is set out below:

    Year £million
    2013/14 – 11.9
    2012/13 – 12.9
    2011/12 – 15.3
    2010/11 – 20.3
    2009/10 – 11.0

    The figures for 2009-13 inclusive are taken from the audited accounts of the UK
    Border Agency. Figures for 2013-14 are provisional and subject to audit and
    possible adjustment.

    The following lists the local authorities that receive the leaving care
    funding.

  • Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will amend the benefits rules on the habitual residency test to exempt family members in the services returning from an overseas posting; and if he will make a statement.

    Esther McVey

    It has always been the case that all migrants, including UK nationals returning from anything more than a short period abroad, must satisfy the Habitual Residence Test. This is a vital tool which enables the Government to continue to protect the integrity of the UK welfare system.

  • Richard Harrington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Harrington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support people affected by recent flooding in the Balkans

    Mr David Lidington

    I discussed the impact of the floods with Prime Minister Vucic of Serbia in Belgrade on 2 June and with Prime Minister Bevanda in Sarajevo on 3 June. During my visit to the region I also met the Serbian Red Cross and travelled to Maglaj in Bosnia-Herzegovina to meet the Mayor and representatives of World Vision.

    In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), between 18 and 23 May a thirty-three person water rescue team from the British Fire Service was deployed to work alongside EUFOR Operation Althea and local rescue efforts. They rescued nearly 200 people, delivered large amounts of humanitarian aid, and helped restore power in villages North of Bijeljina.

    In Serbia, the UK provided 64 radios for the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, to assist with the coordination of their response teams; and donated £280,000 worth of heavy lift and transport vehicles to the Serbian Red Cross to aid their relief distribution effort.

    A team from the UK flew out to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the week commencing 20 May to assess likely humanitarian and recovery needs. During my visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina I was able to announce that the UK had approved £250,000 to support a World Vision flood response project in the region focussing on sanitation and health and providing support for 140,000 people made homeless by the floods.

    In addition to this bilateral support, the UK provided support to BiH, Serbia and Croatia through the EU, UN and other international organisations. In BiH, EUFOR Operation Althea, to which the UK contributes troops in-theatre and in reserve, assisted the BiH Armed Forces in their response to the flooding. The First Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who provide part of EUFOR’s intermediate reserve, and are in BiH for a routine operational rehearsal, will assist the BiH Armed Forces in this regard.

    The UK has worked closely with the EU European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), and offered advice and assistance during all phases of the flood response effort. ECHO have released €3.2m in humanitarian aid to support the most vulnerable population in BiH and in Serbia (to which the UK will have contributed 15%).

    The Government will work closely with the UNDP, the EU and other international organisations to assess what further help might be given to help both Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina recover from the impact of the floods.