Category: Speeches

  • Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent steps they have taken to ensure that information on the engagement activities of pension funds and other institutional investors with investee companies is made fully accessible.

    Lord Freud

    The Government supports the principles set out in the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) UK Stewardship Code including schemes becoming active stewards of their investments and reporting on that stewardship. The Code sets out a number of areas of good practice to which the FRC believes institutional investors should aspire, and operates on a ‘comply or explain’ basis. It includes guidance for pension schemes and other asset owners on steps they can take to protect and enhance the value that accrues to the ultimate beneficiary. The FCA requires UK authorised asset managers to report on whether or not they apply the Code.

    The UK stewardship code is voluntary, however we would encourage workplace pensions schemes to comply with the principles set out in the code. In addition we are developing governance standards of workplace defined contribution schemes, and have asked the Law Commission to investigate how fiduciary duties currently apply in the investment chain. The Pensions Regulator’s defined contribution Code of Practice also sets out the legal requirements and standards they expect trustees of defined contribution schemes to attain. This includes a section on investment which also references the FRC Stewardship code. These initiatives are part of our on-going work to ensure schemes are governed and administered to deliver in members’ interests.

  • Lord Dykes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Dykes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are considering with the United States authorities and other countries to counter cyber virus crime and extortion.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime, which the National Crime Agency (NCA) published in May this year, makes clear that the threat from organised crime groups using cyber tools to commit fraud and online attacks is an increasing risk. This Government has taken significant action to transform the way the UK responds to the cyber threat, including cyber crime, underpinned by £860m additional investment between 2011/12 and 2015/16.

    The UK is working closely with US authorities and with a wide range of other countries to tackle the problem of cyber crime and the associated problem of extortion. The recent international operation between the NCA, the FBI and 9 other countries to disrupt the communications used by criminals to connect with computers that are infected with malicious software (‘malware’) known as GameOverZeus and Cryptolocker illustrates the level of international cooperation that the NCA undertakes. This included close coordination in delivering protective security advice through GetSafeOnline and Cyber Streetwise.

    We are also working overseas to help increase the capability and capacity of other countries to tackle cyber crime, through support for improved legislative arrangements, such as the implementation of the principles of the Budapest Convention on Cyber Crime and the development of capacity internationally to tackle cyber crime.

  • 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 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what his Office’s policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.

    Mr Nick Clegg

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 26 Mar 2014, Column 300W.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent stonings in Pakistan; and what steps they will take to ensure that the values set out in the Commonwealth Charter are being upheld in that country.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made a statement on 29 May urging the Government of Pakistan to do all in its power to eradicate honour killings and calling on the Pakistani authorities to investigate fully the murder of Farzana Parveen. We continue to urge the Pakistan government to bring the perpetrators to justice. I am pleased that Prime Minister Sharif condemned the murder and immediately demanded action.

    Pakistan is included as a “country of concern” in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report and we regularly raise the subject of human rights for all Pakistan’s citizens with the Pakistani government. We continue to encourage Pakistan and all Commonwealth countries to uphold the values as set out in the Commonwealth Charter signed in 2012.

  • Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether changes in the number of puppies and dogs imported from EU member states since January 2012 are consistent with AHLVA risk assessment in 2010.

    George Eustice

    The quantitative risk assessment carried out prior to harmonisation with the EU pet travel rules in 2012 took into account, amongst other things, a number of variables including increases in the number of pets entering the UK. The risk assessment was published in 2011 and is available here:

    http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/rabies/documents/se0535-rabies-qra.pdf

    “

  • Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 14 May (WA 511), why they have no set date for the full ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.

    Earl Howe

    The Government does not support eugenic practices. It is not considered helpful to interpret the term ‘eugenic practices’ other than by reference to its ordinarily understood meaning. Any attempt at a working definition would risk the unintentional exclusion of practices whose unacceptability is no less great than that of practices captured by such a definition.

    As previously stated, in the United Kingdom, the complex nature of devolved responsibilities in this range of policy areas has delayed consideration of full ratification. In the meantime, the UK continues to take an active role in Council of Europe negotiations and development of relevant protocols.

  • Mr Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mr Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gregory Campbell on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in Northern Ireland per 10,000 of the population were prosecuted for non-payment of the television licence fee in each of the last three years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    My Department’s Court Proceedings database holds information on criminal justice statistics only in England and Wales. Criminal Justice Statistics in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland, which the Member will need to contact directly.

    The offence of using a TV receiver without a valid licence carries a maximum penalty of a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale (£1,000). Failure to pay such a fine can lead, following enforcement action and as a last resort, to committal to prison for fine default for a maximum of 28 days.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what length of cables between onshore windfarms and connecting sub-stations has been placed (a) above ground and (b) underground in each of the last five years.

    Michael Fallon

    The Department does not hold this information. Windfarms usually own the cables connecting them to substations. Gathering the information requested would, therefore, require contacting individual windfarm developers at a disproportionate cost.

  • Jake Berry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jake Berry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been allocated to Lancashire County Council to repair potholes in (a) Lancashire and (b) Rossendale.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    From the £200 million to help fix potholes on the local road network announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the March 2014 Budget, £168 million will be for local authorities in England. This funding will be made available through a bidding exercise and it will be for Blackburn and Darwen Council to submit a bid to the Department. Guidance on how councils can apply for this funding will be made available in the coming weeks.

    The Department for Transport has agreed to provide £90.1 million to Lancashire County Council for road maintenance during the financial years from 2011/12 to 2014/15. This funding can be used to help repair potholes.

    Rossendale falls within Lancashire County Council’s area of responsibility and we do not allocate any funds directly to the Borough Council for road maintenance.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what official agreements were made between her Department and the Afghan Investment Support Agency for any work relating to the (a) Bost Agri Industrial Park and (b) Bost Airfield.

    Justine Greening

    The Bost industrial business park proposal was originally approved by officials in 2009 at a time when Ministers did not approve spend under £40m. In 2012 it became clear that the project could no longer be completed within the original timeframe and in good order. To avoid wasting taxpayers’ money I decided that UK funding for the project should be cancelled. The completed park designs have been handed over to the Afghan authorities to enable them to pursue the project over a revised time frame. DFID’s work on Bost Airfield was completed in November 2013.

    DFID put a Memorandum of Understanding in place with AISA and the Helmand Provincial Government in April 2012, focusing solely on the development of the Bost Agri Business Park. AISA was not engaged on the Bost Airfield.