Category: Speeches

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the last assessment was carried out of the perceived community background of HM Revenue and Customs staff recruited in Northern Ireland in the last 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    HMRC assesses annually the community background information relating to its Northern Ireland staff. This is done as part of the annual reporting arrangements to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and helps inform HMRC’s Equality Analysis work and Northern Ireland Equality Scheme.

  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much has been disbursed to Ombudsman Services for work relating to the Green Deal in each month since January 2013; and how many complaints relating to the Green Deal have been processed by Ombudsman Services over the same period.

    Gregory Barker

    I can confirm that DECC pays the Ombudsman Service a fixed quarterly rate to provide Green Deal services, support to DECC and maintain systems, plus an additional fee for each investigation undertaken. The quarterly fixed rate payments work out at £3,333.00 per month.

    I would also like to point out that as part of the Government’s transparency initiative DECC publishes summary details of all payments made over £500, including payments to contractors. You can find this information using the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=transparency-data&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-of-energy-climate-change&direction=before&date=2013-03-01

    The Ombudsman Service has undertaken some casework but this has not resulted in formal complaints or investigations and there have been no investigation charges to the Department.

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that the legal owner of a property is identified when a planning application is submitted relating to that property.

    Nick Boles

    I am not aware of representations about landlords who own multiple properties disguising their ownership of a property when submitting a planning application.

    It is already a requirement that planning applications must be accompanied by a certificate which applicants must complete that provides certain details about the ownership of the application site. An application is not valid, and therefore cannot be determined by the local planning authority, unless the relevant certificate has been completed.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Syrian National Coalition.

    Hugh Robertson

    We have daily discussions with the Syrian National Coalition, most notably with its leadership through the UK Special Representative to Syria, Jon Wilks, but also at Ministerial level. We are in regular touch with the National Coalition representative in London. We have supported the National Coalition since its foundation in 2012 and have consistently encouraged it to reach out to all Syrians as a democratic, inclusive and unified organisation. This has included practical support to the National Coalition, including on strategic communications and design of internal structures and organisation. The UK is a leading member of the “London 11”, the core group of the Friends of Syria, who are the National Coalition’s strongest supporters. Most recently we hosted a meeting of senior officials from the London 11 in London on 7 March.

  • Bill Wiggin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Bill Wiggin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether any masts proposed as part of the Mobile Infrastructure Project other than that at Fownhope have been withdrawn after a reassessment of notspot data.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    DCMS officials and Arqiva, delivery partner for the Mobile Infrastructure Project, are incorporating changes in the notspot data into the project’s planning. Once this planning is finalised any changes will be communicated to planning authorities

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many cases of domestic violence have led to prosecutions for psychological abuse in each of the last five years.

    Oliver Heald

    The CPS flags all cases identified as domestic violence according to the revised Government definition implemented in March 2013. This includes the elements of coercive control, and behaviours which do not display visible injuries such as psychological abuse which were introduced in the revised definition. However the records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cannot separately identify the number of people prosecuted for each of these elements. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of teaching emergency life-saving skills in schools.

    Matthew Hancock

    Emergency life-saving skills (ELS) can be taught as part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.

    PSHE can help children develop essential social skills that evidence shows are important for children’s achievement across all subjects, and for their preparation for a healthy and active life.

    Schools are encouraged to work with expert organisations to teach ELS, for example St John Ambulance who visited approximately 2000 schools in 2013. Their ‘Teach the Difference‘ website has over 7000 registered users, most of whom are teachers, and users downloaded over 16,000 first aid lesson plans in 2013.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when she last held a meeting with the Northern Ireland Minister for Social Development.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I was due to meet the Northern Ireland Social Development Minister in March but unfortunately the meeting had to be postponed. My private office has suggested further dates to his and is waiting to hear back.

  • 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 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which countries possess comparative levels of fruit fly infestation in exported mangoes and are not subject to an EU ban on importation.

    Dan Rogerson

    The ban was imposed following persistent interceptions of plant pestson imports of Indian produce into the European Union (EU) and critical reports from the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office audits in 2010 and 2013. Despite assurances from India in response to these reports the level of interceptions remained high. The EU’s decision to introduce a ban was therefore fully justified and supported by all Member States including the UK, in line with our policy of strengthening plant health controls. Therefore, no alternatives to a ban were considered by Defra.

    Protecting plant health is a key Defra objective. Plant pests and diseases such as those intercepted from India in recent years can cause serious damage to the UK glasshouse industry which is worth over £300 million per annum. However, I am aware of the importance of the mango trade and Defra officials are liaising with the Indian High Commission on what support the UK can offer to India to help it ensure compliance with EU import requirements.

    The following table shows the number of consignments of mangoes imported into the UK in the last five years which were infested with Tephriditae (and therefore rejected) by country of origin. The European Commission is considering similar measures to those taken against India for other countries with high levels of interceptions of plant pests. Such consideration takes account of findings from all Member States, and covers all plant commodities and all pests identified.

    Year

    Country of origin

    No. of consignments imported into the UK

    No. of consignments infected with Tephritidae

    2010

    Dominican Republic

    351

    1

    India

    1977

    1

    Jamaica

    228

    3

    Pakistan

    3302

    6

    2011

    Dominican Republic

    417

    2

    India

    1836

    11

    Jamaica

    262

    3

    Pakistan

    3690

    19

    Puerto Rico

    1

    1

    Sri Lanka

    144

    1

    Uganda

    138

    1

    2012

    Bangladesh

    146

    1

    Brazil

    445

    1

    Costa Rica

    70

    2

    Dominican Republic

    606

    18

    Ghana

    628

    15

    India

    3448

    23

    Jamaica

    332

    24

    Kenya

    2044

    4

    Pakistan

    5128

    81

    Philippines

    12

    2

    Sri Lanka

    189

    10

    St Lucia

    50

    1

    Thailand

    1050

    3

    Uganda

    104

    2

    2013

    Brazil

    316

    3

    Dominican Republic

    756

    16

    Ghana

    357

    4

    Guinea

    7

    1

    India

    3563

    13

    Jamaica

    516

    17

    Kenya

    1654

    17

    Pakistan

    5910

    47

    Puerto Rico

    104

    1

    Sri Lanka

    111

    3

    U A E

    1

    1

    Vietnam

    77

    1

    2014 (to 18/06/14)

    Brazil

    106

    1

    Dominican Republic

    420

    3

    Ghana

    271

    1

    India

    401

    1

    Jamaica

    464

    9

    Kenya

    698

    7

    Mexico

    61

    1

    Senegal

    4

    1

    Sri Lanka

    69

    3

    Source: Fera and Europhyt

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the HGV User Levy on UK businesses reliant on foreign hauliers for imports and exports.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    International road haulage is a competitive market, so it is unlikely that there are UK businesses reliant on foreign hauliers for imports and exports. In most cases, UK hauliers can compete for this business.

    The levy is paid by both UK and foreign hauliers. However whilst this means some increase in costs for foreign hauliers, costs for around nine out of ten UK HGVs have not increased, as Vehicle Excise Duty was reduced when the levy was introduced.

    A Tax Information and Impact Note was published on the Department for Transport website in October 2012.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/232294/hgv-charging-tax-information.pdf

    “