Category: Speeches

  • Heidi Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Heidi Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce which stations will receive (a) access for all funding and (b) national station improvement programme funding between 2014 and 2019.

    Stephen Hammond

    We plan to announce the stations that will receive Access for All funding in April.

    The responsibility for deciding which stations will benefit from the next phase of the National Stations Improvement Programme rests with the industry Local Delivery Groups (LDGs) and not the Department.

    The LDGs are in the process of developing their plans and will in due course be able to confirm which schemes they are progressing.

  • 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 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of 13 May 2014, Official Report, columns 200-3WH, what representations he has made to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the recent acquittal of 14 officers of the armed forces of that country on charges of mass rape and murder.

    Mark Simmonds

    I welcome efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to prosecute perpetrators on charges of mass rape and murder – but more must be done to deliver justice for the victims. I met with the Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the DRC in London last week when he was attending the Global Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict. I emphasised to him that ending impunity was fundamental to tackling the scourge of sexual and gender-based violence. He confirmed his Government’s commitment to tackling sexual and gender based violence and to ending impunity for the perpetrators.

    The British Embassy in Kinshasa sponsors a range of projects to tackle sexual violence in the DRC focusing on security sector reform and improving service provision for survivors. During his visit to eastern DRC in March 2013 the Foreign Secretary announced over £1 million in funding to a range of organisations tackling rape and sexual violence. The UK has supported the deployment of an international expert to build capacity of health and legal professionals to address accountability and the investigation and documentation of sexual violence crimes.

    The Foreign Secretary has publicly called on the Congolese authorities to continue in their efforts to seek out and prosecute the remaining perpetrators. Senior officials at our Embassy in Kinshasa have, jointly with EU Heads of Mission and independently, also raised the issue directly with the Government of the DRC.

    The International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, which was field tested in the DRC, was launched at the Global Summit on 12 June. I hope that the Protocol will be deployed widely, helping to ensure that more and more perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence the world over will be brought to justice.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from organisations representing pensioners on the start and end times of the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

    Stephen Hammond

    During the past twelve months we have received no representations on this subject from organisations representing pensioners.

    The Chancellor has committed to maintaining the statutory concession until the end of this Parliament, and we have no plans to amend its hours of validity.

    Travel Concession Authorities have powers to implement discretionary enhancements to the statutory concession, including extending the hours of validity. The Department’s annual concessionary travel survey monitors the availability of such discretionary concessions, and the most recent dataset can be found at:

    http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus08-concessionary-travel/

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the value of London Midland’s rolling stock contract with Angel Trains after the direct award of the franchise for the period September 2015 to June 2017.

    Stephen Hammond

    Negotiations for the direct award of the West Midlands franchise are yet to commence and the Department has not made any estimate on the value of London Midland’s contract with Angel Trains. It should be noted that the value of rolling stock contracts are a commercial matter between the operator and the rolling stock owner.

  • David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to increase the availability of credit for small businesses in (a) Bolton North East constituency and (b) England in the last year.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is committed to ensuring businesses can access the finance they need for investment and growth.

    The Bank of England and HM Treasury announced in November that the Funding for Lending scheme would be focused on lending to businesses to reflect the success that the scheme has had with households. Lending under the Funding for Lending Scheme has totalled over £16bn according to the latest figures.

    The British Business Bank is being established to ensure that business finance markets work efficiently and effectively for smaller businesses, and its loan guarantee and investment programmes supported £660 million of lending and investment in 2013 across the UK.

    A breakdown of the value of debt finance facilitated to businesses in Bolton North East constituency and England through British Business Bank programmes in the last year is detailed in the table below.

    Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (drawn down)

    Start Up Loans Scheme

    (drawn down)

    Lending facilitated by the Business Finance Partnership

    Bolton North East Constituency

    7 Loans with a value of £1.14m

    24 loans with a value of £117 330

    North West Region: 462 loans with a value of nearly £ 27m

    England

    2857 loans with a value of £307.6 million

    13432 with a value over £75m

    3721 loans provided with a value of nearly £226m
  • Lord Lexden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Lexden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was their total spending in 2013–14 on treatments for HIV infection in the United Kingdom.

    Earl Howe

    Data for 2013-14 is not available at present. Primary care trusts’ aggregate spend for 2012–13 (latest figures available) on HIV/AIDS was £630 million.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HM Revenue and Customs has made of the economic viability of its Customs House landholding adjacent to Dover Priory railway station.

    Mr David Gauke

    HMRC has made no assessment of the economic viability of the Priory Court Dover landholding adjacent to Dover Priory railway station.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to promote the education of United Kingdom citizens about the events of 1948 in Palestine.

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum for history, to be taught in maintained schools in England from September 2014, requires that 11-14 year olds be taught about the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world from 1901 to the present day. This can cover Britain’s place in the world since 1945, including the events of 1948 in Palestine. It is for schools to decide what to teach and how to teach it. In accordance with Section 407 of the Education Act 1996, we would expect that the teaching of any issue in schools be consistent with the principles of balance and objectivity.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many with the homes with hard-to-treat cavity walls and which require insulation measures are situated in flood risk areas.

    Gregory Barker

    DECC does not hold information on how many of homes that are considered to have hard to treat cavity walls are situated in flood risk areas.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 6 May (WA 358), whether they are considering introducing legislation to prevent the practice of reparative or conversion therapy on homosexual men and women.

    Earl Howe

    This Government does not believe that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is an illness to be treated or cured. We have no current plans to ban or restrict conversion therapy via legislation as we do not feel this would be an effective preventive measure.

    We do, however, fully recognise the importance of this issue. Therefore, the Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, convened a roundtable with professional bodies and charities in February of this year to discuss collaborative measures to help prevent the use of such therapies. The Department continues to work with these organisations.