Category: Speeches

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which Health and Safety Executive Approved Codes of Practice (a) have been reviewed since May 2010, (b) are scheduled for review or amendment and (c) are not currently scheduled for review.

    Mike Penning

    Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reviewing all of its Approved Codes of Practices (ACOP) in line with Professor Löfstedt’s independent review of health and safety legislation ‘Reclaiming health and safety for all’ (published November 2011).

    (a) 19 ACOPs have been reviewed since May 2010. Of these, five have been revised and re-published, nine consolidated into three revised ACOPs and five withdrawn completely. These are:

    Revised

    L5 – Control of substances hazardous to health

    L8 – Legionnaires’ disease. The Control of legionella bacteria in water systems

    L24 – Workplace health, safety and welfare

    L117 – Rider-operated lift trucks: Operator training

    L118 – Health and safety at quarries

    Consolidated

    L56 – Safety in the installation and use of gas systems and appliances. This is a consolidation of two ACOPs (L56 and COP20: Standards of training in safe gas installation) into a single revised ACOP (L56)

    L138 – Dangerous substances and explosive atmospheres consolidated the following five ACOPs into a single revised ACOP (L138):

    L134 – Design of plant, equipment and workplace

    L135 – Storage of dangerous substances

    L136 – Control and mitigation measures

    L137 – Safe maintenance, repair and cleaning procedures

    L138 – Dangerous substances and explosive atmospheres

    L143 – Managing and working with Asbestos. This is a consolidation of two ACOPs

    (L127 – The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises and L143 – Work with materials containing asbestos) into a single revised ACOP (L143).

    Withdrawn

    L21 – Management of health and safety at work

    L74 – First aid at work

    L81 – Design, construction and installation of gas service pipes

    L116 – Preventing accidents to children in agriculture

    L130 – Compilation of safety data sheets

    (b) A review of a further 14 ACOPS will be completed by the end of 2014. These are:

    COP25 Safety in docks to be replaced by L148 Safety in docks ACOP

    Five Diving ACOPs:

    L103 – Commercial diving projects offshore

    L104 – Commercial diving projects inland/inshore

    L105 – Recreational diving projects

    L106 – Media diving projects

    L107 – Scientific and archaeological diving projects

    Three Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations linked ACOPs:

    L22 – Safe use of work equipment

    L112 – Safe use of power presses

    L114 – Safe use of woodworking machinery

    L113 – Safe use of lifting equipment

    L101 – Safe work in confined spaces

    L122 – Safety of pressure systems

    L133 – Unloading petrol from road tankers

    L146 – Consulting workers on health and safety

    A further 19 ACOPs associated with changes to legislation and will be reviewed in accordance with the timescale for legislative change.

    (c) All HSE ACOPs are scheduled for review.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the Flood Relief Fund for Sport announced to restore damaged pitches, sport centres and facilities has been (a) allocated to local authorities and (b) received by sports facilities to date.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    Sport England’s Flood Relief Fund has made a total of 225 awards to date, totalling £515,542, of which:

    (a) Three awards totalling £6,560 have been made to Local Authorities.

    (b) 222 awards totalling £508,982 have been made to sports clubs.

    The fund will remain open for applications until Autumn.

  • Mr Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mr Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gregory Campbell on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the change in numbers of civil servants working less than 20 hours per week was between January 2010 and January 2014.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much (a) his Department and (b) the Joint Nature Conservation Committee spent on biodiversity research in (i) the UK and (ii) the Overseas Territories in each of the last four years.

    Dan Rogerson

    We are collating the information requested and will place it in the House Library as soon as possible.

  • Mr Clive Betts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Mr Clive Betts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Clive Betts on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted by Sheffield City Council.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

    Results for all wards are available on the Commission’s website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

    The ward results for Sheffield City Council were as follows:

    Ward

    Green matches

    Amber matches

    Red matches

    Arbourthorne

    82.3%

    1.2%

    16.5%

    Beauchief & Greenhill

    85.6%

    0.9%

    13.5%

    Beighton

    87.2%

    0.7%

    12.1%

    Birley

    87.2%

    1.0%

    11.8%

    Broomhill

    37.5%

    2.8%

    59.7%

    Burngreave

    75.7%

    3.9%

    20.5%

    Central

    34.9%

    3.1%

    62.1%

    Crookes

    65.7%

    0.9%

    33.4%

    Darnall

    77.5%

    3.1%

    19.4%

    Dore & Totley

    86.1%

    1.2%

    12.7%

    East Ecclesfield

    86.2%

    1.0%

    12.7%

    Ecclesall

    81.8%

    1.2%

    17.0%

    Firth Park

    82.6%

    1.8%

    15.7%

    Fulwood

    62.8%

    1.3%

    35.9%

    Gleadless Valley

    79.3%

    1.7%

    19.0%

    Graves Park

    82.9%

    1.1%

    16.0%

    Hillsborough

    81.7%

    1.4%

    17.0%

    Manor Castle

    76.5%

    1.5%

    22.0%

    Mosborough

    85.6%

    0.9%

    13.4%

    Nether Edge

    69.4%

    2.7%

    27.9%

    Richmond

    86.1%

    1.1%

    12.8%

    Shiregreen & Brightside

    82.9%

    1.4%

    15.6%

    Southey

    84.8%

    1.1%

    14.1%

    Stannington

    84.9%

    1.8%

    13.3%

    Stocksbridge & Upper Don

    85.2%

    1.8%

    13.0%

    Walkley

    69.5%

    1.7%

    28.8%

    West Ecclesfield

    87.9%

    0.8%

    11.3%

    Woodhouse

    86.1%

    1.3%

    12.6%

    “

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on a Tornado Collision Warning System since 1991.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Total spend from 1999 to 31 March 2014, including the concept, assessment and development, manufacture and In-service phase, is some £49.7 million.

    It is not possible to confirm the total spend on a Tornado collision warning system prior to 1999; expenditure records are no longer held centrally and the retrieval of available information would be possible only at disproportionate cost.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rachel Reeves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect on the time taken to receive universal credit of a claimant (a) moving to live in an area where universal credit is not being piloted, (b) forming a new relationship and being re-classified as part of a couple and (c) having a child.

    Esther McVey

    No estimate of this has been made. Providing the claimant reports all details of the change promptly, payment of Universal Credit would continue without any delay.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the outbreak of the ebola virus in Western Africa.

    Mark Simmonds

    We continue to monitor the Ebola outbreak in West Africa closely. As of 6 June there had been over 220 confirmed cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    International health agencies are providing support to affected countries. There is no specific vaccine or anti-viral drug available, so the priority is to contain the outbreak by limiting human to human transmission by early identification and care for those affected.

    We are keeping our Travel Advice for British nationals under regular review and in line with WHO guidance. There have been no reports of British citizens being infected and there have been no known imported cases of Ebola in the UK to date.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rachel Reeves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of processing a change in a claimant’s circumstances when he or she (a) moves to live in an area where universal credit is not being piloted, (b) forms a new relationship and are re-classified as part of a couple and (c) has a child.

    Esther McVey

    No estimate of this has been made (In the examples quoted the changes would be processed in the same way as any other reported change of circumstances).

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many men have been diagnosed with prostate cancer in each of the last five years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.