Category: Speeches

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many social enterprises there were in Brighton, Kemptown constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Jenny Willott

    BIS does not have constituency level data on social enterprises. Using data from the 2012 BIS ‘Small Business Survey’ and the ‘Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions 2013′, BIS estimate that in 2013 approximately five per cent (or 60,000) of small and medium-sized enterprise employers[1] in the UK were social enterprises[2]. It is not possible to provide reliable information for smaller geographical areas.

    [1] Small and medium-sized employers with between 1 and 249 employees.

    [2] Defined as an enterprise that considers itself a social enterprise and that should not pay more than 50 per cent of profit or surplus to owners or shareholders, should not generate more than 25 per cent of income from grants and donations and, therefore, should not have less than 75 per cent of turnover from trading.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department has exceeded the target set by the Cabinet Office for women in the Senior Civil Service (SCS), met the target for black and minority ethnic (BME) staff in the SCS, and is 1% below the target for disabled staff in the SCS.

    SCS Group

    Cabinet Office

    Target %

    Department

    Acheivement %

    Women

    37

    41

    BME

    5

    5

    Disabled

    5

    4
  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much in Regional Growth Fund money is currently held by intermediaries; and how much such money has been allocated (a) in each bidding round, (b) to each intermediary and (c) in each region.

    Michael Fallon

    From the four Regional Growth Fund (RGF) bidding rounds, £1.5 billion has been allocated to RGF programmes from which grants are made to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs.)

    Of this, £452 million was allocated to 13 endowment programmes in Rounds 1 and 2 that received the full payment of their RGF grant upfront. These programmes have since invested £144 million to date in individual projects, and of the remaining £308 million held by such endowment programmes, a further £154 million is already committed to specific SME projects.

    Non–endowment programmes are funded a quarter in advance on evidence of credible pipeline projects. These programmes have spent £172 million with a further £151 million of RGF paid to them in the last financial quarter under the expectation it would be spent this quarter. The money held by these programmes is not causing any delay to individual projects as businesses claim the money according to their business needs. A table of RGF funding allocated to intermediaries by each bidding round and region will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of staff within her Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Because of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, and subsequent reconfiguration of the Northern Ireland Office, my Department does not hold figures for the periods prior to 2010. Attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.

    Since April 2010, two members of staff have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings. Given the small numbers involved, it would not be appropriate to provide any further breakdown as to do so would risk the identification of the individuals concerned.

  • Pat McFadden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Pat McFadden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pat McFadden on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish estimates produced by the Government Actuary’s Department for his Department of any additional monies received from extra contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme before 19 March 2014.

    Danny Alexander

    The Government Actuary’s Department did not produce estimates for HM Treasury of additional monies received from extra contributions to the Teachers’ Pension scheme before 19 March 2014.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many registered intermediaries are available for use by child victims and witnesses in (a) Bolton, (b) Lancashire, (c) England, (d) Scotland and (e) Wales.

    Damian Green

    As at 19 June 2014, 29 Registered Intermediaries (RIs) were available for use by child victims and witnesses in the Greater Manchester police force area that covers Bolton, 25 RIs for Lancashire, 81 RIs for England and 26 RIs for Wales. Support for vulnerable witnesses is a devolved matter in Scotland.

    We recruited over 25 RIs this year, to increase the numbers of Active Registered Intermediaries to be used across the 43 police forces to help vulnerable witnesses.

    Registered Intermediaries are available for work across multiple police force areas and the numbers quoted above do not reveal the total number of active RIs.

    The number of child victims and witnesses involved in sexual abuse cases that have benefitted from the use of an RI in the last four years since the Witness Intermediary Scheme has been operational are provided in the table below. We do not hold data on cases before this time.

    Age
    0 to 4

    Age
    5 to 11

    Age
    12 to 17

    Yearly
    Total

    2010

    131

    152

    351

    2011

    62

    107

    171

    340

    2012

    87

    173

    165

    425

    2013

    168

    257

    261

    686

    TOTAL

    385

    668

    749

    1802

    The Ministry of Justice continues to monitor the number of Registered Intermediaries and is considering future recruitment plans. We are working with the CPS and police so that RIs are used to help more vulnerable witnesses to give their best evidence.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made in implementing the Military Covenant; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    There is a statutory obligation on the Defence Secretary to report annually on progress in implementing the Armed Forces Covenant. The second annual report was published in December 2013 and contains comprehensive updates on the four major areas specified in the Armed Forces Act 2011, namely healthcare, education, housing, and the operation of inquests.

    I look forward to significant further progress in the coming year, including supporting Service personnel to buy their first home through the £200 milion Forces Help to Buy scheme, improving patient care by establishing a unified defence primary healthcare service, and allocating £40 million to support charities which assist veterans with housing needs.

    The Covenant is not just a matter for the Government; recognising and respecting the specific needs of the Armed Forces community is a duty incumbent on the whole of society. Charities, employers, local authorities and individuals can play their role in providing the support and fair treatment that our Service personnel, veterans and service families so richly deserve.

  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect they consider that the provisions contained within clause 21 of the Infrastructure Bill will have onthe policy stated in their response to recommendation 27 of the Independent Panel on Forestry’s Final Report.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    There has been some uninformed and misleading speculation on this issue, as I am happy to make clear that the Infrastructure Bill’s provisions will have no impact on the Public Forest Estate. This point was also made by my noble Friend, Baroness Kramer, during Second Reading on 18 June 2014, Official Report, Column 899.

    Clause 21 of the Infrastructure Bill is completely unconnected to the Government’s stated policy to establish a new public body to hold the Public Forest Estate.

    The Government has no intention of transferring land from the new body to the Homes and Communities Agency, as the Public Forest Estate is currently in use and not declared surplus. As such, the powers will not be used in relation to this body and will therefore have no effect on it.

    Instead, Clause 21 simply enables surplus land to transfer directly from named public bodies directly to the Homes and Communities Agency, rather than being transferred into the ownership of a Whitehall department first, saving unnecessary bureaucracy. The underlying policy intention is to make it easier for surplus and redundant brownfield land to be sold and help build more homes.

    The Clause 21 arrangements will only apply to public bodies included on a list set out in secondary legislation. I can confirm that this list will not include the new body to hold the Public Forest Estate.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the reason is for the time his Department has taken to revise and publish environmental guidance on gov.uk.

    Dan Rogerson

    A target has been set to simplify all of Defra and its agencies’ guidance, including general reader and specialist guidance, by March 2015 with an expected reduction in volume of over 80%.

    Guidance reform plans have now been prepared for all environmental topics and the Environment Agency started to put revised guidance on GOV.UK on 31 March. Seventy per cent of simplified content for the general reader will be on GOV.UK during April and the rest by June.

    Defra and the Government Digital Service (GDS) are working closely together to make the most effective use of resources as GDS migrates Defra’s arm’s length bodies’ web content to GOV.UK. The original target date for completing this migration process was March this year. This timing has been revised to July.

  • Lord Laird – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Laird – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 17 December 2013 (WA 189), what was the text of the Somali nationality law which required in the case of Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed the loss of Somali nationality on his naturalisation as a British citizen.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The following is a direct quote from Article 10 of the 1962 Somali nationality law which governed loss of Somali citizenship – Any Somali citizen who:
    a) having established his residence abroad, voluntarily acquires foreign country (sic);
    b) having established his residence abroad, and having acquired, for reasons beyond his will, foreign citizenship or the status as subject of a foreign country, declares to renounce foreign citizenship;
    c) being abroad and having accepted employment from a foreign Government or voluntarily serving in the armed forces of a foreign country, continues to retain his post, notwithstanding the notice from, the Somali Government that, unless he leaves the employment or the service within a definite period of time, he shall lose Somali citizenship; shall cease to be a Somali citizen.