Category: Speeches

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average unit cost per year to train an apprentice aged 24 is; and what proportion of such costs is borne by (a) the public purse, (b) apprentices and (c) employers.

    Matthew Hancock

    The cost of providing an Apprenticeship is highly variable.

    In 2012, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) commissioned a report from The Institute for Employment Research entitled: “Employer Investment in Apprenticeships and Workplace Learning”

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32306/12-814-employer-investment-in-apprenticeships-fifth-net-benefits-study.pdf

    The report gives details of the costs of Apprenticeships to employers in several sectors for 16-18 year olds and for 19-24 year olds. It also compares the contribution of employers to that of the state.

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what systems his Department has in place to monitor the implementation of the Government’s commitment to give due consideration to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when making new policy and legislation; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education co-ordinates the UK’s submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), on behalf of other Government Departments and the devolved administrations, for the Committee’s five-year review of implementation of the UNCRC in the UK. This report will be submitted shortly and will include examples of action taken to ensure that new policies and legislation which impact on children are compliant with the UNCRC.

    The Department has undertaken child’s rights impact assessments for the key policy and legislative changes in recent years, notably in respect of the Education Act 2011 and the Children and Families Act 2014. We also ensure that children’s rights issues are considered as part of the Home Affairs Committee clearance process.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families whose head of household was (a) a Polish, (b) a Lithuanian, (c) a Latvian, (d) a Czech, (e) a Slovak, (f) a Portuguese and (g) an Estonian national resident in the Peterborough city council area were in receipt of child benefit in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

    Nicky Morgan

    This information is not available.

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by her Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Because of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, my Department does not hold details for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost. The contracts awarded by my Department since April 2010 are as follows:

    Name of Contract

    Award Date

    Estimated Total Value

    Finance Platform – System Support Agreement

    1 April 2013

    £18k

    Finance Platform – Managed Service

    2 July 2013

    £6k

    Preventative Maintenance for Hillsborough Castle

    4 September 2013

    £9.5k

    Hillsborough Castle Gardening

    1 December 2013

    £50k

    Name of Contract

    Award Date

    Estimated Annual Value

    File and Document Storage

    January 2013

    £40k

    The majority of contracts used by my Department are awarded by the Department of Finance and Personnel Central Procurement Directorate or the Central Government Procurement Service. These are generally awarded for a range of Northern Ireland Civil Service or Whitehall Departments which enable NIO to draw services from them.

    Should you wish to establish details of these contracts you should contact these organisations directly at the following addresses:

    DFP Central Procurement Directorate – www.dfpni.gov.uk/cpd

    Central Government Procurement Service – www.civilservice.gov.uk/networks/gps

    “

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.

    Jeremy Wright

    I have met with the Nigerian Attorney General twice on 1 October 2013 and 9 January 2014 to discuss justice issues and was accompanied by officials on both occasions.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion and number of jobs currently advertised through Jobcentre Plus are on zero-hour contracts.

    Esther McVey

    We do not advertise in jobcentres, all vacancies are now advertised on Universal Jobmatch. JSA claimants are not required to apply for zero-hour contract jobs and are not penalised if they leave such a job

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse of litigation associated with the declaration of the Marine Protected Area on 1 April 2010 are to date.

    Mark Simmonds

    Though some final costs from Counsel on the recently concluded Court of Appeal hearing are yet to be received, the costs of domestic litigation to date is £325,444.42. We understand the litigant, Mr. Olivier Bancoult, has also been in receipt of legal aid. HM Government has been successful in defending all such litigation, and has therefore been awarded full costs in the Divisional Court, and half of our costs in the Court of Appeal, though these are still subject to assessment.

    In respect of the recently concluded challenge by Mauritius in an arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, various costs matters are still ongoing.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Attorney General, what the average timescale was for the Crown Prosecution Service to provide the Metropolitan Police Service with advice on criminal charges against members of the public suspected of involvement in serious crimes in (a) 2011 to 2013 and (b) 2008 to 2010.

    Oliver Heald

    The table below shows, for the CPS in London, the average number of calendar days which have elapsed since the first decision was sought by the police to the date in which the last decision made was to charge. The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) do not identify the number of cases referred to it for advice, by the alleged offence(s).

    Average Time to a Decision to Charge

    2008 – 2010

    6.7

    2011 – 2013

    6.2

    The CPS in London deals with cases referred to it by both the Metropolitan Police Force and the City of London Police Force and it is not possible to further break down the figures provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.

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

    Lord Palmer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 6 May (WA 444), whether they will place in the Library of the House correspondence between the Intellectual Property Office and the Department of Health regarding the proposed introduction of standardised tobacco packaging.

    Earl Howe

    The Department has no current plans to publish information on the development and formulation of Government policy on standardised packaging of tobacco products

  • Simon Hart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Simon Hart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that the Excise Payment Security System is available to small and medium-sized enterprises in the oil products sector.

    Nicky Morgan

    This information is held on a HMRC database and includes excise identification and approval numbers unique to the traders listed. For taxpayer confidentiality reasons this information is not publically available, and there is no intention to publish it.

    Eligibility criteria for a duty deferment guarantee waiver under the Excise Payment Security System do not apply to or exclude particular sectors. These criteria are published by HMRC, and apply to all applicants.

    HMRC is considering the future of the vapour recovery scheme as part of the wider work programme to determine the appropriate course of action in respect of all their extra-statutory concessions.

    The Government’s policy is not to allow duty suspended movements within the UK, this is both for administrative simplicity and to reduce the opportunities for criminal activity and fraud.