Category: Speeches

Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2016 to Question 33501, on equal pay tribunals, how many (a) men and (b) women were involved in the two large multiple claims referred to in that answer; and against whom those claims were brought.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The two large multiple cases consisted of 11,585 men and 3,475 women, plus one claimant who did not state their gender. We are not able to provide further information about these cases as they have not yet been listed for hearing.

The table below shows the number of equal pay claims accepted by the Employment Tribunal for each calendar year since 2010:

Calendar Year	Gender
	Female	Male
2010	29,754	4,083
2011	24,049	3,647
2012	15,697	4,340
2013	18,398	5,039
2014	6,052	1,509
2015	6,423	13,312

01/01/2023

Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding is available for third-sector training providers to support young people who are not in education, employment or training and not ready for classroom-based learning since the end of the Youth Contract.

Nick Boles

Third sector providers and local authority adult education services access the Adult Education Budget as prime and sub-contractors, using the funding for training which helps young people who are not in education, employment or training prepare for work, amongst other objectives. They also compete to run local European Social Fund programmes; many of these programmes focus on helping young people improve their skills levels and employment opportunities.

Where combined authorities agree devolution deals which include devolution of the Adult Education Budget, they will assume full responsibility for decisions about what provision to commission from that budget. Nine areas have agreed such deals to date, with devolution of that budget due to take effect from 2018/19, subject to readiness conditions being met. BIS is working with those areas in advance of full devolution to help increase local influence over nationally-funded adult education provision in their locality in the interim.

01/01/2023
Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that planning permission for major housing developments can only be granted if the application includes the appropriate provision of green space for sporting and recreation use.

Gavin Barwell

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local planning policies should take account of the needs for open space, sports and recreation facilities, and opportunities for new provision. It is for local councils to apply these policies when determining applications for housing development, taking into account existing provision for sport and recreation in the area, and other material considerations.

01/01/2023
Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons hon. Members have not been allowed formally to engage in the discussions of those bodies forming sustainability and transformation plans.

David Mowat

We expect all local leaders to be regularly talking to members of the public and stakeholders, including hon. Members. It is vital that people are able to shape the future of their local services. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation. There are longstanding assurance processes in place to make sure this happens. NHS England, with other national health and care bodies, released guidance to the local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans entitled ‘Engaging local people’ in September 2016 which can be found on their website.

01/01/2023
Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on job numbers in councils and housing associations of the measures contained in the Housing and Planning Bill.

Brandon Lewis

The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Housing and planning Bill on 22 October. A link to the impact assessment is at: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/housingandplanning/documents.html.

This document will be updated as the Bill progresses through Parliament.

01/01/2023
Baroness Parminter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish the report of the Lead Ammunition Group, which was submitted on 3 June, and their response.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report and will respond as soon as possible.

01/01/2023
Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of universal credit claimants who are employed on a zero-hours contract.

Priti Patel

Universal Credit is paid on the basis of earnings. Information on types of contracts that claimants are on is not routinely collected.

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with (i) James Murdoch and (ii) representatives from Sky UK Limited in each year since 2012.

Karen Bradley

Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of Ministerial meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

01/01/2023
Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will increase Government funding for emergency food aid to Ethiopia.

Mr Nick Hurd

We are very concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation for 18 million people across Ethiopia. Britain is working closely with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure adequate funding for drought response activities.

We acted quickly and decisively at the onset of the drought by providing emergency food aid for 2.1 million people in 2015. This year, we have committed £40 million to provide food aid to a further 3.8 million people in April.

In collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, DFID is also ensuring that 120,000 severely malnourished children receive treatment in order to recover quickly.

Our overall funding for the drought to date is £113 million. We are continuing to work with the Government of Ethiopia and other donors to make sure needs are being met. We are monitoring the situation closely.

UK Aid resilience work with the Government of Ethiopia has helped prepare 10 million people to cope with this drought.

01/01/2023
Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-03-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with response to his contribution of 16 March 2016, Official Report, column 963-64, whether the proposed exemption from the sugar levy for fruit juices will apply to (a) fruit juices with added sugar and (b) fruit juices with natural sugars only.

Mr David Gauke

The levy applies to drinks with added sugar, excluding milk-based drinks.

Therefore, the levy will apply to fruit juices with added sugar, but not to fruit juices containing only naturally occurring sugar.

01/01/2023