Category: Speeches

  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent research has been commissioned into truancy in schools; and if he will make a statement.

    Elizabeth Truss

    From the 2011/12 absence data, we know that pupils who have regular attendance at school are four times more likely to achieve five or more A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and maths, than those pupils who are persistently absent. Persistent absence has fallen by 15 per cent under this Government, from 392,305 pupils missing 15 per cent of school time in 2010/11 to 333,850 in 2011/12. The former Government Adviser on behaviour, Charlie Taylor, published his report on improving school attendance in April 2012. It can be found at http://tinyurl.com/crt8nok

    “

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he last met the Minister for Justice in Northern Ireland; and what subjects were discussed at this meeting.

    Damian Green

    The Secretary of State for Justice had a meeting with David Ford, the Northern Ireland Justice Minister on 6 February 2013 in Belfast at which they discussed matters of mutual interest in relation to justice policy.

  • 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 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died as a result of diabetes in (a) 2008 and (b) 2013.

    Nick Hurd

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

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial support is provided to carers of neurofibromatosis sufferers.

    Earl Howe

    We are very much aware of and greatly value the significant contribution which unpaid carers make to the care of disabled people.

    If a disabled person has neurofibromatosis and qualifies for a ‘gateway’ benefit, then their carer could be entitled to Carer’s Allowance, which is currently £61.35 per week. This will depend on certain conditions of both the disabled person and the carer being satisfied. Universal Credit includes a carer element where an eligible adult in the household provides regular and substantial care for a person with a long-term health condition or disability. The element is awarded where that person satisfies the conditions of entitlement of Carer’s Allowance.

    Support for carers is an integral part of social care. Under current legislation, local authorities have a duty to assess carers who are providing substantial care on a regular basis, when requested to do so. The assessment and any eligible services to follow that are designed to support a carer to continue their caring responsibilities, are for the local authority to determine.

    Carers are also central to the Government’s proposals for improving care and support, and there are significant improvements in the Care Bill for carers. The Bill extends carers’ rights to an assessment, which will be based on an appearance of need and will include consideration of the impact of caring on the carer, and the outcomes they wish to achieve. For the first time, there will be a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support, putting them on an equal footing to the people they care for.

    We have also provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. In the 2013 Spending Review, we announced the £3.8 billion Better Care Fund, which includes £130 millionfunding for carers’ breaks for 2015-16.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy that the new Transpennine Express franchise due to begin in 2015 maintains hourly direct services between Hull and Manchester.

    Stephen Hammond

    The new directly awarded franchise for TransPennine that begins in April 2015 will aim to provide train services at the same level as is currently available to passengers today until the start of the new competed franchise, expected in February 2016.

  • Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions in the last two years parcels sent to prisoners have been found to contain drugs, extremist materials, mobile phones, SIM cards or pornography.

    Lord Faulks

    Details of illicit items found in post or packages are recorded on the prison incident reporting system, and collated in a central database. However, to identify the number of parcels containing drugs, illicit materials, mobile phones, SIM cards or pornography would require a manual search of over 34,000 individual records, which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent meetings he has had with representatives of the deaf community.

    Mike Penning

    I met representatives from the Deaf Community (Sir Malcolm Bruce MP, David Buxton British Deaf Association, Jim Edwards Signature and Susan Daniels National Deaf Children’s Society) on 23 October 2013. As part of the continuing commitment from that meeting to consider Government services for deaf people, officials have recently met and have remained in contact with representatives of the deaf community, including BDA and Action on Hearing Loss. Action on Hearing Loss is a member of the Disability Charities Consortium who I met on 26 February 2014.

  • Baroness Wheatcroft – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Wheatcroft – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Wheatcroft on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of current women prisoners were in employment before being jailed.

    Lord Faulks

    The Ministry of Justice does not centrally collate or hold information on the questions above. However, a survey conducted between 2005 and 2010 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction) provides some information on these topics.

    Copies of the reports are available via the following link:

    Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) – GOV.UK

    “

  • Mr Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mr Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gareth Thomas on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the processing time target is for personal independence payment (PIP) claims; and what proportion of such claims took longer than this target time to process since the introduction of PIPs.

    Mike Penning

    As you will appreciate, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a new benefit and processes are currently bedding in. There are no time limits or targets on processing times to claims for PIP but we are taking the necessary action to improve the processing times.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of (a) refuse-derived fuel and (b) solid recovered fuel produced in the UK exported annually for use in energy from waste plants overseas.

    Dan Rogerson

    In 2012 (the most recent year for which definitive figures are available), 977,452 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel and 7,783 tonnes of solid recovered fuel were exported from England and Wales for use in energy from waste plants. Data for Scotland and Northern Ireland is collected separately and falls under the responsibility of the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive respectively.