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Category: Speeches

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has re-offered an extension of contract to the Governor of the Bank of England.

    Simon Kirby

    The Financial Services Act 2012 states that the appointment to Governor of the Bank of England is for a period of eight years and that a Governor may not be appointed more than once. The current Governor of the Bank of England was appointed on 1 July 2013 for a term of eight years, but indicated at the time that he would serve until 30 June 2018.

  • Lord Stone of Blackheath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Stone of Blackheath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stone of Blackheath on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many statutory instruments were made in the first five months of (1) the 2010–15 Parliament, and (2) this Parliament.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    For the period 18 May 2010 to 18 October 2010, 290 statutory instruments were made or laid in draft. For the period 18 May 2015 to 18 October 2015, 268 statutory instruments were made or laid in draft.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which sponsors have expressed an interest forming trusts to take over the responsibilities of local authority children’s services departments judged as inadequate.

    Edward Timpson

    In 2016, the Secretary of State for Education will host a round table to explore how charities, local authorities, and others can best support the establishment of children’s service’s trusts, including the option of sponsorship.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on advertising, marketing and external communications in each year since 2010.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office spend on advertising, marketing and external communications since 2010-11 is shown below:

    2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
    Spend £7,357 – – – £41,155
  • Alan Mak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alan Mak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Mak on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to increase the personal allowance during this Parliament.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to raising the income tax personal allowance from £10,600 to £12,500 by the end of this parliament. This is alongside our commitment to raise the higher rate threshold to £50,000. Over 30 million individuals will benefit from these changes.

    Summer Budget 2015 confirmed that the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17, and £11,200 in 2017-18.

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has for the next National Clinical Audit of avoidable deaths in relation to epilepsy.

    Jane Ellison

    The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership commissions, develops and manages the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP), on behalf of NHS England, Wales and other devolved administrations. Whilst there is no specific audit planned that covers all cases of deaths from epilepsy, the following NCAPOP audits and reviews are of relevance:

    – The audit for paediatric epilepsy, which is being re-commissioned this year, covers the quality of health care services for children and young people with epilepsy in the UK. The audit is managed by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the first audit report can be found at the following link:

    www.rcpch.ac.uk/news/variation-care-children-epilepsy-revealed-first-uk-wide-audit;

    – The 2013 review report into cases of mortality and prolonged seizures in children and young people with epilepsies that was managed by the RCPCH. The report is available at the following link:

    www.rcpch.ac.uk/child-health-reviews-uk/programme-findings/programme-findings-chr-uk;

    – The recently commissioned national mortality case record review programme for England and Scotland which aims to improve understanding and learning about problems in care that may have contributed to a patient’s death:

    www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/rcp-hosts-pioneering-national-mortality-case-record-review-programme

    – The maternal, newborn and infant clinical outcome review programme will be undertaking a review of cases of mortality and morbidity for pregnant women with severe epilepsy that will report in December 2017. This will be carried out by MBRRACE-UK at The University of Oxford. Further information can be found at the following link:

    www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/topic-proposals

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken for the completion of pre-employment checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service.

    Karen Bradley

    Performance data for the Disclosure and Barring Service for March 2016 indicates that average processing time for DBS applications was 14.8 days. Certificates dispatched to applicants by the DBS in March 2016 involving (a) Cleveland Police and (b) the Metropolitan Police Service took an average of (a) 24 days and (b) 122 days.

    Protecting the public is a priority for this Government and it is important that checks undertaken are thorough; a proportion of the applications received by the DBS must be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process. In the vast majority of cases these checks are completed within target. The DBS is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is currently detained in Iran, and what assurances they have received as to her wellbeing.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case with Foreign Minister Zarif on 17 May. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), also raised the case with the Iranian Chargé d’affaires on 18 May. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and denies consular access on those grounds. We understand that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is able to call her family and we welcome the recent news that she was moved out of solitary confinement.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) effectiveness of the level of consumer protection against misuse of consumer data in algorithm-driven applications; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring that consumers are able to see how their data is used by such applications.

    Matt Hancock

    The Government Office for Science published an evaluation report on Distributed Ledger Technology: beyond block chain on 19 January 2016, which provides an assessment. In addition, the report recommends 8 actions for government to maximise the opportunities and reduce the risks of this new technology. A copy of the report is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492972/gs-16-1-distributed-ledger-technology.pdf

    Consumers’ rights with regard to the collection, processing and disclosure of their personal data are governed by the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The DPA provides rights for individuals in respect of their personal data, including rights in relation to automated decision-making, the right of subject access, the right to prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress compensation for failure to comply with certain of the Act’s requirements, and the right to have data rectified, blocked, erased or otherwise destroyed in certain circumstances.

    There have been significant advances in digital technology since the DPA came into force nearly 20 years ago. The Government is reviewing the current regulatory framework to ensure it is fit for purpose for the digital age.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of rogue landlords in (a) England and (b) each local authority area in England.

    Gavin Barwell

    The department does not hold this information. The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced a package of measures to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords. This includes a database of rogue landlords and property agents who have been convicted of a banning order offence or have received at least two civil penalties for housing relates offences.The database, which will be accessible to local authorities and DCLG, is expected to go live on 1 October 2017.