Category: Speeches

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which chemicals are authorised for use in the fracking process in the UK; what assessment he has made of the potential risk posed to humans and the natural environment from those chemicals before their authorisation; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency will require full disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.

    Operators will not be able to use chemicals for well stimulation unless the Agency considers them acceptable for use. The Environment Agency will assess the hazards presented by fracking fluid additives on a case-by-case basis.

    Allowing the use of a chemical at one site does not automatically mean the Agency will allow it to be used elsewhere. This is because the environmental risks may be different, for example, due to local geological conditions.

  • David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drink-driving offences were recorded in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many successful prosecutions for such offences there have been.

    Norman Baker

    Drink driving is a summary offence, and not a notifiable offence. The Home Office only collects data on notifiable offences.

    The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to drink driving, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in Table 1. The same data for Suffolk can be viewed in Table 2. This data is held by the Ministry of Justice.

    Data is not available below Police Force Area level, and so data for Bury St Edmunds cannot be provided.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria a biodegradable plastic bag will need to fulfil for exemption from his single use plastic bag charging policy.

    Dan Rogerson

    We intend to exempt biodegradable bags that meet certain standards from the charge to give consumers an alternative to using single-use plastic bags when they do not take a reusable bag with them. The standards will be worked up in consultation with industry. They are likely to cover how the bag should behave during disposal or recycling (for example, having a short degradation time period), resource use, energy consumption during production and other elements across their lifecycle.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) unilateral, (b) bilateral and (c) multilateral projects her Department is sponsoring in Kashmir.

    Mr Alan Duncan

    UK aid to Kashmir is largely delivered through national programmes in Pakistan and India which the UK helps fund. This includes support to promote economic growth, improve maternal and new born health and increase access to education. The tri-departmental Conflict Pool also funds joint programmes in Kashmir, supporting conflict prevention and peace building.

    It is not possible to disaggregate our multilateral support to Kashmir.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the number of people who have overstayed their approved visa to be in the UK by (a) up to six months, (b) six months to one year, (c) more than one year and (d) more than three years as at 31 March 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of immigration offenders in the UK as, by their very nature, those that deliberately evade immigration control to enter and stay in the country illegally are not officially recorded until they come to light and are arrested.

    The Immigration Bill will provide new powers to implement exit checks, which the last Labour Government scrapped in 1998. This will allow the Home Office to screen those who leave the UK to identify threats and persons of interest to Border Force, immigration enforcement and other law enforcement bodies, and to enable an appropriate response.

    The Home Office continues to prevent abuse, pursue offenders and increase compliance with immigration law – our Immigration Compliance and Enforcement teams across the UK target illegal migrants who have no right to live and work in the community.

    The Immigration Bill will stop migrants using public services to which they are not entitled, reduce the factors which encourage people to come to the UK and make it easier to remove people who should not be here.

  • Peter Bone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Peter Bone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will re-open HMP Wellingborough to increase prison capacity.

    Jeremy Wright

    As this Government has made previously clear, we will not take any steps to dispose of the mothballed HM Prison Wellingborough because it is sensible measure to retain reserve capacity. I have no immediate plans to change that status.

    My office will be in touch to arrange a meeting to further discuss this matter further.

  • Jake Berry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jake Berry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in (a) Rossendale and (b) Darwen were found guilty of (i) drunk and disorderly behaviour and (ii) drunk and aggravated behaviour in each of the last three years.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to separately identify from this centrally held information the location of an offence or the home address of an offender. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MoJ. As such, the information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Lady Hermon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lady Hermon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to support the progress of the First World War legacy project in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Northern Ireland Office sits on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Programme Board for First World War Centenary Commemorations and plays a coordination role in ensuring the Government’s programme for the First World War commemorations is implemented in Northern Ireland in a manner that promotes reconciliation and enhances prospects for a peaceful, shared future. This includes plans to implement the Government’s commemorative paving stones project in the hometowns of Victoria Cross recipients.

    I am working closely with the Irish Government to participate in a series of joint commemoration events for the centenary of the First World War, and the wider decade of centenaries.

    My officials also provide support for local centenary commemoration plans by sitting on, and working closely with, the Northern Ireland First World War Centenary Committee chaired by the Rt hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP. I receive regular updates on this work and lend it my full support.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on passenger survivability in the North Sea of side-floating helicopter schemes that (a) comply and (b) do not comply with the relevant Civil Aviation Authority statutory specifications.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as part of its Offshore Helicopter Review, looked at improvements that could be made to helicopters to increase the survivability of passengers in the event of a ditching in the sea. The CAA has made recommendations to industry concerning the use of flotation devices. However, the CAA does not have statutory specifications for side-floating helicopter schemes.

    The requirements for such equipment are being developed by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which commissioned a study that was conducted by Eurocopter and Aerazur.　 Previous research by both the CAA and the US Federal Aviation Administration has shown that the majority of fatalities following a ditching or water impact event were due to drowning following the capsize of the helicopter.　 Future requirements for such equipment, which are intended to mitigate the risk of capsize, will be determined by EASA.

  • Andy McDonald – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andy McDonald – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure that asylum seekers receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

    Esther McVey

    Asylum seekers are normally excluded from claiming most benefits.

    Those who cannot claim benefits receive support provided by Asylum Support, a part of the Home Office that deals with accommodating and supporting asylum seekers and their dependants.