Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent deaths in the Yarmouk section of Damascus, reported by Amnesty International in its report Squeezing the life out of Yarmouk: War crimes against besieged civilians, and, in particular, of that organisation’s attribution of the deaths to starvation and lack of medical care.

    Lord Bates

    DFID is deeply concerned by reports of Palestinian refugees in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus suffering and dying as a result of malnutrition and lack of medical care. Yarmouk has been under siege for some time and we are calling for unfettered access to all affected communities and for all sides to lift sieges to end this suffering.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what circumstances offenders can choose not to attend a parole board meeting when a victim reads a victim personal statement.

    Jeremy Wright

    The victims of serious violent and sexual offences, where the offender has been sentenced to 12 months or more, may opt into the statutory Victim Contact Scheme, operated by the National Probation Service. Where they do so, they will be informed of a Parole Board review and offered the opportunity to make a Victim Personal Statement (VPS). The VPS provides victims with a valuable opportunity to tell the Parole Board how the offence has affected them or their family, both at the time it was committed and since, and how they think the offender’s release would affect them. The VPS can contribute to a better and more informed hearing, as it may enable more robust questioning of the offender about the offence, remorse and victim empathy.

    The independent Parole Board is responsible for the conduct of parole hearings. The normal practice is that the offender will not be present when the victim reads his/her VPS, but there may be circumstances where he/she will be. In many cases, the victim does not wish the offender to be present during the reading. Whilst the conduct of an individual hearing is for the Chair of the Panel of the Parole Board, the Chair cannot insist that the prisoner attends to hear the VPS being read if s/he does not wish to do so. No estimate has been made centrally of the proportion of offenders present at the hearing when the VPS is read out.

  • Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the announcement by the government of Argentina that their new 50 peso banknote will show the Falkland Islands as part of their national territory.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The British Government obviously has no control over what other countries choose to put on their currency. However, we are clear that incorporating the Falkland Islands in this way in no way affects either the UK’s sovereignty or the right of the Falkland Islanders to self–determination, which they exercised in March 2013 in an overwhelming vote to remain part of the UK.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what steps the Electoral Commission is taking to increase the number of British overseas electors registered to vote.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it runs public awareness campaigns to encourage British expatriates to register to vote; the most recent took place ahead of the European elections this year.

    Two briefing notes, which included details of the campaign, were circulated to hon. Members in advance of the elections. These notes are available on the Commission’s website here:

    · www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/164449/Elections-May-2014-briefing.pdf

    · www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/165893/The-elections-on-22-May-2014-Briefing-note-2.pdf

    The Commission intends to run a similar campaign ahead of the 2015 General Election. It is currently evaluating the performance of its 2014 campaign to identify improvements that could be made for the General Election campaign. The Commission will ensure that a copy of the evaluation is sent to the hon. Member when it has been completed.

    “

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer to Lord Adonis of 3 June 2013, Official Report, House of Lords, column 122WA, on government departments: secondments, of those secondments to his Department listed on that date, how many of these secondments related (a) wholly, (b) partly and (c) incidentally to the privatisation of Royal Mail; and how many of those secondments took place primarily for the purpose of helping with the privatisation of Royal Mail.

    Michael Fallon

    Of the secondees listed in the answer given to the noble Lord, Lord Adonis on 3 June 2013, two worked on the Royal Mail privatisation in the Shareholder Executive.

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average duration has been of the assessment period for each claim for personal independence payment from a person diagnosed with a terminal illness in each of the three months to June 2014.

    Mike Penning

    I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave him on 18 June, Official Report, column 629W. Information on clearance times is not currently available. Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication.

  • Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much each local authority in England reported as its (a) budgeted and (b) outturn expenditure on all youth work and provision of activities for young people in each year since 2010.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested is collected by Department for Education and published on gov.uk. I have asked that this information for each year since 2010 is placed in the Library of the House as soon as is practicable.

    Figures for actual spend by local authority in 2013-14 will be available in December 2014.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many cases child support arrears have been written off under the Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012 since November 2012; and how much has been written off in such a fashion.

    Steve Webb

    The circumstances, provided for in The Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012, in which debt can be written off are:

    – Where the Parent with Care (PWC) requests it;

    – Where the Non-resident Parent (NRP) has died prior to 25/01/2010, or no further action can be taken to recover debt from the estate;

    – Where the PWC has died;

    – Where there is Interim Maintenance Assessment (IMA) debt and the IMA was in place between 5th April 93 and 18th April 95, and the assessment cannot be adjusted in light of a parent’s actual income for this form of debt when it arises over that period; or,

    – Where the NRP has been told that no further action would ever be taken to collect the debt.

    Since the introduction of the write off powers in November 2012 the Department has written off the following amounts:

    – Financial year ended 31 March 2013 £1,133,310

    – Financial year ended 31 March 2014 £15,480,677

    The Department does not hold information on the number of cases this relates to.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-04-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs supports in principle the sale of part of the Custom House site adjacent to Dover Priory Railway Station for the development of new parking facilities.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM TREASURY

    Charlie Elphicke MP

    DOVER

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs supports in principle the sale of part of the Custom House site adjacent to Dover Priory Railway Station for the development of new parking facilities. 195498

    DAVID GAUKE

    HM Revenue and Customs does not own the freehold interest of the Custom House site (also known as Priory Court) adjacent to Dover Priory railway station. HMRC occupies the site as part of the STEPS PFI agreement and will consider any proposals from the freeholder Mapeley that affect our rights of occupation.

  • Gordon Henderson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gordon Henderson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Henderson on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of freezing fuel duty on the price of petrol.

    Nicky Morgan

    Since 2011, the Government has abolished the previous Government’s fuel duty escalator, cut duty by 1 penny per litre, and scrapped four planned duty increases. As a result, by the end of the Parliament, petrol will cost nearly 20 pence per litre less than under the previous Government’s plans.