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Category: Speeches

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had about reducing the time taken by the Valuation Office Agency to consider rating assessment appeals.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to delivering a quicker and more efficient business rates appeals system in England, so that businesses can be confident they are paying the right amount of business rates and any refunds can be paid quickly. Details of our proposals are set out in the consultation paper Check, Challenge, Appeal: Reforming Business Rates Appeals, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-business-rates-appeals-check-challenge-appeal. Enabling legislation is being taken forward in the Enterprise Bill.

    “

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39787, if he will place a copy in the Library of the Joint Doctrine Publication 030.2, Unmanned Aircraft Systems; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    To ensure defence doctrine reflects UK Government policy, the drafting of Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30.2 "Unmanned Aircraft Systems" is being developed in parallel with the Defence policy review concerning both remotely piloted air and highly automated systems. Officials are currently consulting stakeholders and expect to conclude the review early in 2017 at which point we expect to publish the updated doctrine.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 26 September 2014 to Question 209770 asked by the hon. Member for Moray, how much his Department has spent on studies on whether to refurbish or replace the existing Trident warhead design to date.

    Michael Fallon

    As of the end of the last financial year (March 2015), the Ministry of Defence had spent £80 million on technology studies to support refurbishment of the current system and explore options for a potential future warhead, and £5.5 million on studies to support the decision whether to refurbish or replace the existing warhead.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure parity between funding for physical health and mental health research following the 2014 Research Excellence Framework conducted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is allocated funding from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) Science and Research budget to distribute to higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. Most of HEFCE’s funding is allocated as an unhypothecated research block grant to institutions, ensuring university leaders have flexibility to support their own research priorities. While this block grant is calculated using research quality and volume information from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) at a subject level, it is a matter for individual HEIs to determine how it is ultimately distributed to particular activities/subjects.

    In developing the REF, the attribution of different disciplines to particular units of assessment was agreed with the relevant professional bodies. Research relevant to clinical mental health was assessed in a unit including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As this unit included a mix of research with higher costs (clinical psychology and psychiatry, and neuroscience) and lower costs (social psychology), the funding was allocated at an intermediate cost rate, reflecting the mix of disciplines.

    REF2014 demonstrated significantly improved research quality in all disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As a result, the funding allocated on the basis of performance to this group increased by 16.5 per cent.

    As announced in the Spending Review 2015, the Government is taking forward a review of the REF to ensure that future university research funding is allocated efficiently, offers greater rewards for excellent research and reduces the administrative burden on institutions. This review will be led by Lord Stern, and he is expected to deliver his review to the Government in summer 2016.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff make up the Defence Cyber Operations Group.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Defence Cyber Operations Group was designed to deliver cyber capability and mainstream cyber security throughout Defence by establishing a federation of cyber units. As this work matured it resulted instead in the formation of the Joint Forces Cyber Group in May 2013.

    The Joint Forces Cyber Group (JFCyG) plans and co-ordinates cyber operations, and develops new tactics, techniques and plans to deliver military capabilities to confront high-end threats. It comprises Joint Cyber Units at Cheltenham and Corsham, the Joint Cyber Unit (Reserve) and Information Assurance Units.

    I am withholding details on the JFCyG as their disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to ensure there is adequate funding for children with special educational needs in early years education.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We have already announced over £1bn more for the early years entitlements within the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant by 2019-20, which includes £300m to uplift the funding rate to providers. We are also providing protection for high needs funding that will make sure that the level of funding rises in proportion to the number of children, including those under 5. This will make sure that local authorities continue to have the flexibility to target funding where it is most needed to help children with special educational needs and disabilities and their families, including the youngest children. Further consideration will be given to funding for children with special educational needs in early years education as part of consultation later this year.

    Local authorities are required by law to secure free entitlement places for parents that want their child to take them up. The Government is committed to ensuring that all families have access to high quality, flexible and affordable childcare and parents with children with special educational needs should have the same opportunities as other parents through access to high quality childcare. The Children and Families Act requires local authorities to have a ‘local offer’ which includes a statement on how they intend to tailor the childcare on offer for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Early implementation of 30 hours from September 2016 provides a real opportunity to develop innovative approaches to providing flexible childcare for working parents whose children are disabled or have special educational needs.

    Through Early Implementation, York, Northumberland, Newham and Wigan are among 8 LAs delivering the 30 hours entitlement from September 2016, a year earlier than planned. This will include delivering targeted places focusing on children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

    They will also be supported by Early Implementer Innovator areas including Brighton and Hove, Hampshire and Trafford, who will test the offer and how it works under specific circumstances, including developing approaches to support children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in how many public private partnerships in (a) the UK and (b) Birmingham the Government is involved as a (i) party to the contract and (ii) statutory actor.

    Greg Hands

    HM Treasury collects and publishes data on centrally supported PFI and PF2 (the UK Government’s main form of PPPs) projects. The most recent collection recorded projects as at 31st March 2015. This can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-and-private-finance-2-projects-2015-summary-data. This publication has the information requested on projects in the UK and Birmingham.

    HM Treasury does not hold information on ‘statutory actors’ in PFI and PF2 projects, however the published data does show the contracting parties, equity holders and special purpose vehicle responsible for managing the project.

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 36124, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the apprenticeship levy on apprenticeship completion rates.

    Nick Boles

    The apprenticeship levy is part of a range of reforms which we are introducing to increase investment in apprenticeships, raise their quality and make them more relevant to employers’ needs.

    High quality training that is more relevant to the needs of employers will encourage apprentices to complete their apprenticeships so that they are fully competent in their occupations.

    Information on apprenticeship achievement rates in England is published in the Statistical First Release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held

    “

  • Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the introduction of small scale DAB licensing for community radio stations.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The ten small scale DAB technical trials funded by DCMS have been positive with more than 80 smaller commercial and community radio stations broadcasting on DAB for the first time, including some new services. We are looking at options for new legislation to license small scale DAB multiplexes.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the severity of sentencing on deterring assaults of police officers; and if she will take steps to ensure that people who assault police officers receive the toughest possible sentences.

    Brandon Lewis

    I want to be clear that an assault of any kind on a police officer or police community support officers is wholly unacceptable. Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, have a duty to manage and support the police workforce effectively, ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff.

    The College of Policing develops standards and guidance for policing and works with forces to manage and prevent assaults.

    Last year we published figures on assaults on police officers for the first time since 2009/10 and developed this further in 2016. We continue to work with forces to improve the data.

    Sentencing guidelines already provide for assault on a police officer to be treated more severely in appropriate cases. The courts need to be able to take into account all the circumstances of each case.