Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what particular projects under the Department of Health and the Department for Education will be funded in the current spending review period as a result of the allocation of £40 million for specialist domestic and sexual violence services.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Over the spending review period the £40 million ring-fenced funding for specialist domestic and sexual violence services consists of £28 million
    allocated by the Home Office. This funding is provided directly to local areas not other government departments and is used to support independent domestic violence advisors, independent sexual violence advisers, and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinators. £900,000 a year is used towards the running costs of national help lines for victims of domestic violence and stalking.

    The Ministry of Justice contribution of £12 million is used to fund 78 local rape support schemes.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK is deploying any military assets to assist the NATO patrol over Ukraine.

    Mr Mark Francois

    NATO is not patrolling Ukranian airspace. Therefore, nor is the UK. However, the UK is contributing an E3-D aircraft to the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force flying in NATO airspace and it will be deploying four Typhoon aircraft to enhance the Polish rotation of NATO’s peacetime Baltic Air Policing mission, which polices NATO airspace.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will bring forward proposals to make apprentices who earn below earning thresholds eligible for statutory sick pay.

    Mike Penning

    There is no intention to increase the financial burden on business and extend the qualifying rules for Statutory Sick Pay to bring apprentices earning below the lower earnings level into eligibility. An apprentice earning below the lower earnings limit will, in line with other employees on a low income, continue to have access to Employment and Support Allowance.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the 2013 edition of the Highway Code, paragraph 264, what guidance her Department has given to motorway police on enforcement of the requirement that drivers overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles should return to the left-hand lane as soon as they are safely past; what the maximum penalty is for a driver not complying with that requirement; and on how many occasions in the last 24 months (a) warnings have been given to such drivers, (b) enforcement procedures have been instigated against such drivers and (c) such drivers have been prosecuted for related road traffic offences.

    Damian Green

    The Home Office has not issued any guidance and does not hold any information on the enforcement of lane discipline. Enforcement of the law is an operational matter for the police.

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 8 May 2014, Official Report, column 298W, on Highways Agency, what the (a) criteria and (b) procedures are for considering the extension of the provisions of section 41(3) of the VAT Act 1994 to a new body.

    Mr David Gauke

    Section 41(3) of the VAT Act 1994 applies to Government departments and health authorities. It is governed by a Treasury Direction. Any extension of the provisions is a matter for Treasury Ministers.

  • Ann McKechin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ann McKechin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann McKechin on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for which firms his Department has agreed bonus payments as part of the privatisation of Royal Mail; and on what criteria such payments were made.

    Michael Fallon

    No firms have received bonuses in relation to the sale of Royal Mail shares.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local digital service licences have been awarded in Kent and Medway.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The independent regulator Ofcom, is responsible for allocating commercial TV and radio licences. Ofcom has received two applications to operate a local TV service in the Maidstone area on the digital terrestrial television (DTT) platform and anticipates making a decision about the award of this licence in the summer.

    The licence to operate the DAB radio multiplex covering Kent was awarded in 2003. The Kent DAB multiplex currently carries the following stations: BBC Radio Kent, Capital, Heart Kent, Kmfm, Smooth Kent, Xfm and Pop Up radio.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reasons are for forecast capital gains tax revenue in 2013-14 being below that of 2011-12.

    Mr David Gauke

    The details of the forecasts are set out in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook publications. The Office for Budget Responsibility was created in 2010 and provides the authoritative and independent forecasts for the UK’s economy and public finances.

    http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/category/publications/

    “

  • Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what planning data was used to devise his Department’s recruitment target for the Army Reserve as part of its Army 2020 reforms.

    Anna Soubry

    The term “recruitment target” has been interpreted as the 30,000 trained Army Reservists required under Army 2020.

    During the Three Month Exercise, the Ministry Of Defence examined a range of Force Structure options which were assessed as being able to deliver the policy demand specified by the new Defence Planning Assumptions laid out in Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. As a result of this, a Senior Military Judgement Panel chaired by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and including the Assistant Chiefs of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force concluded that the size of the Regular Army should be 82,500, and the Independent Commission to Review the United Kingdom’s Reserve Forces recommended an Army Reserve of 30,000 trained personnel. This was judged to be the optimal size and shape of the Army within available resources.

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information is held on the value of the residual estates of service men and women killed in action who were not married at the time of their death.

    Anna Soubry

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) would not have visibility of the residual value of the estate of a Service person, as it is the responsibility of the executor or personal representative to collect information on any monies due (such as bank accounts, insurance payouts) or owed (such as bank loans).

    The MOD would inform the executor of any money owing to the estate from the Department. This can comprise: arrears of pay; arrears of allowances (operational allowance, council tax refund); credit for untaken annual leave; cash found in effects and the death in service lump sum payment if this falls due to the estate (rather than being paid to a qualifying beneficiary under the pension scheme).

    Payment is made to the executor once they obtain either a Grant of Representation or Confirmation or Letters of Administration or for small amounts only (Under £5,000) on completion of a Form of Declaration supplied by the MOD.