Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage businesses in the fishing sector to operate in the Falkland Islands.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Honourable Member will be aware that responsibility for the promotion of business and trade opportunities in the Falkland Islands, including in the fishing sector, lies with the Falkland Islands Government (FIG). FIG itself would be the best source of further information as it has responsibility for fishing policy, licence applications and most other maritime matters in the Islands.

    As noted in the Overseas Territories White Paper of 2012, the UK is strongly committed to supporting British companies who wish to do business in the Territories. The investment opportunities in the Overseas Territories were highlighted in November last year as part of the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC), with a half day Investment Forum at which over 150 businesses attended. A similar event is planned as part of the JMC programme for this year.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria are used to decide in which countries to have UK consular and visa offices.

    James Brokenshire

    Decisions regarding the location of our visa application centres, and the
    places in which the applications are decided, are based on a number of
    different factors, including geography, security issues, distribution of
    demand, political and economic impacts, as well as the financial cost. The
    Home Office uses commercial partners to help run its network of visa
    application centres, which are the customer-facing end of the service. Under
    new contracts which came into effect on 1 April, we will have 340 visa
    application points in 142 countries around the world. Applications submitted at visa
    application centres are then sent to one of our 32 decision-making hubs for
    consideration.

    On the Consular side, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supports
    British nationals through the Diplomatic network of 220 Posts around the world, in 170
    countries. They also have a network of 230 Honorary Consuls who provide
    support in places where the UK is not otherwise represented. Having consular
    partners present in countries where the UK is not represented ensures British
    nationals have immediate access to assistance. There are only three countries
    in the world where there is no in country consular representation by the UK or
    any of our main consular partners (EU, Australia, Canada, US or New Zealand).

    These are Palau, Sao Tome & Principe and Tuvalu. In these cases, UK Travel
    Advice instructs British nationals to seek assistance when needed through the
    nearest country with British diplomatic representation: Philippines, Angola and
    Fiji respectively. The FCO currently advise against all travel to Syria and
    warn British nationals who travel there that the FCO will not be able to
    provide them with any assistance. The FCO also advise against all but
    essential travel to Iran and advise British nationals to seek assistance from
    any EU Member State present in the country.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints were made by imprisoned child sex offenders against (a) prison officers and (b) prison staff in each of the last 10 years.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information requested is not available centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to promote the rights of women with disabilities and to ensure such women are empowered and achieve gender equality to the same extent as women without disabilities.

    Justine Greening

    DFID has put girls and women at the heart of international development and is committed to working with the Governments of developing countries to ensure that the issues faced by all vulnerable girls and women, including those with disabilities, are addressed in its programmes.

    On 13 May 2014, the International Development Gender Equality Act 2014 will come into law. This means that before development or humanitarian assistance is provided, the impact on gender equality – including for men and women with disabilities – must be considered within the poverty focus of the International Development Act.

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK Border Agency staff in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) the UK were (i) on zero-hours contracts and (ii) temporary staff in each of the last two years up to the most recent period for which records are available.

    Karen Bradley

    The UK Border Agency was absorbed into the Home Office on 1 April 2013; its
    successor business areas are UK Visas & Immigration and Immigration Enforcement.

    (i) The Home Office and its Agencies do not employ and have not employed staff
    on zero-hours contracts.

    (ii) A geographical breakdown of temporary staff employed in UK Border Agency
    successor business areas in each of the last two years is shown at Table 1.

    [ATTACH TABLE]

    NOTE: Office for National Statistics defines temporary staff as those civil
    servants with contracts of employment of less than one year; staff with Fixed
    Term Appointments and Permanent staff are reported separately by all government
    departments, as are Agency and Contingent Workers.

  • Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregg McClymont on 2014-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the savings to the public purse provided by the recent award of the mail management contract to the EDM Group.

    Mr David Gauke

    Over the three year contract term it is estimated that there is a minimum £8.9m saving to the public purse when comparing the contract cost with an in house provision.

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the reasons are for the changes to Network Rail’s planned redevelopment of the western elevation of New Street Station, set out in planning application 2014/02551/PA to Birmingham City Council.

    Stephen Hammond

    Network Rail has proposed a change to the　Navigation Street　footbridge and the cladding to the existing station building which forms part of the western elevation of the　Birmingham New Street　redevelopment　to deliver a simpler and more cost effective design.

    Detailed structural analysis has proved that the existing 1960s built structures cannot support the proposed cladding and would need significant strengthening to support the additional weight and loading.　 This would require extended railway closures causing delays and disruption to passengers.

    The proposed new design would look very similar to the original plan from the street but would be significantly more cost effective, straightforward to construct and avoid the need for lengthy possessions of the railway below, thereby minimising disruption to passengers. 　It will continue to be a great improvement over the existing 1960s built structure.

  • Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cellular devices have been confiscated from prisons in each of the last five years by establishment.

    Jeremy Wright

    Since April 2010, prisons have been asked to send all unauthorised phones and SIM cards found to a central unit for interrogation, or to notify the unit if an unauthorised phone or SIM card has been found but not sent for analysis. Data prior to April 2010 is not held centrally and data for 2013 and 2014 is being verified and is not yet available.

    The table below shows the number seizures of mobile phones and/or SIM cards reported by each prison between April 2010 and December 2012. One seizure may constitute a handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only.

    ESTABLISHMENT

    2010

    2011

    2012

    ACKLINGTON

    54

    28

    ALBANY

    3

    4

    ALTCOURSE (C)

    790

    609

    534

    ASHFIELD(C)

    1

    2

    2

    ASHWELL

    2

    7

    ASKHAM GRANGE

    2

    AYLESBURY

    278

    97

    29

    BEDFORD

    27

    55

    29

    BELMARSH

    15

    25

    9

    BIRMINGHAM

    248

    537

    302

    BLANTYRE HOUSE

    19

    12

    4

    BLUNDESTON

    27

    1

    11

    BRINSFORD

    12

    76

    45

    BRISTOL

    54

    33

    26

    BRIXTON

    46

    67

    28

    BRONZEFIELD(C)

    34

    12

    3

    BUCKLEY HALL

    11

    22

    149

    BULLINGDON

    42

    16

    6

    BULLWOOD HALL

    1

    8

    15

    BURE

    5

    1

    CAMP HILL

    98

    52

    22

    CANTERBURY

    22

    10

    21

    CARDIFF

    19

    36

    7

    CASTINGTON

    10

    11

    CHANNINGS WOOD

    64

    63

    15

    CHELMSFORD

    42

    38

    11

    COLDINGLEY

    37

    52

    42

    COOKHAM WOOD

    6

    1

    1

    DARTMOOR

    27

    16

    2

    DEERBOLT

    3

    15

    2

    DONCASTER(C)

    15

    6

    24

    DORCHESTER

    20

    14

    8

    DOVEGATE (C)

    5

    24

    15

    DOVER

    14

    21

    10

    DOWNVIEW

    5

    5

    2

    DRAKE HALL

    10

    2

    3

    DURHAM

    24

    41

    23

    EAST SUTTON PARK

    1

    5

    4

    EASTWOOD PARK

    3

    9

    1

    EDMUNDS HILL

    25

    22

    ELMLEY

    45

    47

    53

    ERLESTOKE

    62

    176

    137

    EVERTHORPE

    50

    32

    26

    EXETER

    14

    21

    15

    FEATHERSTONE

    39

    29

    133

    FELTHAM

    84

    65

    45

    FORD

    61

    250

    200

    FOREST BANK (C)

    122

    37

    105

    FOSTON HALL

    1

    2

    FRANKLAND

    6

    2

    7

    FULL SUTTON

    10

    4

    9

    GARTH

    76

    32

    39

    GARTREE

    14

    22

    65

    GLEN PARVA

    2

    4

    8

    GLOUCESTER

    1

    4

    3

    GRENDON

    17

    10

    3

    GUYS MARSH

    77

    182

    175

    HASLAR

    2

    HATFIELD

    10

    58

    154

    HAVERIGG

    107

    134

    291

    HEWELL

    76

    289

    335

    HIGHDOWN

    23

    68

    49

    HIGHPOINT

    80

    55

    180

    HINDLEY

    1

    4

    6

    HOLLESLEY BAY

    193

    129

    90

    HOLLOWAY

    7

    7

    10

    HOLME HOUSE

    18

    15

    5

    HULL

    23

    25

    13

    HUNTERCOMBE

    2

    36

    9

    ISIS

    8

    52

    39

    KENNET

    4

    5

    9

    KINGSTON

    6

    KIRKHAM

    273

    390

    493

    KIRKLEVINGTON GRANGE

    13

    15

    19

    LANCASTER CASTLE

    18

    LANCASTER FARMS

    89

    79

    25

    LATCHMERE HOUSE

    69

    40

    LEEDS

    53

    59

    27

    LEICESTER

    27

    26

    15

    LEWES

    38

    46

    30

    LEYHILL

    83

    27

    30

    LINCOLN

    28

    33

    4

    LINDHOLME

    164

    96

    145

    LITTLEHEY

    13

    34

    4

    LIVERPOOL

    138

    118

    88

    LONG LARTIN

    12

    31

    77

    LOW NEWTON

    3

    LOWDHAM GRANGE (C)

    27

    10

    26

    MAIDSTONE

    6

    34

    22

    MANCHESTER

    41

    36

    23

    MOORLAND

    111

    65

    13

    MOORLAND OPEN

    10

    MORTON HALL

    4

    5

    MOUNT

    86

    78

    182

    NEW HALL

    2

    1

    NORTH SEA CAMP

    86

    63

    67

    NORTHALLERTON

    7

    3

    NORTHUMBERLAND

    9

    15

    109

    NORWICH

    30

    15

    11

    NOTTINGHAM

    11

    38

    17

    OAKWOOD

    33

    ONLEY

    53

    68

    65

    PARC(C)

    32

    79

    16

    PARKHURST

    6

    8

    20

    PENTONVILLE

    207

    199

    124

    PETERBOROUGH(C)

    141

    145

    60

    PORTLAND

    24

    6

    11

    PRESCOED

    2

    4

    PRESTON

    18

    15

    9

    RANBY

    90

    124

    300

    READING

    12

    25

    7

    RISLEY

    72

    12

    37

    ROCHESTER

    6

    10

    23

    RYE HILL(C)

    42

    79

    70

    SEND

    3

    12

    11

    SHEPTON MALLET

    3

    7

    4

    SHREWSBURY

    3

    SPRING HILL

    12

    13

    34

    STAFFORD

    12

    69

    14

    STANDFORD HILL

    150

    186

    127

    STOCKEN

    26

    12

    30

    STOKE HEATH

    8

    28

    19

    STYAL

    7

    7

    9

    SUDBURY

    72

    120

    124

    SWALESIDE

    100

    58

    107

    SWANSEA

    2

    1

    SWINFEN HALL

    32

    44

    14

    THAMESIDE

    8

    THORN CROSS

    74

    79

    84

    USK

    2

    1

    1

    VERNE

    67

    144

    161

    WAKEFIELD

    1

    2

    3

    WANDSWORTH

    157

    131

    119

    WARREN HILL

    5

    10

    5

    WAYLAND

    20

    30

    17

    WEALSTUN

    57

    145

    155

    WELLINGBOROUGH

    61

    195

    181

    WERRINGTON HOUSE

    12

    4

    9

    WETHERBY

    5

    3

    5

    WHATTON

    9

    1

    WHITEMOOR

    18

    28

    17

    WINCHESTER

    39

    3

    31

    WOLDS(C)

    104

    96

    44

    WOODHILL

    4

    58

    74

    WORMWOOD SCRUBS

    141

    267

    39

    WYMOTT

    58

    50

    11

    Total

    6756

    7789

    7301

    All figures provided have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress has been made on implementing the recommendations of the Office of Tax Simplification.

    Mr David Gauke

    At Budget 2014 the government announced it will implement Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) recommendations to simplify the taxation of employee benefits and expenses, employee share schemes, and partnerships. It will also simplify National Insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed by collecting class 2 NICs through Self Assessment from April 2016, as recommended by the OTS.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were employed in work in the community on 1 April in each of the last four years.

    Jeremy Wright

    Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully whilst they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

    The number of prisoners working in industrial activity in public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1½ million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.

    In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

    Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

    Figures for the number of prisoners working in the community are not held centrally and could only be obtained from local records at disproportionate cost.

    “