Category: Speeches

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many people have been prosecuted under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 for breach of a non-molestation order in each police force area in each year since that Act came into force.

    Oliver Heald

    The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service do not identify the number of people prosecuted for a breach of a non-molestation order. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, how much Saxton Bampfylde will be paid for its work on a successor to the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; and if he will publish their terms of reference.

    John Thurso

    Following a competitive tendering process, Saxton Bampfylde was appointed on 29 May 2014 to support the recruitment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive, in particular by providing executive search services. Three bids were received and evaluated by Mr Speaker and the Director General of HR and Change. The fee for these services is fixed at £18,000. The contract will be monitored by the Department of HR and Change. The recruitment brief to which Saxton Bampfylde are working will be placed in the Library.

    The Clerk of the House is appointed by the Crown by Letters Patent, on the recommendation of the Speaker to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister to the Crown. Short-listed candidates will be interviewed by a panel chaired by Mr Speaker, three other members of the House of Commons Commission, a senior backbencher and an external member.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the status is of the ICT Relet Project; what costs his Department has incurred; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    As I outlined to the rt. hon. Member in my answer to him of 29 January 2014, Official Report, Column 600W, the programme replaces computers which are seven years old, and also upgrades the systems from Windows XP which is no longer being formally supported by Microsoft with security patches.

    The last Administration failed to get value for taxpayers’ money due to poor management of IT contracts. Indeed, the Department published a contract tender in December 2009 for a desktop IT programme costing up to £160 million. This was subsequently cancelled under this Government as part of our wider reduction in departmental spending and reconfiguration of IT procurement policy.

    The fact that we have delivered a 40 per cent saving on our IT costs is an example of how all parts of the public sector can deliver sensible savings through better procurement.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many parliamentary questions tabled to her Department in the last parliamentary Session did not receive a substantive answer by the time of the 2014 prorogation; and when each such question was first tabled.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    None.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which sites used by the land-focused business of the Defence Support Group will be (a) sold, (b) leased to the buyer and (c) closed with a view to being put on the open market for development.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Other than the proposed closure of the site at Ashchurch for subsequent sale for development, it is not the intention of the Ministry of Defence to sell any of the sites used by the Defence Support Group (DSG) or to close any with a view to putting them on the market. The following facilities which the DSG occupy exclusively will be leased to the new company:

    Andover

    Bicester

    Bovington (main DSG facility)

    Lulworth

    Catterick

    Colchester

    Donnington

    Sennybridge

    Stirling

    Warminster (main DSG facility)

    The DSG will be granted a licence to occupy facilities at the following locations:

    Abingdon

    Aldershot Sites

    Ashchurch (pending closure)

    Bovington (In-Barracks Support)

    Brawdy

    Chivenor

    Edinburgh

    Kinnegar

    Longmoor

    Portsmouth

    St Athan

    Stirling (Bldg 135)

    Stranraer

    Tidworth

    Waddington

    Warminster (In-Barracks Support)

    Wattisham

    Woodbridge

    Woolwich

    Wyton

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consideration he has given to providing mitigation and transition support to maritime businesses during the introduction of maritime fuel sulphur regulations in January 2015.

    Stephen Hammond

    In October 2012, and again in March 2013, I chaired ‘round table’ meetings of industry stakeholders (from the shipping, ports, exhaust gas cleaning system technology, oil refining and logistics sectors) to consider the best way forward for compliance with the new international and EU sulphur requirements. The potential for reverse modal shift, the maturity and efficacy of scrubber technology and the scope for financial assistance to industry were all key to those discussions. The report commissioned by the UK Chamber of Shipping was produced as a result of those meetings, and officials have taken it into account in producing the Government’s Impact Assessment on the draft UK Regulations to implement the sulphur limits in national law.

    The Government went out to an eight-week public consultation on 29 April 2014 on those draft UK Regulations. Meanwhile, Government officials continue to work closely with the industry and to explore the scope for securing EU finance, possibly under the Trans-European Network (commonly known as TEN-T) programme and affordable capital from the European Investment Bank, for shipowners and ports who wish to invest in scrubber technology or in technology associated with the use of an alternative fuel, such as liquefied natural gas, to comply with the new limits.

    The UK Regulations will be reviewed in accordance with normal Government practice and consistent with the principles of better regulation.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent changes have been made in the issuing of visa applications at the Visa Centre in Moscow.

    James Brokenshire

    In March 2014 the management of the UK’s network of Russian visa application
    centres passed from VFS Global to Teleperformance. We are offering a full visa
    service in Russia and our global customer service standards continue to apply.

    Teleperformance opened all 5 new Visa Application Centres in Russia on time in
    March 2014. There was no break in service between the closure of the VFS
    centres and the opening of Teleperformance centres. The new Visa Application
    Centres are all fully functioning and there are appointments available at all
    of them.

  • 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 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of employment and support allowance claims processed within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30, (d) 40, (e) 60 and (f) more than 60 working days.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been subject to (a) restorative justice and (b) non-committal to prison in each of the last three years; and for what range of offence.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Government is committed to ensuring that restorative justice is victim-focused, of a good quality and available at all stages of the criminal justice system across England and Wales.

    Restorative justice is a process that can be used at any stage of the criminal justice system, either alongside or as part of a formal out of court disposal or sentence. Restorative justice is potentially available for any offence, provided both the victim and offender consent and have been assessed as suitable by a trained facilitator. The use of restorative justice should not lead to offenders escaping punishment and we expect crimes of a serious nature to continue to be progressed through the courts.

    Information about the numbers of victims or offenders who are invited to participate in a restorative justice programme, or take up that offer, is not collated centrally. Statistics on non-custodial and custodial sentences are published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice and are available at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/statistics.

    “

  • Russell Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Russell Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Russell Brown on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what response he has given to the recommendation of the Welfare Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament that (a) those living with long-term progressive conditions should not be subject to reassessments and (b) changes should be made to the work capability assessment criteria to better recognise the impact of hidden symptoms and fluctuating conditions including multiple sclerosis.

    Mike Penning

    As Minister of State with the responsibility for this policy area I responded to the letter dated 21 March 2014 from the Welfare Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament on 26 April. In this letter I:

    a) responded by explaining the importance of claimants having contact with the Department; the need to move away from the old style Incapacity Benefit; and that Employment and Support Allowance claimants, including those claimants with progressive illnesses, will be placed in the Support Group if they meet the criteria.

    b) responded that through the Evidence Based Review of the Work Capability Assessment the current descriptors were tested against an alternative assessment and what the findings indicated