Category: Speeches

  • 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 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what categories of personal information are contained on each relevant database managed by his Department and its executive agencies; on what date each category of information was first collected; and if he will make a statement.

    Simon Hughes

    I can confirm that the Ministry of Justice and its executive agencies including Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), currently have no plans to introduce any new HR-related centralised, multi-user database systems.

    In order to ascertain the individual categories of personal information across all existing, relevant centralised HR-related databases, we would be required to either allocate specialist business resources to identify the requirements and produce the data, or commission it directly from third party IT suppliers. All this would be at a disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in respect of which vessels engaged on domestic passenger routes in the United Kingdom the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has notified the European Commission of regulatory exemptions and equivalencies to Directive 2008/45/EC used by the MCA to issue EU Passenger Ship Safety Certificates from 2012; and whether there are any vessels operating for which notification has not taken place.

    Baroness Kramer

    Her Majesty’s Government has notified the European Commission of a regulatory equivalence to Directive 2009/45/EC in respect of the MV SCILLONIAN III. No other vessels operating on domestic passenger routes in the United Kingdom require exemptions or equivalencies.

  • Mr John Leech – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mr John Leech – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr John Leech on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that employers with employees who earn less than £10,000 per year will be legally obliged to provide those employees with an auto-enrolment pension scheme.

    Steve Webb

    Jobholders who earn less than the automatic enrolment earnings trigger of £10,000 and who are not eligible for automatic enrolment may opt in to pension saving. Employers are legally obliged to enrol anyone who opts into an automatic enrolment qualifying scheme and to pay the required employer contribution.

  • Lord Avebury – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Avebury – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Avebury on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why data on the presence of asbestos were not covered in the Property Data Survey Programme in United Kingdom schools; and what are their plans for removing any remaining asbestos from United Kingdom schools.

    Lord Nash

    The Property Data Survey gathers high-level condition data across the state-funded educational estate in England only. The surveyors employed on the programme are general building surveyors and they perform a visual, non-intrusive survey. In comparison, considerably more detailed surveys are required to assess asbestos and that is why asbestos is not included as part of the Property Data Survey.

    The Department for Education does not have a programme for the phased removal of all asbestos from schools in England. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations, the employer – either the school or local authority – has clear responsibilities to manage asbestos containing materials in schools safely. The advice from the Health and Safety Executive is that it is safer to leave undisturbed or undamaged asbestos in place and to carefully manage it rather than to risk disturbing or damaging asbestos unnecessarily. If asbestos is managed effectively, as required by the regulations, the safest and most effective way to plan for its removal is when existing buildings are refurbished or replaced.

  • Mr Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mr Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Andrew Smith on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicle crossings of the Thames were made through the Rotherhithe and Blackwall tunnels in 2013.

    Robert Goodwill

    Data for 2013 are not yet available; the remainder of this answer refers to 2012 data.

    A table providing the 2012 estimated annual average daily flows (AADFs) for road links covering the Rotherhithe and Blackwall Tunnels (for both directions combined) are shown in the table below:

    2012 AADF

    Total Motor Vehicles

    Rotherhithe Tunnel

    32,615

    Blackwall Tunnel

    69,243

    These figures give estimates of the number of vehicles travelling along individual sections of road on an average day of the year.

    To calculate an estimate of the annual usage of the tunnels (for both directions combined); these daily AADF estimates would be multiplied by the 365 days in a year.

    AADF data for individual motorway and ‘A’ road links for 2000 – 2012 are available on our website, here:

    http://data.gov.uk/dataset/gb-road-traffic-counts

    “

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of aligning health services in regulatory bodies and ombudsman services.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Government is considering reports of the Public Administration Select Committee into how complaints about public services are handled. As part of this inquiry, the Cabinet Office is undertaking work to further investigate how public services can make best use of complaints and also to take a wider look at the role and powers of the public sector Ombudsmen. The Government will respond to these reports in due course.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, column 510W, on Electoral Register: young people, what steps his Department has taken to circulate the Rock Enrol! resources to (a) hon. Members, (b) members of the European Parliament, (c) members of the Scottish Parliament, members of the Legislative Assembly and Assembly members, (d) local councillors, (e) schools, colleges and universities and (f) local education authorities.

    Greg Clark

    The government has made available £4.2 million funding to all 363 local authorities (LAs) and valuation joint boards (VJBs) in Great Britain. The Government has written to Electoral Registration Officers and encouraged them to use this funding to support the delivery of Rock Enrol! in their area. Officials will continue to work closely with LA/VJBs in order to monitor and measure the outcomes.

    The Government is supportive of organisations that promote democratic engagement such as Bite the Ballot and welcomes lessons from their experiences.The Rock Enrol! learning resource is freely available on the gov.uk and Times Education Supplement websites amongst others. The Government is also working with a range of organisations, including the Association of Citizenship Teachers, to promote the use of Rock Enrol!

    For details of the Electoral Commission’s registration activities I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by the Hon. Member for South West Devon on 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 209W [183573].

  • Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Iain McKenzie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain McKenzie on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Thai government on the restoration of democracy in that country.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Following a statement by the Foreign Secretary on 22 May, I made a statement on 25 May expressing my strong concerns about the situation in Thailand and calling for a clear timetable for elections and the restoration of democracy.

    Our Ambassador to Thailand has communicated through senior Thai civilian officials our serious concerns about the military takeover. Through them, he has urged the Thai military authorities to provide a clear and detailed timetable for the restoration of civilian government. Most recently he met with the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 3 June. The Head of ASEAN Department in London met the Thai Charge d’affaires, also on 3 June to deliver the same message. Our Defence Attaché in Bangkok meets members of the Thai military on a daily basis and repeats these points each time.

    We have made it clear to the Thai authorities that we will not continue to have normal bilateral relations until an elected government is in place. We are currently reviewing the scope of our cooperation with Thailand.

    We are consulting with EU members, the US, Australia and other allies, to ensure that the international community speaks with one voice on this.

  • Mr Jamie Reed – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Jamie Reed – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jamie Reed on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department gives to teachers and teaching support staff on supporting children with type one diabetes.

    Edward Timpson

    Non-statutory guidance, ‘Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings, is available to schools to help them manage medicines and supporting children with medical needs.

    From September 2014, there will be a new duty, (introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014), on governing bodies of maintained schools (and proprietors of academies) to make arrangements to support pupils at school with medical conditions and to have regard to statutory guidance. The guidance (upon which we have consulted publicly) will set out the requirements on schools to support children with medical conditions, which we would expect them to apply to conditions like diabetes.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which cathedrals will receive funding from the new grant scheme for cathedral repairs announced in Budget 2014.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund is open to all Anglican and Catholic cathedrals in England. Applications for the first round will be considered by the expert panel later this month.