Category: Speeches

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 6 May (WA 358), whether they are considering introducing legislation to prevent the practice of reparative or conversion therapy on homosexual men and women.

    Earl Howe

    This Government does not believe that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is an illness to be treated or cured. We have no current plans to ban or restrict conversion therapy via legislation as we do not feel this would be an effective preventive measure.

    We do, however, fully recognise the importance of this issue. Therefore, the Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, convened a roundtable with professional bodies and charities in February of this year to discuss collaborative measures to help prevent the use of such therapies. The Department continues to work with these organisations.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government’s report into the condition of all flood defence assets following the winter floods will be published; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Government’s report into the condition of flood defence assets will be published when the results of the national assessment have been analysed by the Environment Agency. This is currently expected to be May.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

    Jenny Willott

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Francis Maude) on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government’s latest assessment is of the likely timeframe within which International Monetary Fund funds will be released for the Ukraine.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The IMF Board is expected to consider Ukraine’s application for a financial assistance programme in April. The agreement of a programme and subsequent disbursement of funds is also dependent on the Ukrainian authorities adopting a set of reforms as set out by the IMF.

    The latest IMF statement, following staff level agreement with the Ukrainian authorities on a potential programme, can be found at:

    http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2014/pr14131.htm

    “

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which includes the Government Equalities Office, has no specific targets for increasing employeediversity. DCMS publishes its employee diversity information on data.gov.uk annually. The most recent diversity information can be found at the following link

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/237397/DCMS_Equality_Workforce_Data_2012-2013.csv/preview

    “

  • Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when the next Joint Ministerial Council (a) Plenary, (b) Domestic and (c) Europe meeting will take place; and what will be discussed at each such meeting.

    Mr Alistair Carmichael

    The Joint Ministerial Committees take place in their Plenary, Domestic and European forms on a regular basis. Dates for future meetings are subject to agreement with the devolved administrations, as are the agendas which are agreed in advance via the JMC joint secretariat.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

    Elizabeth Truss

    Whilst the Department for Education does not set explicit targets for increasing diversity, Management Committee monitors representation rates on a monthly basis.

    The table below shows the change to the workforce over the past year:

    May-13

    May-14

    Annual change (percentage points)

    Workforce

    Black and minority ethnic

    16.6%

    16.6%

    0.0

    Women

    59.0%

    57.8%

    -1.2

    Disabled

    11.7%

    12.1%

    +0.4

    LGBT

    4.0%

    4.1%

    +0.1

    We also monitor the Department’s representation rates at SCS against Civil Service 2013 targets:

    Female

    BME

    Disabled

    DfE

    CS target

    DfE

    CS target

    DfE

    CS target

    SCS

    44.1%

    39%

    5.4%

    5%

    5.7%

    5%

    Women (Director and above)

    42.9%

    34%

    “

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many social enterprises there were in Brighton, Kemptown constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Jenny Willott

    BIS does not have constituency level data on social enterprises. Using data from the 2012 BIS ‘Small Business Survey’ and the ‘Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions 2013′, BIS estimate that in 2013 approximately five per cent (or 60,000) of small and medium-sized enterprise employers[1] in the UK were social enterprises[2]. It is not possible to provide reliable information for smaller geographical areas.

    [1] Small and medium-sized employers with between 1 and 249 employees.

    [2] Defined as an enterprise that considers itself a social enterprise and that should not pay more than 50 per cent of profit or surplus to owners or shareholders, should not generate more than 25 per cent of income from grants and donations and, therefore, should not have less than 75 per cent of turnover from trading.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department has exceeded the target set by the Cabinet Office for women in the Senior Civil Service (SCS), met the target for black and minority ethnic (BME) staff in the SCS, and is 1% below the target for disabled staff in the SCS.

    SCS Group

    Cabinet Office

    Target %

    Department

    Acheivement %

    Women

    37

    41

    BME

    5

    5

    Disabled

    5

    4
  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much in Regional Growth Fund money is currently held by intermediaries; and how much such money has been allocated (a) in each bidding round, (b) to each intermediary and (c) in each region.

    Michael Fallon

    From the four Regional Growth Fund (RGF) bidding rounds, £1.5 billion has been allocated to RGF programmes from which grants are made to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs.)

    Of this, £452 million was allocated to 13 endowment programmes in Rounds 1 and 2 that received the full payment of their RGF grant upfront. These programmes have since invested £144 million to date in individual projects, and of the remaining £308 million held by such endowment programmes, a further £154 million is already committed to specific SME projects.

    Non–endowment programmes are funded a quarter in advance on evidence of credible pipeline projects. These programmes have spent £172 million with a further £151 million of RGF paid to them in the last financial quarter under the expectation it would be spent this quarter. The money held by these programmes is not causing any delay to individual projects as businesses claim the money according to their business needs. A table of RGF funding allocated to intermediaries by each bidding round and region will be placed in the libraries of the House.