Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was claimed by Police and Crime Commissioners in expenses in 2013-14.

    Damian Green

    The Home Office does not collect data on expenses claimed by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).

    Under paragraph 1 (d) of Schedule 1 of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011 PCCs are obliged to publish "the allowances paid to each relevant office holder in respect of expenses incurred by the office holder in the exercise of the body’s functions".

    Article 1(2) of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011 PCCs defines "relevant office holder" as, where the elected local policing body is a police and crime commissioner, the commissioner and any deputy police and crime commissioner appointed by the commissioner.

  • Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown on Communities and Local Government.

    1

    Brandon Lewis

    I have regular meetings with the Fire Brigades Union. The most recent request for a meeting has come from Matt Wrack, the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, and is dated 20 June. I am content to agree to this request as long as the Union is not in a period of strike action.

    Earlier this year I agreed that the Government Actuary’s Department could cost alternative pension scheme designs that the Union had proposed. After constructive discussions, I wrote to the General Secretary on 23 April 2014 stating that their proposals were under consideration. The following day, the Union prematurely called a halt to those discussions by announcing strike action. I have since published draft regulations for consultation to implement the Proposed Final Agreement which was published in May 2012. I would encourage the Union to engage in that formal statutory consultation process which can be found at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-regulations-to-introduce-a-new-firefighters-pension-scheme-from-april-2015

    “

  • Meg Munn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Meg Munn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Munn on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her Answer of 5 March 2014, Official Report, column 871, on Pacific Islands, how much support, and under what categories her Department gave indirectly to Pacific Island countries in 2013-14.

    Mr Alan Duncan

    DFID may give aid indirectly to countries in the Pacific region if multilateral organisations in receipt of DFID core contributions give aid to countries there. It is not possible to directly track this funding to individual countries. To provide an indication of the destination of aid, the overall proportions of aid reported by the relevant multilateral agencies are used to impute a DFID contribution. The DFID imputed multilateral shares for the Pacific region in 2011/12 are set out in the table below. Figures for 2013/14 will not be available until autumn 2015.

    Pacific Island Countries

    £ (thousand)

    Cook Islands

    88

    Fiji

    0

    Kiribati

    3,537

    Marshall Islands

    4

    Micronesia, Fed. States

    10

    Nauru

    69

    Niue

    0

    Palau

    1

    Papua New Guinea

    0

    Pitcairn Islands

    0

    Samoa

    1,444

    Solomon Islands

    570

    Tokelau

    2

    Tonga

    4,393

    Tuvalu

    1,399

    Vanuatu

    264

    Wallis & Fortuna

    0

    South Pacific Regional

    0

    Oceania, regional

    275

    Total Pacific

    12,055

  • Biography information for Lord Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Biography information for Lord Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lord Mann on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

    1

    George Eustice

    The UK is committed to the protection of endangered species, including through playing a leading role in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES promotes the sustainability of endangered species through either prohibiting trade or strictly controlling any trade through a licensing system. The breeding and ranching of endangered species for commercial gain can be permitted under CITES. The UK fully supports the aims of CITES and works to ensure that assessment of whether trade should be permitted for any particular species is based on robust scientific evidence.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice does not use calculations of (a) the value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention.

    The Ministry of Justice uses a range of analytical approaches to assess and evaluate policies, including quantifying the benefits, in line with guidance provided by HM Treasury:

    • “The Green Book: appraisal and evaluation in central government”
    • “The Magenta Book” on designing an evaluation.

    These are published on the HM Treasury website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-green-book-appraisal-and-evaluation-in-central-governent

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-magenta-book

    “

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence of murder, kidnapping or infanticide contrary to the common law of England and Wales in each of the last four years.

    Damian Green

    Murder, infanticide and kidnapping are all indictable only offences. A life sentence is mandatory for murder and the maximum penalty for infanticide and kidnapping.

    The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of ‘murder’, ‘infanticide’ and ‘kidnapping’ in England and Wales from 2009 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.

    Court proceedings data for 2013 is planned for publication in May 2014.


  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Leader of the House, what levels of stock his Office holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Mr Andrew Lansley

    The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. The information requested is not held centrally.

  • Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many coastguard operations room staff have applied for posts in the restructured coastguard service.

    Stephen Hammond

    As at 14 April 2014, of those Coastguards currently working in a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, 86 have applied for both new posts in the new coastguard structure and voluntary redundancy, 140 have applied for voluntary redundancy only and 128 have applied for a new post in the new coastguard structure only.

  • Mark Garnier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Garnier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Garnier on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Capita on processing medical assessment reports for personal independence payments.

    Mike Penning

    The Department’s contract with Capita for the delivery of assessments for Personal Independence Payment includes a full set of service level agreements setting out the Department’s expectations for service delivery. We are closely monitoring their progress against these and are taking action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards.

    We are aware that, in many cases, it is taking longer than we would like for claimants to have their assessments with Capita. We are working closely with our supplier to speed up the process for claimants.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Michael Fabricant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress he has made on developing the role of the Crown Commercial Service; what savings to the public purse he expects to accrue from commercial reform of government procurement; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Crown Commercial Service is now a fully operational legal entity providing expert commercial services to the public sector.

    It is at the heart of the Government’s Commercial Reform Programme and will continue to drive further savings for the taxpayer and improve the quality of commercial and procurement activity across government.