Category: Speeches

  • Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the digital inclusion implications of requiring online accounts for new childcare proposals announced in Budget 2014.

    Nicky Morgan

    Tax-Free Childcare will be hosted on the Government Digital Service (GDS) Gov.uk website alongside other Government digital services. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have overall responsibility for the implementation of these services, in partnership with National Savings and Investments (NS&I) who will operate the accounts.

    The GDS are leading the Government’s work to link digital inclusion into policy programmes and digital services. HMRC have directly consulted with GDS who have been involved in the design of the process and the creation of the solution for Tax-Free Childcare.

    The Government will continue to talk with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders to ensure that Tax-Free Childcare is as simple and secure as possible for parents to access and use.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many remote sites are available and in use by child victims and witnesses in (a) each region of England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

    Damian Green

    We must do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice.

    The department does not hold data on the number of child victim and witnesses that use video links to give evidence (either a court building, or from a remote site).

    The list below sets out the number of courthouses in each of the seven HMCTS Regions in England & Wales; criminal justice is a devolved matter for Scotland and Northern Ireland. These facilities enable any victim or witness to appear by video link from a different court location to that of the trial court; it is also possible for third party users to access the court system through a secure bridge.

    HMCTS Region

    Number of courthouses enabled for remote video link.

    Wales

    22

    London

    32

    South East

    52

    South West

    35

    Midlands

    40

    North West

    31

    North East

    37

    Total

    249
  • Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which companies have been awarded sub-contracts for construction of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales since June 2013; at which sites he expects work under each such contracts to be carried out; and what the monetary value is of each such contract.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 June 2013 (Official Report, column 1279W).

  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender asylum seekers have been deported from the United Kingdom over the last five years.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    It is not possible to provide information on the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender asylum seekers who have been deported from the UK, as sexual identity is not information that the Home Office centrally records.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 35W on nurseries, whether his Department claims tax relief against the cost of such workplace nurseries.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra does not claim tax relief against the cost of running workplace nurseries as it does not pay corporation tax.

  • Lord Laird – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to review electoral law in Northern Ireland in relation to postal voting; what are the major differences from the law in England; and whether they have any plans to enable those over 80 years of age, on application and verification, to have automatic permanent postal votes.

    Baroness Randerson

    The system of postal voting in Northern Ireland is kept under regular review, both by the Government and the Chief Electoral Officer and Electoral Commission. Legislative amendments will be brought forward shortly with the introduction of anonymous registration which will permit electors with an anonymous entry on the electoral register to vote by post. These provisions will come into force on 15 September 2014.

    Postal votes are issued to electors in Northern Ireland who are unable to vote in person at their polling station on Election Day as a result of certain specified conditions. These conditions relate to disability, work or study circumstances. This is different to Great Britain where postal voting is offered on demand and electors are not required to provide a reason for why they are unable to vote in person.

    There are no plans to enable those over 80 years of age to have automatic permanent postal votes. However, permanent postal votes are available to all electors who are unable to attend their polling station on a permanent or long-term basis on the grounds of disability; their (or their husband’s, wife’s or civil partner’s) work; or their (or their husband’s, wife’s or civil partner’s) studies.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that Russia withdraws all of its forces from the Ukrainian border.

    Mr David Lidington

    We are concerned by Russian troops on the Ukrainian border. We are clear that Russia has no legal basis or justification to enter Ukrainian territory and call on Russia to withdraw. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) has highlighted these concerns to Foreign Minister Lavrov.

  • Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many cases since the passage of the Justice and Security Act 2013 the public interest immunity procedure has been invoked; and how much compensation has been paid as a result.

    Lord Faulks

    The Public Interest Immunity procedure may be used in a wide variety of court proceedings and as such no central record exists of its application.

  • 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 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what maximum number of staff of each grade could be provided by each prison supplying staff for detached duty in each month since December 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required. A nationally co-ordinated detached duty scheme has been operating since 21 October 2013.

    The number of staff available /maximum number of staff available for detached duty at any one time is a matter for operational judgement and takes account of overall staff numbers, levels of sickness, prisoner numbers and the regime and security requirements.

    The average headcount of Band 3 staff who worked on detached duty during December 2013 was 190, this represents 1.3% of all Band 3 officers. The table below contains a list of prisons broken down by the full-time-equivalent staff allocated and grade, during December 2013.

    Some allocations outside of the national scheme continued after October 2013 but are not included in the information provided. London region particularly allocated staff within their own region. Information is collected on the staffing allocated. On occasions the resource is not actually deployed due to changes in local circumstances.

    Table: List of prison receiving staff on detached duty by average headcount for December 2013

    Headcount

    Band 3

    Band 4

    5 or fewer

    Aylesbury

    Brixton

    Bedford

    Coldingley

    Brixton

    Guys Marsh

    Bullingdon

    Leyhill

    Coldingley

    Cookham Wood

    Erlestoke

    Isis

    Isle of Wight

    Leeds

    Leicester

    Onley

    Send

    Sheppey Cluster

    Wandsworth

    Winchester

    10

    Wormwood Scrubs

    High Down

    Norwich

    Glen Parva

    Bristol

    Werrington

    Pentonville

    Rochester

    Wayland

    Littlehey

    The Mount

    Nottingham

    Guys Marsh

    High Down

    Moorland/ Lindholme

    20

    Feltham

    Portland

    Staffing figures are provided as at the end of each quarter and the last available figures are for 31 December 2013. Information from after that date is therefore not provided.

    All staffing figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with the department’s policy for presenting staffing data.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what visits Ministers in his Department made to Australia in the last year; what the primary purpose was of those visits; and who accompanied them on those visits.

    Jenny Willott

    Details of Ministers’ overseas visits are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills&publication_type=transparency-data

    Information for January to March 2014 will be published shortly.

    “