Category: Speeches

  • Gloria De Piero – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gloria De Piero – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of small and medium-sized businesses were registered in each parliamentary constituency; and what the equivalent figures were in each of the last five years.

    Michael Fallon

    There is no central register of businesses. Companies House does have a register of companies but it cannot determine the number of companies classified as small and medium sized as defined by the Companies Act 2006. Information on companies registered in each parliamentary constituency could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place a copy of 2014DIN07-082 on 2014/2015 Defence Cyber Practitioner Courses in the Library.

    Mr Mark Francois

    I have placed a redacted copy of the Defence Information Notice 2014DIN07-082 in the Library of the House.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the likely reduction to the block grant for Northern Ireland in the current financial year arising from lack of progress on welfare reform.

    Danny Alexander

    I have written to the Northern Ireland Minister for Finance and Personnel setting out that the Treasury will reduce Northern Ireland Executive budgets to reflect savings foregone as a result of the lack of progress on welfare reforms already in place in the rest of the United Kingdom. For 2014/15 those estimated savings are £87m and in 2015/16 they will rise to £114m.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Secretary of State meets his Chief Scientific Adviser at least weekly, sometimes more frequently.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2014, Official Report, columns 322-3W, on unmanned air vehicles, whether the training of UK personnel in the six countries identified has involved unmanned aircraft actively engaged in operations.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Training of UK personnel in the six countries identified has not involved unmanned aircraft actively engaged in operations. Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) training has only ever occurred in non-operational environments, specifically the countries listed in my previous answer on 27 March 2014. Army UAS actively engaged in operations have always been, and continue to be, remotely piloted solely by fully trained personnel operating on the ground in the country in which the operation is active. This has only been in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Douglas Carswell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure GPs are accessible to patients.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    Through the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund, more than 7.5 million people in England will start to be offered increased access to local general practitioner (GP) services, including seven-day opening and appointments outside of office hours. The Fund is supporting over 1,110 practices covering every region as part of a pilot scheme.

    The PM Challenge Fund is for one year and patients are expected to see positive changes from services from June/July onwards. An interim evaluation report is due in November this year. The full and final report is expected to be published in the early part of 2015-16. There will be a rolling programme of feedback on the pilots with case studies available from the summer onwards to help spread best practice across the country.

    In addition, the new GP contract introduced a new Enhanced Service, which includes a commitment to same day phone consultations with a professional in the GP surgery where necessary for the most at risk in the population.

  • Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what involvement his Department had in overseeing the activities of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in awarding the Magnox/RSRL contract; and if he will make a statement.

    Michael Fallon

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is responsible for running the competition to secure a new Parent Body Organisation for Magnox Ltd and Research Sites Restoration Ltd in line with its statutory duties and responsibilities under the Energy Act 2004. The competition is run in strict accordance with UK and EU procurement regulations. Oversight and governance is provided by the NDA’s Competition Programme Board, on which the Government is represented by the Shareholder Executive (on behalf of DECC), HM Treasury and Infrastructure UK. Formal Government approval will be required before the contract can be awarded in September.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were working in his Department on sexual health matters in each year since 2010; and how many people have worked in (a) his Department and (b) Public Health England on sexual health matters since the formation of Public Health England.

    Jane Ellison

    The following table shows staff numbers working directly on sexual health matters within the Department since 2010. There are also a number of senior civil servants and other staff, such as analysts, working in the Department who input to work on sexual health and a wide range of other issues.

    Year

    Department staff numbers

    sexual health

    Whole Time Equivalent (WTE)

    2010 (estimated)

    19

    17.2

    2011

    10

    10

    2012

    9

    8.7

    2013

    6

    5.7

    2014

    6

    5.7

    The total number of Public Health England staff working on sexual health is 255.3 WTE.

    Public Health England’s head count includes staff working on Health Protection, field epidemiology, microbiology services and Health and Wellbeing staff. Some staff are externally funded and are not exclusive to sexual health, working across disciplines.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Phillips – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the threat to the UK’s environment from invasive alien plant species.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Non-Native Species Framework Strategy for Great Britain sets out our mechanism for addressing non-native species, including plants. The strategy includes a comprehensive risk assessment mechanism to assess the potential negative impacts of non-native species, including threats to the environment. To date 126 risk assessments have been completed or are in progress. Of these, 58 are plant species.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of (a) adult and (b) child passport renewal applications were processed within the three-week service standard in each of the last six months.

    James Brokenshire

    he table below shows the number of straightforward passport applications
    received within the UK which were processed within 3 weeks.

    Month

    Proportion of straightforward applications processed within 3 weeks

    Dec 13

    99.99%

    Jan 14

    99.99%

    Feb 14

    99.98%

    Mar 14

    99.95%

    Apr 14

    99.59%

    May 14

    92.26%

    Her Majesty’s Passport Office does not hold a further breakdown of this information by
    application type. The cost of bringing that information together would be
    disproportionate and so it is not possible to provide the information you have
    requested.