Category: Speeches

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to reduce taxation on small businesses; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business and has focused a number of measures specifically on small businesses.

    These include a £2,000 Employment Allowance available from April 2014 to support small businesses aspiring to hire their first employee or expand their workforce; and, as set out in the Autumn Statement 2013, a £1bn package of business rates measures, 90% of which is going to businesses occupying small premises. The Government is also increasing the payable R&D tax credit for loss-making SMEs from 11 per cent to 14.5 per cent from April 2014, providing particular support for early-stage companies and start-ups, who face the greatest risks and barriers to R&D investment.

    Fuel costs are also significant for many small businesses so the Government has implemented the longest duty freeze for over 20 years. In total, by 2015-16 a small business with a van will have saved £1,300 and a haulier £21,000.

  • Naomi Long – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Naomi Long – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naomi Long on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on (a) armed forces recruitment and (b) armed forces recruitment marketing in 2012-13.

    Anna Soubry

    The Ministry of Defence does not report the costs of recruitment marketing separately. The costs detailed in the following table show the total cost of regular recruiting by Service and include manpower costs; marketing campaigns (specific advertising); marketing operations (provision of the recruiting process i.e. call centres and website maintenance), and contract costs (i.e. medical and fitness testing).It should be noted that despite the redundancy notice, the Armed Forces are required to constantly recruit every year to maintain the levels of young personnel entering the three services.

    Financial Year

    Royal Navy

    Army

    Royal Air Force

    TOTAL

    2012-13

    £33.2million

    £122.8million

    £35.4million

    £191.4million

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on renegotiating overseas fishing agreements with Guinea-Bissau and other countries along the West African coast.

    George Eustice

    The fisheries agreement between the European Union and Guinea-Bissau has been inactive since 2012 when the protocol was suspended due to political tensions in the country. I am unaware of any further discussion about this agreement since that time.

    At present, the EU has active fisheries agreements with the following countries in Western Africa: Cape Verde,Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, São Tomé e Príncipe and Mauritania. In addition, there are a number of agreements which are currently dormant.

    The UK plays an active role within the EU when these agreements are negotiated. Our views are based on the following principles: that agreements allow EU fleets only to fish against genuinely surplus stocks; that best available scientific advice is taken into account to fish sustainably; that due consideration is given to human rights issues; and that agreements be financially beneficial to the EU and thethird country in question, with sufficient controls in place to ensure funds received by third countries are used in appropriate ways. Furthermore, the UK also believes that the financial burden of agreements should be moved towards vessel operators, from the EU taxpayer, taking into account the profitability of the stock.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the written statement of 4 March 2013, Official Report, columns 55-6WS, on special mission immunity, how many special missions have been (a) consented to and (b) refused under the pilot process; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Simmonds

    I refer to the statement made by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), to the House on 4 March 2013, Official Report, columns 55-56WS. The Foreign Secretary announced a new process by which we would be informed of visits that may qualify for special mission status. The pilot process has improved the process for communicating and decision-making in respect of visits that may qualify for special mission status. Since the pilot’s inception, we have received six such requests. There are no requests outstanding.

    The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), confirmed to the House on 12 July 2013, Official Report, columns 427W and 429W, that two of the requests which were granted, related to visits by Lieutenant General Benny Gantz of the Israeli Defence Forces and Doron Almog, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Chief of Staff for Bedouin Status improvement. In view of the confidentiality of diplomatic exchanges, we have no plans to publish further details about requests that have been granted or refused. But if those applying for special mission status wish to announce the details of their visit to the UK, they are of course at liberty to do so.
    All applications for special mission status are considered carefully in view of both obligations incumbent upon the UK under customary international law and our policy of ending impunity for the most serious of international crimes and a commitment to the protection of human rights. Above this, it is for the courts to decide on the legal consequences of any decision to grant special mission status.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many visits she made to the Jordan Valley in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

    Justine Greening

    The former Secretary of State for International Development, my Rt. Hon friend the member for Sutton Coldfield, visited the Jordan Valley in 2011.

  • 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 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the UK Government has agreed to provide the government of Nigeria in financial support as part of the prisoner transfer agreement with the country signed on 9 January 2014; and what the benefits for the UK are of that agreement.

    Jeremy Wright

    We are currently in discussion about supporting further projects that will assist Nigeria to improve their prisons and build the capacity they need to receive prisoners from the UK under the compulsory prisoner transfer agreement we signed in January this year. To date the cross-Government Migration Fund has funded refurbishment works at Kiri Kiri women’s prison in Lagos, and supported a project aimed at increasing access to justice for remand prisoners to tackle the issue of congestion within the Nigerian prison estate.

    The prisoner transfer process is just one mechanism for removing foreign national offenders (FNOs). All FNOs sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office to be considered for deportation at the earliest possible opportunity. The number of FNOs deported under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) has increased under this Government with nearly 2,000 FNOs removed in 2013. Under the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed 243 FNOs (at April 23rd 2014).

    Whereas this Government has begun to reduce the foreign national population in prison since 2010, between 1997 and 2010, the number of foreign nationals in our prisons more than doubled.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to reply to questions 192679, 192680 and 192681 on children: daycare, tabled on 18 March 2014 for answer on 24 March 2014.

    Nicky Morgan

    I have done so.

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to extend civil partnerships to opposite sex couples.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    The Government is currently considering the views expressed by consultation respondents on the future of civil partnership in England and Wales. The Government has not itself proposed any changes to civil partnership.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the oral Answer of 6 February 2014, Official Report, column 348W, on Colombia, what discussions he held with (a) business, (b) government and (c) civil society representatives regarding the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Action Plan on Business and Human Rights during his visit to Colombia in February 2014.

    Mr Nick Clegg

    I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the answer I gave on 11 February, Column 691. In addition to this, all members of the business delegation who accompanied me were briefed on Human Rights issues before the visit.

  • Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Gibb on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the waiting time is for new routine referrals to Ophthalmology in each NHS hospital trust area.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    Information on the median average waiting time for patients waiting to start consultant-led ophthalmology treatment for all National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts in England is shown in the following table.

    Latest data for February 2014 shows that the median average waiting time for patients waiting to start consultant-led ophthalmology treatment in the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is 8.6 weeks.

    Monthly Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times for incomplete pathways in ophthalmology, February 2014

    Provider Name

    Average (Median) Waiting Time (In Weeks)

    Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    4.7

    Airedale NHS Foundation Trust

    4.1

    Ashford And St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    4.9

    Barts Health NHS Trust

    6.2

    Bedford Hospital NHS Trust

    6.0

    Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    7.3

    Bolton NHS Foundation Trust

    5.5

    Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    4.9

    Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

    5.7

    Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

    10.2

    Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.7

    Calderdale And Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

    4.9

    Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.2

    Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.3

    Chelsea And Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    5.1

    Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    6.5

    City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

    5.1

    Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust

    4.7

    Countess Of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    6.4

    County Durham And Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

    6.8

    Coventry And Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust

    4.4

    Croydon Health Services NHS Trust

    4.9

    Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust

    5.3

    Doncaster And Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.0

    Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    6.9

    Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust

    8.8

    East And North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

    4.5

    East Cheshire NHS Trust

    6.1

    East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

    4.9

    East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

    4.2

    East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

    6.0

    Epsom And St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

    4.9

    Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    6.5

    George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust

    2.7

    Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    4.3

    Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    7.5

    Guy’s And St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

    4.2

    Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.7

    Harrogate And District NHS Foundation Trust

    5.5

    Heart Of England NHS Foundation Trust

    5.3

    Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust

    3.6

    Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    3.0

    Hull And East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

    5.5

    Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

    5.1

    Isle Of Wight NHS Trust

    5.5

    James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    4.8

    Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    5.7

    King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    6.1

    Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    4.6

    Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.0

    Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

    4.8

    Lewisham And Greenwich NHS Trust

    5.1

    Luton And Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    5.1

    Maidstone And Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

    6.3

    Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.6

    Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust

    5.7

    Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

    4.7

    Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

    5.4

    Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    4.0

    Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    5.7

    Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    6.4

    North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust

    7.2

    North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust

    6.0

    North West London Hospitals NHS Trust

    3.8

    Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

    4.2

    Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust

    5.5

    Northern Lincolnshire And Goole NHS Foundation Trust

    5.4

    Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

    5.3

    Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust

    8.5

    Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

    5.4

    Peterborough And Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.4

    Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust

    5.8

    Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    5.7

    Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

    5.6

    Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    8.8

    Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

    6.7

    Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

    5.5

    Royal Devon And Exeter NHS Foundation Trust

    4.8

    Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

    6.8

    Royal Liverpool And Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust

    4.6

    Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    5.9

    Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust

    5.2

    Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust

    4.0

    Sandwell And West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

    4.5

    Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.6

    Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.6

    Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust

    10.4

    South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

    4.2

    South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    6.3

    South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust

    6.8

    South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust

    5.8

    Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    5.4

    Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

    4.4

    Southport And Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust

    3.5

    St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust

    7.0

    St Helens And Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust

    4.7

    Stockport NHS Foundation Trust

    6.7

    Surrey And Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

    6.2

    Taunton And Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

    8.3

    The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

    5.8

    The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    4.1

    The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    4.7

    The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

    5.4

    The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust

    3.2

    The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

    2.1

    The Royal Bournemouth And Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.2

    The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

    4.5

    United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

    6.2

    University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    5.9

    University Hospital Of North Staffordshire NHS Trust

    4.8

    University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

    5.6

    University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

    5.3

    University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

    5.3

    University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust

    5.2

    University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust

    5.8

    University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust

    5.2

    Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust

    5.5

    Warrington And Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    3.4

    West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

    10.8

    West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

    3.1

    Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    8.6

    Weston Area Health NHS Trust

    5.6

    Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    6.0

    Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

    4.7

    Worcestershire Health And Care NHS Trust

    4.2

    Wrightington, Wigan And Leigh NHS Foundation Trust

    4.0

    Wye Valley NHS Trust

    5.6

    Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    3.0

    York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    5.4

    Notes:

    1. Median waiting times are calculated from aggregate data, rather than patient level data, and therefore are only estimates of the position on average waits.

    2. Median waiting times are not calculated for organisations (and treatment functions) with less than 50 pathways in the month.

    3. The following trusts did not submit any RTT incomplete pathway data for February 2014:

    – Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust;

    – Barking, Havering & Redbridge NHS Trust;

    – Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

    – Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;

    – The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust; and

    – Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust.