Category: Speeches

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of how many properties at risk of flooding in (a) Windsor constituency and (b) the Thames Valley that will not be covered by the new Flood Re scheme.

    Dan Rogerson

    The assessment of the impact the scope of the Flood Re Scheme will have was done at a UK level. There was no specific assessment for individual constituencies or regions.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with Brighton and Hove City Council on the condition of roads in that area; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Officials at the Department for Transport discuss highways maintenance matters with local authorities as and when issues are raised with them. Brighton and Hove City Council also registered to attent the recent "Gearing up for Efficient Highway Delivery and Funding from 2015 Roadshow" where the Department sought views from the sector on the future of funding arrangements for highways maintenance and on improvements to the value for money of the local road network programme.

    The Department for Transport provides capital funding to local highway authorities from the local maintenance highways maintenance capital block grant and over the four year period from 2011 Brighton and Hove City Council’s allocation is £13.9 million.

    The Department has also allocated additional highways maintenance funding to authorities to help repair roads damaged due to severe weather events. For Brighton and Hove City Council this includes £0.152 million in 2010/11, £0.412 million in March 2011 and more recently £0.295 million in March 2014.

    A £200 million Pothole Fund was announced in the recent Budget. From this, £168 million is being made available to councils in England through a bidding exercise. Further details of the fund were made available on 24 April, and can be found at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/pothole-fund-2014-to-2015-application.

    Any local authorities wishing to apply for a share of the funding are required to submit an application to the Department for Transport by 22 May 2014.

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of London Midland’s current rolling stock is within the scope of the company’s fleet maintenance contract with Siemens.

    Stephen Hammond

    Prior to the delivery of the new class 350/3 trains ordered in 2012 , 74 trains (45% of the London Midland fleet) was maintained by Siemens; upon completion of delivery, 84 trains (49% of the fleet) will be maintained by Siemens.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Zac Goldsmith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many representations he has received relating to concerns over Grant Thornton’s handling of insolvency or bankruptcy cases since 2010.

    Jenny Willott

    Prior to the introduction of the Insolvency Service’s Complaints Gateway in June 2013 no central record was maintained of numbers of complaints made against individual firms.

    Since June 2013 there have been 794 complaints received via the Complaints Gateway, of which 70 related to recorded complaints about insolvency practitioners from Grant Thornton in respect to formal insolvency procedures.

  • Lord Lexden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Lexden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the Department for International Development’s spending on research and development is devoted to developing new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for HIV.

    Baroness Northover

    The Research and Evidence Division within DFID spent £320 million during the financial year 2013-14. Research spend covers a wide range of different types of research across a number of themes including agriculture, climate and environment, education, governance, conflict and social development, growth and health research.

    The total spent on developing new drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and microbicides for HIV was £4.5m during the financial year 2013-14. Funding was provided to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM). This amount represented 1.4% of the total Research and Evidence Division spend.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made on the voluntary exit scheme for staff at HM Revenue and Customs offices in Northern Ireland.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) launched two voluntary exit schemes in November 2013 for people in 21 of its offices and for people in its Debt Management and Banking division. Further schemes were opened in February 2014, for eligible staff at Administrative Assistant grade across the country and for people affected by the decision to replace enquiry centres with a new service for customers who need extra help.

    There are nine offices or enquiry centres across Northern Ireland where eligible people have been invited to apply for one of the schemes. A summary of the progress at 4 April 2014 can be found in the table below.

    Location

    Invited to apply

    Applied for VE

    Offered VE*

    Accepted VE

    Declined VE

    Pending Decision**

    Antrim

    1

    1

    1

    1

    Ballymena

    4

    3

    3

    1

    2

    Belfast

    17

    14

    11

    5

    3

    3

    Coleraine

    10

    9

    9

    3

    3

    3

    Craigavon

    11

    7

    7

    3

    1

    3

    Enniskillen

    30

    24

    23

    5

    17

    1

    Lisburn

    8

    7

    7

    4

    1

    2

    Londonderry

    79

    66

    66

    32

    34

    0

    Newry

    137

    45

    45

    30

    15

    0

    Total

    297

    176

    172

    83

    74

    15

    * 4 of those that applied withdrew their applications after being successful in obtaining a post in the new service for customers who need extra help

    ** A decision is pending for 15 people as they have until 28 April to decide whether or not to accept a formal offer of voluntary exit.
  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many, and which, local authorities have made representations to the Department for Education asking it to legislate to extend the power to outsource children’s social work functions, including child protection, under the Children and Young Persons Act 2008.

    Lord Nash

    Formal representations concerning outsourcing of social care functions, potentially including child protection, have been made by Staffordshire, Kingston, and Richmond local authorities. In addition a number of informal discussions on this topic have taken place with other local authorities.

  • Dr Alan Whitehead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Dr Alan Whitehead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Alan Whitehead on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what research his Department has conducted on the accuracy of assumptions made in the National Housing Condition Survey that all stone properties built before 1920 are of solid wall construction.

    Gregory Barker

    DECC has not undertaken any research into the accuracy of the assumptions made in the English Housing Survey that all stone properties built before 1920 are of solid wall construction.

  • Roger Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Roger Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Williams on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what role his Department is playing in the Government’s review of the Muslim Brotherhood announced in April 2014.

    Mr William Hague

    The Government has appointed a senior member of the diplomatic service, Sir John Jenkins, to lead the review. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is contributing information and analysis through our network of Embassies across the Middle East and more widely, including by consulting academic experts. The FCO is also providing an oversight role as part of the review’s steering group.

  • 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, what assessment he has made of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report of 31 March 2014 on Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    Both of these reports make a valuable contribution to our understanding of the impacts of climate change. We are considering them with keen interest and will take full account of them when we publish the UK’s next Climate Change Risk Assessment, which in turn will inform the next National Adaptation Programme report.