Category: Speeches

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information schools are required by law to collect regarding their pupils.

    Lord Nash

    Schools collect a range of information on pupils for their own purposes. Full details of all the data collected by law is accessible via the links in the attached list.

    Some of this information is required to be submitted to the Department via various collections which are undertaken throughout the school year. The main types of information collected by the Department are:

    • pupil identifiers (name, date of birth, etc)
    • pupil characteristics (gender, ethnicity, language, etc.)
    • pupil attendance and exclusions
    • pupil special educational needs
    • pupil attainment and teacher assessments

    The school census has collected such data at pupil level from the introduction of the Pupil Level Annual School Census in 2002.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Volkswagen vehicles have been retested for emissions by the Vehicle Certification Agency to date; what the outcome of those retests has been; how many vehicles are still to be retested; and when he expects all retests to be completed.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen (VW) Group extremely seriously. As we investigate what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again, the priority of course remains to protect the public. We expect VW to take every step necessary to protect its UK customers, but it is right that the Government carry out their own thorough and independent investigation.

    A written statement was made today (10 November) informing the House of the latest developments on the Department for Transport’s vehicle emissions testing programme, following the revelations that VW had fitted defeat devices to some of its vehicles.

    The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is working to confirm that this issue is not industry wide. They have tested two VW group vehicles known to contain a defeat device and will rerun laboratory tests on popular cars sold in the UK to compare real world driving emissions against laboratory performance. This will include measuring CO2 .

    The Secretary of State spoke to Dr Herbert Deiss of VW on 4 November to discuss CO2 emissions, seeking information on those vehicles affected in the UK and the extent of the discrepancy. VW have stated that they are working hard to clarify the situation and are liaising with relevant approval authorities.

    The Secretary of State has written jointly with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to VW seeking clarification on several issues. Separately, officials from the Department for Transport, and its Agencies have held a number of discussions with VW regarding the recall of affected vehicles.

    The Department for Transport has not made a specific assessment of on road emissions in relation to type approval requirements, but officials are aware of the findings in published reports suggesting significant differences.

  • Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many meetings he has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 2015-16 session of Parliament to date.

    Stephen Crabb

    I have regular meetings with my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer along with all other Cabinet Ministers.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy regarding presidents and others who perpetuate their power and authority in the Commonwealth; and whether the Commonwealth as a whole has a policy on that matter.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government expects all Commonwealth states to uphold the standards enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter; which makes clear that governments, political parties and civil society are responsible for upholding and promoting democratic culture and practices and are accountable to the public in this regard.

    In supporting greater adherence to Commonwealth political values and principles, the Commonwealth Secretariat, under its Strategic Plan (2014/15), has engaged with the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) and the services of the Secretary General’s Good Offices. The Secretariat has also carried out election management and promoted the values of respect and understanding. This resulted in CMAG’s decision to restore Fiji to full Commonwealth membership and involved the deployment of election observation teams to 13 elections in 11 countries. All election missions reported credible results in accordance with Commonwealth norms.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions for VAT and customs fraud relating to online sales and imports there have been in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    To provide the answer to these questions would incur disproportionate cost. Data has not been captured centrally for the specific categories over the last 10 years.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for consent have been determined by the Marine Management Organisation since 2010.

    George Eustice

    The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) database was established in April 2011 and accurate data for marine licence applications determined by the MMO are limited to post 1 April 2011. However, I can confirm that since April 2011:

    • 50 fully determined marine licence applications have required an appropriate assessment;
    • 151 fully determined marine licence applications have required an environmental impact assessment;
    • 44 marine licence applications have been refused; and,
    • 3,849 fully determined marine licence applications have been approved, including 1,848 variations to an existing marine licence.
  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his policy for the House to be given an opportunity to debate in advance any decision to use his Department’s cyber strike capability.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We continue to develop the ability of our Armed Forces to deploy a broad range of offensive cyber capabilities as an integrated part of military operations. As with other sensitive defence capabilities, we do not reveal specific details in order to safeguard national security. As we have previously made clear in the context of the war powers convention, we do not propose to define the circumstances in which we would consult Parliament about the use of particular military capabilities.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance he plans to give to clinical commissioning groups on encouraging their move towards full implementation of NICE guidelines on fertility treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

    CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. As such, NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the NICE fertility guidelines.

    Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England are considering options for addressing variation in the prices that CCGs are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation treatment.

    Information about the costs of individual treatments is not collected centrally.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether there is a mechanism equivalent to the Cross-Council Funding Agreement to ensure fair peer review and transparency for research proposals crossing the border between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Space Agency.

    Joseph Johnson

    The UK Space Agency and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) follow the Cross-Council Funding Agreement.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to page 135 of her Department’s Annual Reports and Accounts 2015-16, for what reasons the budget allocation to South Sudan has decreased from £188,184 in 2015-16 to £145,000 in 2017-18.

    James Wharton

    DFID’s allocations are continually reviewed to ensure development assistance is used most effectively to achieve poverty reduction, in the national interest and responds to changing needs. The precise way in which DFID spends will reflect changing demands while at the same time protecting ministerial spending commitments.