Category: Speeches

  • Ms Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ms Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Karen Buck on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the (a) change and (b) percentage change was in the number of homelessness acceptances arising from the end of a private sector tenancy in each (i) London local authority and (ii) English region between March 2010 and December 2013.

    Kris Hopkins

    To assist public scrutiny, I have placed in the Library of the House, a table showing homelessness acceptances due to loss of private sector tenancy, by local authority, in each year from 2003 to 2013.

    Data is not collected by Parliamentary constituency. My Department does not publish statistics by the former government office regions.

    The dataset shows that under the last Administration, the average numbers were higher than under this Administration, especially when taking account the changes in the overall size to the private rented sector.

    I would note that the rental sector policies of HM Opposition would make the problem worse, by reducing the availability of private rented accommodation, forcing up rents and discouraging investment in the private rented sector. By contrast, this Government is increasing house building, delivering £19.5 billion of investment in affordable housing, supporting billions of private investment in new private rented accommodation, providing £470 million to prevent and tackle all forms of homelessness, and avoiding the excessive regulation which would harm the interests of tenants.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, at which RAF bases the Joint Strike Fighter can regularly land vertically.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    RAF Marham is planned to be the only RAF base in the UK at which the Joint Strike Fighter can conduct vertical landings regularly. The Joint Strike Fighter will of course be able to land conventionally and conduct slow landings at other RAF bases.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in Hull.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

    Results for all wards are available on the Commission’s website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

    The ward results for Hull City Council were as follows:

    Ward

    Green matches

    Amber matches

    Red matches

    Avenue

    65.4%

    5.0%

    29.6%

    Beverley

    79.6%

    1.0%

    19.3%

    Boothferry

    85.0%

    1.0%

    14.0%

    Bransholme East

    83.9%

    1.7%

    14.5%

    Bransholme West

    85.6%

    1.6%

    12.8%

    Bricknell

    86.4%

    0.9%

    12.6%

    Derringham

    82.9%

    1.2%

    15.9%

    Drypool

    75.3%

    1.8%

    22.9%

    Holderness

    85.7%

    0.9%

    13.4%

    Ings

    86.6%

    1.2%

    12.2%

    Kings Park

    77.3%

    1.2%

    21.5%

    Longhill

    86.4%

    0.8%

    12.8%

    Marfleet

    84.1%

    1.7%

    14.3%

    Myton

    65.2%

    5.3%

    29.5%

    Newington

    75.8%

    3.2%

    21.0%

    Newland

    48.6%

    2.9%

    48.6%

    Orchard Park & Greenwood

    85.0%

    2.7%

    12.3%

    Pickering

    83.4%

    1.4%

    15.2%

    Southcoates East

    86.1%

    1.3%

    12.6%

    Southcoates West

    79.4%

    1.4%

    19.1%

    St. Andrews

    69.5%

    5.8%

    24.7%

    Sutton

    84.6%

    1.1%

    14.2%

    University

    71.0%

    2.2%

    26.9%

    “

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Joint Strike Fighter B procured by the RAF will have Block 3i software.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    All UK F-35Bs delivered prior to the end of 2017 will be upgraded to, or delivered with, Block 3i software.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many migrants from non-EU countries claim benefit payments.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available in the form requested however the department has published some statistics on working age benefit recipients. This information is known as “Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants” and is included in the Statistical Bulletin on National Insurance Number Allocations to Adult Overseas Nationals Entering the UK – registrations to March 2013, available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nino-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk-registrations-to-march-2013

    “

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the resources and effectiveness of the Commonwealth Human Rights Unit; and what discussions he has had with (a) his Commonwealth counterparts and (b) the Commonwealth Secretariat on the role of the Commonwealth Human Rights Unit.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We support the work of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Human Rights Unit and welcome the Secretariat’s recent statement confirming that the budget and staffing for the Unit has more than doubled under the Commonwealth’s four-year Strategic Plan, which was agreed by all Commonwealth members in May 2013.

    We monitor the work of the Human Rights Unit through our membership of the Commonwealth Executive Committee and Board of Governors. The Board of Governors last met on 29 May.

    The Human Rights Unit undertakes valuable work in assisting member states with the adoption of international standards on human rights; providing support to member states in the Universal Periodic Review process; and in enhancing the capacity of Commonwealth members’ national human rights institutions. Through our regular dialogue with the Secretariat on human rights, we urge them to work across the Commonwealth to uphold the values and principles agreed in the Commonwealth Charter.

  • Mr Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mr Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Frank Field on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of (a) new employment and support allowance claimants and (b) existing employment and support allowance claimants reporting a change in circumstances receive their benefit payments within (i) one week, (ii) two weeks, (iii) three weeks, (iv) four weeks, (v) eight weeks, (vi) 12 weeks and (vii) more than 12 weeks.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available.

  • David Davis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Davis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support the full release of the United States Select Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program.

    Hugh Robertson

    The release of the Committee’s report is a matter for the United States.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Tebbit – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2014-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total yearly extra cost to schools of educating children whose first language is not English.

    Lord Nash

    We do not collect this data centrally. It is for individual schools to decide how much extra they choose to spend on educating pupils whose first language is not English.

    Through their local funding formulas, local authorities may allocate funding to schools on the basis of the number of pupils in the school who speak English as an additional language and entered the state school system in the past three years. Local authorities allocated £233 million in this way in 2013-14. The funding is not ring-fenced within a school’s budget so this figure may not be a reliable indicator of actual spending.

  • Tom Clarke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Clarke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Clarke on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the threshold charge payable for a type 2 machine for the purposes of calculating machine gaming duty was set at £5.

    Mr David Gauke

    I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Explanatory Note for Clause 117 of Finance Bill 2014, which can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/298680/ENs_Finance_Bill_2014__1_.pdf

    “