Category: Speeches

  • 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 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the deviations or exemptions from the Military Air Systems Certification Process that allowed the inaugural flight of the Rivet Joint aircraft on May 27 2014 were the final form that will be used for all operations.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 June 2014, (Official Report, column 364W), to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Alison Seabeck).

    Ongoing work will progressively refine this release as additional information becomes available and further analysis is conducted.

  • Robert Halfon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Robert Halfon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Halfon on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people have applied for part-time higher education courses each year since 2004.

    Mr David Willetts

    Statistics are not available on applicants to part-time higher education courses as there is no centralised application service for part-time study. However, statistics on entrants to part-time courses at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and have been provided back to the academic year 2004/05 in the following table.

    Information on enrolments at UK HEIs in the academic year 2013/14 will become available from HESA in January 2015.

    Entrants(1) part-time courses by level of study

    Academic years 2004/05 to 2012/13

    UK Higher Education Institutions

    2004/05

    2005/06

    2006/07

    2007/08

    2008/09

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    Postgraduate part-time

    108,920

    113,955

    116,215

    116,320

    128,945

    132,745

    127,925

    109,535

    102,190

    Undergraduate part-time

    317,785

    336,415

    341,030

    331,950

    344,475

    335,050

    301,490

    278,575

    199,905

    Total part-time

    426,710

    450,370

    457,245

    448,275

    473,420

    467,795

    429,415

    388,115

    302,095

    Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

    Note:

    (1) Entrants refer to those students entering their first year of study.

    (2) Includes entrants from all domiciles (UK, EU and other overseas countries)

  • 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 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assets his Department has sold and leased back over the last 12 months; what the sale price was of each asset so sold; and what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of leasing back each such asset over the period of the lease.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, normally the Ministry of Defence sells its assets with vacant possession, only leasing back properties for short periods pending relocation of the occupants.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the members of the Honours Committee in each of the last five years.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Voting Membership of the Main Honours Committee comprises Head of the Civil Service (Chair); Chairs of the 9 Honours Committees; Chief of the Defence Staff; Permanent Secretary of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office; another Permanent Secretary; Cabinet Secretary and a representative from the Prime Minister’s Office. Membershipfor the past five years is set out below. Current membership of all honours committees is available at www.gov.uk/honours-committees.

    A copy of the table listing the Membership of the committee over the last 5 years will be placed in the Library of the House.

    “

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department will publish further information on pilots testing the role of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal in making recommendations on the health and social care aspects of Education, Health and Care Plans.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:

    1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
    2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
    3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
    4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.

    Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.

    The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the financial effect on local authorities when the single tier state pension is introduced in 2016-17 and local authorities no longer receive a national insurance rebate from the contracting out of pensions.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government is currently in discussions with the Local Government Association on this matter.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

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

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    As was the case under previous administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what responsibilities local authorities have to ensure that asylum seekers who are leaving care they entered as a child receive alternative support once they reach adulthood.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Unaccompanied asylum seeking children must be provided with the same support as for any care leaver, as set out in Volume 3 of ‘The Children Act Guidance and Regulations: Planning Transition to Adulthood for Care Leavers’.[1]

    Financial support for looked after unaccompanied asylum seeking children should reflect their needs as eligible care leavers and their immigration needs. As for any relevant child, once an unaccompanied asylum seeking child leaves care or reaches the age of 18, a personal advisor must be appointed to support them.

    [1]http://resources.leavingcare.org/uploads/c4f7aeaf941cdefb8f4a18f478aa1f19.pdf

    “

  • 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 guidance his Department issues on the ratio of GPs to patients; and what that ratio is in Tendring.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department does not issue guidance on the ratio of general practitioners (GPs) to patients. It is for each GP practice to ensure they are able to provide services to all their patients as set out in their contract with NHS England.

    The ratio of GPs to patients in Tendring is not collected centrally. Figures for North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, which includes the district of Tendring, are shown in the following table.

    Patients per full time equivalent GP

    All GPs full time equivalent per 100,000 population

    North East Essex

    1,715

    60.8

    Sources: The Health and Social Care Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics; Office for National Statistics: Mid-Year Population Estimates

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the Environment Agency’s budget he proposes will be spent on its role as the regulator for fracking in England and Wales in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency does not record separately the regulatory costs of hydraulic fracturing in England. For 2014-15 the Environment Agency has allocated £2.6 million to its work on regulating onshore oil and gas. This is 0.39% of the Environment Agency’s total revenue budget.

    Budgets for 2015 -16 and 2016-17 have not yet been confirmed.