Category: Speeches

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the London Power Tunnels Project is (a) on schedule for completion in 2018 and (b) within budget.

    Andrea Leadsom

    National Grid has said that:

    1. The London Power Tunnels Project is on schedule for completion in 2018 with all significant work completed in 2017 a year ahead of the original programme.

    2. The London Power Tunnels Project is currently within budget.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with cancer as a result of exposure to acetaldehyde in the (a) North East and (b) UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Jane Ellison

    Information concerning the number of people diagnosed with cancer as a result of exposure to acetaldehyde is not available.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September to Question 45236, to which destinations (a) ministers and (b) officials have taken flights as part of their official duties since his Department was established.

    Greg Hands

    Since the inception of the department, as part of their official duties Ministers and accompanying officials have visited:

    Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade (Liam Fox) – USA, India, Switzerland, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Northern Ireland, Scotland.

    Rt. Hon Friend the Minister of State (Greg Hands) – USA, Germany, Taiwan, Korea.

    Hon Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Mark Garnier) – Burma, Thailand, Israel, France.

    Noble Friend the Minister of State (Lord Price CVO) – China, South Korea, USA, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with representatives from the Icelandic government on debt owed to (a) UK taxpayers and (b) the public purse by Icelandic banks.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Government officials continue to engage with the Icelandic authorities in order to complete the recovery process from the failed Icelandic banks. In total, £8.64 billion was paid out by HM Treasury to compensate UK depositors of the Icelandic banks Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Ltd (KSF), Heritable Bank plc and Landsbanki (Icesave).

    All eligible UK retail depositors were fully compensated. To date, the Treasury has recovered £7.71 billion from the three estates. The Government expects to make a full recovery of the outstanding funds from the estates.

  • David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people of what age and sex have died as a result of volatile substance abuse in each region of England and Wales in each year since 2013.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is his policy to take steps towards repeal of the death penalty in states which hold the death penalty.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government’s approach to all states which retain the death penalty is to focus first on suspension of its use as the key step towards permanent abolition. We take a pragmatic approach to achieving that goal. We welcome reforms which improve legal procedures, reduce the number of capital crimes or mitigate some of the cruelties inherent to the death penalty. We fund projects which educate the judiciary, promote reform, mount legal challenges to death penalty systems and stimulate public debate. We engage diplomatically with retentionist states to ensure they are aware of the compelling arguments against the death penalty and of the UK Government’s opposition to any execution. Our assessment is that these approaches are stimulating a long-term movement by states towards abolition.

  • 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 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time equivalent personnel were employed by the (a) Royal Military Police, (b) Royal Naval Police and (c) Royal Air Force Police in each of the last six years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The requested information, as at 1 April of each year, is provided in the following table:

    Strength of Trained UK Regular personnel in the Royal Military Police (RMP), Royal Naval Police (RNP) and Royal Air Force Police (RAFP)

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    RMP

    1,700

    1,710

    1,720

    1,740

    1,720

    1,620

    RNP

    340

    320

    320

    300

    290

    300

    RAFP

    1,480

    1,450

    1,360

    1,200

    1,110

    1,140

    Notes:

    1. UK Regular Forces comprises Full-time personnel but does not include Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service personnel and Reservists.

    2. RMP figures do not include approximately 2,900 Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) personnel and a small number of "staff" (Colonel and above) who have a late arm/corps of Provost. Recent MPGS personnel numbers are available in Table 1 of the Service Personnel Statistics report:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/499082/Monthly_Service_Personnel_Statistics_January_2016.xlsx

    3. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systematic bias. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will extend her Department’s OpenDefra initiative to the Rural Payments Agency and Land Registry.

    George Eustice

    The OpenDefra initiative extends to the whole of Defra including the Rural Payments Agency. The initiative does not extend to the Land Registry.

    The Rural Land Register, the Land Management System that has replaced it, or other systems maintained by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), do not look to establish land ownership. The RPA is required to maintain information on land use, in England because land use, and the entitlement to use it, is one of the determining factors in relation to eligibility to claim funds that RPA validates.

    We are currently reviewing, the Data Protection Act, confidentiality of information held and intellectual property rights to determine whether information on land use can be released under the open data initiative.

  • Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 8 December (HL4345), and in the light of recent electoral statistics from the ONS regarding the 40 per cent decrease in the proportion of 16 and 17 year-old attainers registered to vote, whether they will now issue special guidance to Electoral Registration Officers in Great Britain reminding them of their powers to work with schools and colleges to register young people to vote in the same way that the Northern Ireland Chief Electoral Officer does.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are fully aware of their powers and their duties and their performance is monitored by the independent Electoral Commission. The Cabinet Office periodically reminds EROs of democratic engagement resources, including those specifically aimed at young people, which are available to them. The Government has no plans to issue special guidance along the lines suggested.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with (a) Big Six and (b) other electricity generators on the effect on the electricity market of (i) existing and (ii) new combined cycle gas turbine generation.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC officials regularly meet with electricity generators to discuss the electricity market, including the outlook for their existing gas power stations as well as prospects for any planned investment in new gas power stations.