Category: Speeches

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of rail freight access and path allocation over the Welwyn Viaduct beyond January 2018; and what discussions he held with rail freight (a) operators and (b) industry groups regarding future freight access over the Welwyn Viaduct before he approved the InterCity East Coast invitation to tender.

    Stephen Hammond

    The East Coast Main Line franchise was the subject of a full consultation prior to the issue of the Invitation to Tender. The Freight Operating Companies and the Rail Freight Group were included in this consultation and at least two of the Freight Operating Companies responded.

    The primary responsibility for the allocation of paths on the rail network rests with Network Rail. However, Network Rail needs to take account not only of the Department’s requirements in its franchise specifications but also of existing track access rights held by other train operators, passenger and freight, subject to the ORR’s responsibilities as independent regulator.

    The Department is represented on the cross-industry planning (the IPG) group that has been established to review future capacity requirements of all operators on the route.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the growth prospects of small and medium-sized enterprises in Wales.

    Mr David Jones

    190,000 Small and medium-sized businesses in Wales will be helped by a significant package of support measures announced at Budget 2014, including doubling the Annual Investment Allowance to £500,000 from April 2014 until 31 December 2015, and measures to improve the availability of finance.

  • Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whom they consider to be the legitimate government of Syria.

    Baroness Warsi

    While we consider the National Coalition the sole legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, it is not at present the government in Syria. The Coalition is working to realise the aspirations of the vast majority of Syrians for a democratic and pluralist future for their country. The Assad regime has lost all legitimacy by responding to the demands of its people for their basic rights and freedoms with escalating, and horrifying, brutality: using chemical weapons, heavy artillery and air power against civilians; unlawfully detaining and torturing its own people, including children; and preventing life-saving humanitarian support from getting to those who need it. The recent Syrian presidential elections were a parody of democracy and served only as a reminder of the continued illegitimacy of the Assad regime.

  • Jesse Norman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jesse Norman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jesse Norman on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young people into work.

    Esther McVey

    The Government’s approach is working. For the 21st consecutive month we have seen the youth claimant count reduce.The Youth Contract is successfully providing young people with the support they require, building on support already available via Jobcentres and the Work Programme. Opportunities available to young people include Work Experience, Sector-based WorkAcademies, traineeships and intensive work searches.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken, in co-operation with the franchise holder, to improve the frequency of train services in South-East London.

    Baroness Kramer

    On 11th June 2014, the Government awarded the Thameslink Southern Great Northern (TSGN) franchise to Govia. The franchise will run for seven years from September 2014. During this period Govia will improve the frequency of train services in the south east of London by introducing 24 trains per hour through the Thameslink core route.

    The Government will be refranchising the South Eastern network in 2018 and will conduct a formal public consultation before finalising the specification.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Cabinet Office to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The Cabinet Office Board and the Executive Management Committee review the department’s financial position on a regular basis.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether public funds are used by the Police Federation to support defamation litigation.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Funding provided by the Government to the Police Federation of England and Wales may only be used for specific purposes. These are to pay part of the salaries of its principal officers, and to support their statutory function in negotiating the pay of police officers.

    As the Home Secretary announced on 21 May, all Government funding provided to the Police Federation will cease by August this year.

  • Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what UK Border Agency controls are in place for entry into the UK from Jersey, Guernsey and Sark.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    There are no physical border controls in place for those entering the UK from Jersey, Guernsey or Sark. Jersey, Guernsey and Sark are part of the Channel Islands. The UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland collectively form a common travel area (CTA). Under Paragraph 15 of the UK Immigration Rules a person who has been examined for the purpose of immigration control in one part of the CTA does not normally require to be examined on arrival into any other part of the CTA.

  • Lord Patel of Blackburn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patel of Blackburn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patel of Blackburn on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the proportion of Muslims in senior positions in British diplomatic missions abroad.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion for all its employees. The FCO’s management information system shows that, out of the 246 Senior Management positions overseas, 80 members of staff have declared their religion. Of these, three are Muslim, which corresponds to 3.75% of those who declared and 1.22% of the overall total.

    All FCO UK based staff are asked to provide diversity information about their ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation and religion or belief. Supplying this data is voluntary. The FCO is working to improve diversity declaration rates by staff, including for religion and belief, and as part of this effort a three month campaign titled “Why Should I Tell You” was run between November 2013 and January 2014 to encourage staff to provide their diversity information. Over this period declaration rates for religion and belief increased from 31 to 35%.

    The FCO launched the Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) Campaign in Summer 2013 aimed at the recruitment, progression and development of BME staff. The campaign aims to improve young people’s understanding of the organisation and to encourage more applications to our fast stream, particularly from BME communities. It also includes a leadership programme for high performing BME staff to prepare them for senior management and other targeted career development courses, mentoring and coaching. The initial results have been very encouraging.

    The FCO publishes an annual Equality Report which provides information about the diversity and makeup of our staff, as required by the Equality Act 2010. The 2014 report can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diversity-and-equality-report-2014.

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  • Paul Uppal – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Paul Uppal – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Uppal on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become active owners or stewards of their assets as defined in the Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code.

    Brandon Lewis

    Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code and ensure that the Code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. Sixteen of the eighty nine local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.