Category: Speeches

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their stated intention of building more houses, what is their assessment of the ability of the United Kingdom building supplies industry to provide bricks, timber and other materials; and what measures they are taking to encourage growth in the building supplies industry to provide sufficient materials to ensure the success of the house building programme.

    Viscount Younger of Leckie

    The Government has noted advice from the Construction Products Association that there is no general lack of capacity in UK products manufacturers. The Association advises that only 19 per cent of companies producing heavy building materials are currently operating at near capacity. As the products sector adjusts to the return to growth it expects that capacity will increase further in response to demand.

  • Simon Hart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Simon Hart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a list of approved UK tax warehouses for handling oil products.

    Nicky Morgan

    This information is held on a HMRC database and includes excise identification and approval numbers unique to the traders listed. For taxpayer confidentiality reasons this information is not publically available, and there is no intention to publish it.

    Eligibility criteria for a duty deferment guarantee waiver under the Excise Payment Security System do not apply to or exclude particular sectors. These criteria are published by HMRC, and apply to all applicants.

    HMRC is considering the future of the vapour recovery scheme as part of the wider work programme to determine the appropriate course of action in respect of all their extra-statutory concessions.

    The Government’s policy is not to allow duty suspended movements within the UK, this is both for administrative simplicity and to reduce the opportunities for criminal activity and fraud.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what practical steps are being taken to ensure that the experiences and interests of children with fetal valproate syndrome and their families are represented as an integral part of patient involvement at every level of the reformed National Health Service.

    Earl Howe

    NHS England has developed a delivery model which sets out a systematic approach to the way that it works. Each aspect of its work is underpinned by a commitment to increase patient experience, engagement and participation. This is reflected in their business plan 2014-15 to 2016-17.

    In September 2013, it launched a package of measures designed to ensure that the voices of patients, their carers and the public are at the centre of healthcare services.

    ‘Transforming Participation in Health and Care – The NHS belongs to us all’ has been developed by NHS England with a wide range of stakeholders and partners. Its purpose is to support commissioners to improve individual and public participation and to better understand and respond to the needs of the communities they serve.

    It supports two legal duties requiring clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and commissioners in NHS England to enable:

    – patients and carers to participate in planning, managing and making decisions about their care and treatment, through the services they commission; and

    – the effective participation of the public in the commissioning process itself, so that services provided reflect the needs of local people.

    The guidance highlights a range of ways in which National Health Service commissioners can fulfil their statutory responsibilities and seize the opportunity to deliver personalised and responsive care to all. It includes a wide range of tools, resources and case studies that commissioners will find useful when developing their own responses.

    The guidance is a starting point and NHS England will be working with partners to develop further resources to support commissioners to develop their approaches to both individual and public participation.

    The reforms to the health and social care system set out in the Health and Social Care Act have also emphasised the need for integration. Central to these reforms is the establishment of statutory health and wellbeing boards to encourage local authorities to take a more strategic approach to providing integrated health and local government services. The boards are intended to bring together bodies from the NHS, public and local government, including Healthwatch as the patient’s voice, jointly to plan how best to meet local health and care needs, and to commission services accordingly.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the timelines and milestones for Defence Equipment and Support Transformation will be published online and on the Defence Intranet.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her and the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire (Sir Peter Luff) on 7 April 2014 (Official Report, column 91W-92W).

  • Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place for a person who was granted a royal pardon between 1987 and 1997 to resist a subsequent prosecution for the crime for which that person has been pardoned in the event of new evidence emerging and the lack of knowledge by the prosecuting authorities of the existence of such a pardon given the absence of records of such pardons having been granted.

    Baroness Randerson

    Following a search of the records held by the Northern Ireland Office, no evidence has been found to indicate that between 1987 and 1997, the RPM was used to do anything other than to remit (i.e. shorten) the sentences of individuals who had already been convicted of offences. It is therefore the release from custody that demonstrates the exercise of the RPM.

  • John Stanley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    John Stanley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Stanley on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether parish councils and town councils are eligible to apply for flood and coastal erosion risk management grant-in-aid.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra flood and coastal erosion risk management grant-in-aid is only available to a risk management authority, as defined by section 6(13) of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. If a parish council or town council wish to progress a flood management scheme they should contact the lead local flood authority for the area.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers registered in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the Sunderland local authority area and (c) the North East region have been the subject of enforcement action for paying employees less than the National Minimum Wage in each of the last three years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government takes the enforcement of NMW very seriously and HMRC enforces the national minimum wage legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999. It does that by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, and carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.

    HMRC does not capture complaints or the outcomes of its investigations by reference to Government regions, constituencies or county. Its management information relates to the work of teams who are multi-located. Additionally, because it resources to risk, work relating to a specific geographical area is not always done by the NMW team based in that area.

    Prior to 6 April 2009, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued penalty notices to those employers who failed to comply with an enforcement notice, within 28 days. A new enforcement regime, introduced in April 2009, saw the introduction of automatic penalties for employers who are found to have underpaid their workers.

    I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) on 6 May 2014 contained in Official Report column 110W which gives the number of completed inspections and number of non-compliant cases across the UK in the financial years 2009/10 to 2013/14.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the UK has offered through NATO to its Baltic allies since the Russian military incursion into Crimea.

    Mr William Hague

    The UK, alongside our NATO Allies, remains committed to the preservation of stability and security in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia and to the guarantee of collective defence under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

    The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), announced on the 17 March the UK has offered to contribute 4 Typhoons to the Baltic Air Policing mission. NATO Foreign Ministers agreed on 1 April to consider further measures as necessary to fulfil NATO’s collective defence mission.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Andrea Leadsom

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 433W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent meetings she has had with representatives of the Nigerian diaspora in the UK on support for entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

    Lynne Featherstone

    I have not, as yet, had the pleasure of meeting representatives of the Nigerian diaspora in UK. My Department, however, is actively involved in helping improve the investment climate for entrepreneurs in Nigeria, including for Nigerians living abroad. An example of this was our recent support for a review of Nigeria’s Investment Policy which was presented at President Goodluck Jonathan’s Honorary International Investors’ Council held in London last November and which was co-chaired by Baroness Chalker.