Category: Speeches

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure oversight and scrutiny of private contractors responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers.

    James Brokenshire

    The providers are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for
    purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the Housing Act
    2004 and the Decent Homes Standard. The COMPASS contracts contain high
    standards and requirements to be met by providers in the services they provide
    to asylum applicants. The contracts also contain robust monitoring mechanism
    including regular meetings and inspection of services. Where standards are not
    met, Providers reimburse the department in the form of service credits.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have utilised their full tax-free ISA allowance in each of the last three years in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each parliamentary constituency.

    Mr David Gauke

    Until 1 July 2014 there are two allowances for ISAs: a cash and an overall allowance. This answer assumes you are asking about the overall allowance.

    The following table contains the number of individuals who made full use of their (£10,680) ISA allowance in 2011-12 in the UK and in Scotland.

    Country

    Number of individuals (thousands)

    Scotland

    73

    United Kingdom

    1,005

    A breakdown for 2012-13 and 2013-14 is not yet available. Constituency-level statistics are not available.

    As announced at Budget 2014, from 1 July 2014 the overall annual New ISA subscription limit will be increased to £15,000 and can be used for either cash or stocks and shares investments, or any combination of the two, up to this limit.

    This measure will reduce income tax on savings for people constrained by the current limits, improving incentives to save and increasing real household disposable incomes. Over 6 million people are expected to benefit from these increases, including over 5 million adults expected to be constrained by the cash ISA limit.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the advice of Jemima Stratford QC to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drones; and if he will make a statement.

    Hugh Robertson

    The UK intelligence agencies work in accordance with UK law, as described by the Foreign Secretary in his statement to the House on 10 June 2013 (Official Report of 10 June 2013, column 31). In addition, Section 6 of the recently published Annual Report for 2013 by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, Sir Anthony May, addresses the legal basis for intelligence sharing between the UK and its partners.

    The UK Intelligence Agencies adhere to the law at all times. We have one of the world’s strongest legal and regulatory frameworks governing the use of secret intelligence. All of GCHQ’s activities are legal, necessary and proportionate. GCHQ does not disclose or share information other than is appropriate under the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government plans to take to deliver the commitments on nuclear security contained in paragraph 21 of the Hague Nuclear Security Summit Communiqué of the Nuclear Security Summit held in the Hague on 24 and 25 March 2014 to keep the national stockpile of separated plutonium to the minimum level.

    Michael Fallon

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has published strategies for the management of spent Magnox and Oxide fuel; it is from these spent fuels that plutonium is separated. These strategies are aligned with UK Government policy and their implementation is expected to see cessation of reprocessing in Magnox and THORP facilities during this decade.

    With respect to Magnox fuel, the intent is to reprocess all of it. Only a finite amount of Magnox fuel remains, which limits the amount of further separated plutonium that could be produced from reprocessing. Reprocessing is the only approved process for managing this metal fuel.

    With respect to Oxide Fuel management, an NDA paper sets out the strategy which is to complete the reprocessing contracts in THORP, as far as is reasonably practicable, and place the remaining fuel and any future arisings into interim storage pending disposal. The paper can be found at http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Oxide-Fuels-Preferred-Options-June-2012.pdf

    Both these strategies see the amount of plutonium separated in the future being limited in line with national requirements.

    “

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to his Department has been of implementing and evaluating the Help and Support for Separated Families Co-ordinated Telephone Network to date; and what estimate he has made of the future costs of that initiative.

    Steve Webb

    The Help and Support for Separated Families telephone network began full operation in March 2014 and the participating organisations are:

    Family Lives;

    Relate;

    Wikivorce; and

    The National Youth Advocacy Service.

    £344k of awards have been made for the co-ordinated telephony network. £344k is the maximum amount payable under the terms of the grant for the period to 31st May 2014. This covers both actual invoices paid to date and amounts not yet billed by suppliers. The evaluation of the telephony network will be carried out in-house.

  • Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Julian Huppert on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the appropriateness of water cannon tactics used in Northern Ireland ahead of their possible use in London.

    Damian Green

    The Home Secretary has now received the request to authorise water cannon for
    use by the police in England and Wales. She is considering this request and
    will announce her decision in due course and lay the relevant information in
    the House Library.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what resources his Department has allocated to help carers of dementia patients.

    Norman Lamb

    Carers are central to the Government’s reform of social care and support, with significant improvements in the Care Act which extends carers’ rights to an assessment which will be based on the appearance of a need for support. For the first time, local authorities will be required to meet carers’ eligible needs for support. The Act also creates a new statutory principle to promote an individual’s well-being, including health and emotional well-being, which will apply equally to carers.

    We have provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. In the 2013 Spending Review, we announced the £3.8 billion Better Care Fund, which includes £130 million funding for carers’ breaks for 2015-16.

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many forced marriage protection orders have been granted with a power of arrest attached in each year since such orders came into force.

    Damian Green

    Information on the numbers of forced marriage protection orders that have been granted in England and Wales with a power of arrest attached, for each year since such orders came into force, are available in table 2.8 of the Court Statistics Quarterly bulletin. The latest edition of this publication is available at this link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2013

    “

  • 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.