Category: Speeches

  • Lord Wills – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Wills – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new measures they will put in place to protect against the mis-selling of financial advice to people retiring under the new pension arrangements announced in the 2014 Budget.

    Lord Deighton

    Alongside the pensions flexibility announced at Budget, the government announced a new guarantee that everyone with a defined contribution pension will be offered free and impartial face to face guidance on their financial choices in retirement when they retire. The Government is consulting on how best to deliver this guidance as part of its consultation, ‘Flexibility and Choice in Pensions’.

    The guidance will be designed to help consumers navigate the options available and is not intended to replace the services of professional financial advice. The government expects that many consumers will go on to seek further advice and will ensure that the guidance equips consumers to choose the advisory service that suits their needs.

    The government has asked the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to coordinate the development of robust standards for this guidance and a framework for monitoring compliance.

    Professional financial advice is regulated by the FCA. The FCA’s statutory objectives and regulatory powers are geared to protect consumers. The FCA has committed to taking a proactive and interventionist approach to retail conduct regulation.

  • Lord Birt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Lord Birt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the Digital Economy Act 2010 in reducing copyright theft via the internet.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The online infringement of copyright provisions within the Digital Economy Act 2010 have not yet been implemented, and so no such assessment has been carried out. The delay is due to a number of factors, including legal challenge and ensuring compliance with Government “Managing Public Money” principles. In the meantime the Government has encouraged the industry to investigate a voluntary copyright alert programme, which should produce similar results in a significantly shorter timescale. I am grateful to the industry for the energy with which they have picked up this challenge. Nevertheless, unless an effective alternative is put in place, Government continues to be committed to implementation of the provisions with the Digital Economy Act.

  • Lord Wigley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Wigley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Imprisonment for Public Protection prisoners were imprisoned at the latest date available date; how many of those were beyond the tariff; and of those beyond their tariff, how many (1) have completed rehabilitation programmes courses successfully, (2) have been on rehabilitation courses but have not completed them successfully, (3) have been offered rehabilitation courses but are awaiting their completion, and (4) have not been offered rehabilitation courses.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The Parole Board assesses the risk posed by individual prisoners when considering their release or transfer to open conditions, and work that has been completed to reduce these risks, rather than only looking at whether specific offending behaviour programmes (OBPs) have been completed. It is not mandatory for Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners to complete OBPs in order to achieve release. Other work that may help to reduce risk may take the form of accredited OBPs; however, it may also include activities such as education or training, work, one to one sessions with a psychologist and a range of other interventions. Although in some circumstances an OBP may be the preferred option, the Parole Board may consider that an offender has reduced their risk of harm, despite not being able to attend a particular course, because they have been able to undertake other offending behaviour work which has achieved the same outcome.

    As at 31 December 2013 there were 5,335 prisoners serving an Indeterminate Sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection, of which 3,561 were beyond the tariff.

    Of these prisoners beyond tariff, 3,160 had completed at least one accredited offending behaviour programme successfully; 415 had attended a programme and not completed it successfully and of these, 62 had yet to complete any programme successfully; and 184 are currently attending a programme and the outcome is not yet known.

    The figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

    No information is collected on how many prisoners have not been offered an accredited offending behaviour programme and this could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make representations to the government of Iran about the events in Evin Prison on 17 April; and, if so, when.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Government was disturbed by reports of physical violence against political prisoners in Evin prison on 17 April 2014. We have been concerned about prison conditions in Iran for some time and set out our views formally in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s 2014 Human Rights report. The UK has been a strong supporter of the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Iran, Dr Shaheed, and successfully lobbied for the extension of his mandate in 2014.

    In March, Dr Shaheed reported that conditions for prison inmates range from poor to inhumane, access to medical services is often limited, and hygiene and nutrition are poor. The UK works closely with international human rights bodies and partners to encourage Iran to engage seriously on human rights issues. The UK’s non-resident Charge d’Affaires also raised human rights with a range of Iranian government officials during his visit to Iran in March.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether lower quality fuel used in road vehicles has any impact on air quality.

    Baroness Kramer

    We have made no specific assessment of the impact of low quality fuels since all fuel supplied for road vehicles has to comply with the Motor Fuel (Composition and Content) Regulations, and these requirements are set in order to reduce the environmental impacts of vehicles.

    In practice, all producers supply fuel that also meets the EN 590 (Diesel) or EN 228 (Petrol) industry standards. The Composition and Content Regulations, and the standards, have been revised over time, most notably to remove lead from petrol and to ensure that all road fuel is effectively sulphur-free. There should be little difference between the air quality emissions from vehicles running on fuels that meet the statutory and industry standards.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to increase the proportion of girls taking separate science at GCSE.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The number of girls taking separate science GCSEs increased between 2010 and 2013 from 53,000 to 74,800 (41%) in biology, from 51,400 to 73,600 (43%) in chemistry and from 50,700 to 73,200 (44%) in physics. Girls now make up approximately 49% of all those taking each of the separate sciences, compared to approximately 45% in 2010.

    The Government is committed to increasing take-up of separate science GCSEs, including increasing the proportion of girls as part of its commitment to improve overall take up of STEM subjects at A level and beyond.

    The “Your Life” Campaign, launched in May 2014, brings together business, educators, civil society and government to show how science and mathematics leads to exciting, successful careers. This will include a publicity campaign aimed at 14-16 year olds, which will aim to change the way they think about science-based subjects from boring, specialist and niche to empowering, exciting, enabling and for everyone.

    We are funding the Triple Science Support Programme to provide intensive support to schools with either no take-up or relatively low take-up of all three separate science GCSEs, and more general support to all other schools. We are also funding the Stimulating Physics Network to increase progression to physics A level, especially of girls. Much of the work the network does focuses on improving engagement and interest of pupils in physics at GCSE.

    Excellent teaching is vital and we are offering bursaries worth up to £20,000 and teacher training scholarships worth £25,000 to recruit more specialist science teachers. We are also funding up to 50 local science learning partnerships to provide CPD for existing science teachers.

    The Department for Business Innovation and Skills funds the STEM Ambassadors programme, a nationwide network of over 27,000 volunteers from industry and academia, 40% of whom are women, who work with schools across the UK to raise awareness of the range of careers that STEM qualifications can offer.

  • 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 who are (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 21 and (c) 22 or over have completed an apprenticeship in each year since 2008.

    Matthew Hancock

    Information on the number of apprenticeship achievements by age are published in a supplementary table to the Statistical First Release:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships–2

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296345/apprenticeship-achievements-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xlsm

    “

  • 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 2014-06-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 625W, on coinage, whether he has fixed the dates for the public consultation on the impact of the introduction of a new one pound coin.

    Nicky Morgan

    The Budget announced that the existing £1 coin will be replaced with a more modern and secure design. After thirty years in circulation, the current coin has become vulnerable to counterfeiting.

    There will be a public consultation this summer that will focus on how to manage impacts on industry and other affected parties. The government remains committed to this timetable, and to working with industry to minimise costs and disruption.

    The precise dates of the consultation period will be published in due course.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many local authorities have adopted the Government’s public service network to date.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    570 local authorities have completed compliance.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many electronic workstations were made available in each public library per thousand population in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department. However the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) collect, annually, from the individual library authorities comprehensive information relating to library service provision in the United Kingdom, which includes data relating to the questions raised. Copies of CIPFA statistics are available in the House Library.