Category: Speeches

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average unit cost per year to train an apprentice aged 24 is; and what proportion of such costs is borne by (a) the public purse, (b) apprentices and (c) employers.

    Matthew Hancock

    The cost of providing an Apprenticeship is highly variable.

    In 2012, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) commissioned a report from The Institute for Employment Research entitled: “Employer Investment in Apprenticeships and Workplace Learning”

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32306/12-814-employer-investment-in-apprenticeships-fifth-net-benefits-study.pdf

    The report gives details of the costs of Apprenticeships to employers in several sectors for 16-18 year olds and for 19-24 year olds. It also compares the contribution of employers to that of the state.

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what systems his Department has in place to monitor the implementation of the Government’s commitment to give due consideration to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when making new policy and legislation; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education co-ordinates the UK’s submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), on behalf of other Government Departments and the devolved administrations, for the Committee’s five-year review of implementation of the UNCRC in the UK. This report will be submitted shortly and will include examples of action taken to ensure that new policies and legislation which impact on children are compliant with the UNCRC.

    The Department has undertaken child’s rights impact assessments for the key policy and legislative changes in recent years, notably in respect of the Education Act 2011 and the Children and Families Act 2014. We also ensure that children’s rights issues are considered as part of the Home Affairs Committee clearance process.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stewart Jackson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families whose head of household was (a) a Polish, (b) a Lithuanian, (c) a Latvian, (d) a Czech, (e) a Slovak, (f) a Portuguese and (g) an Estonian national resident in the Peterborough city council area were in receipt of child benefit in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

    Nicky Morgan

    This information is not available.

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the (a) 20 highest and (b) 20 lowest value contracts awarded by her Department were in each financial year since 2009-10.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Because of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, my Department does not hold details for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost. The contracts awarded by my Department since April 2010 are as follows:

    Name of Contract

    Award Date

    Estimated Total Value

    Finance Platform – System Support Agreement

    1 April 2013

    £18k

    Finance Platform – Managed Service

    2 July 2013

    £6k

    Preventative Maintenance for Hillsborough Castle

    4 September 2013

    £9.5k

    Hillsborough Castle Gardening

    1 December 2013

    £50k

    Name of Contract

    Award Date

    Estimated Annual Value

    File and Document Storage

    January 2013

    £40k

    The majority of contracts used by my Department are awarded by the Department of Finance and Personnel Central Procurement Directorate or the Central Government Procurement Service. These are generally awarded for a range of Northern Ireland Civil Service or Whitehall Departments which enable NIO to draw services from them.

    Should you wish to establish details of these contracts you should contact these organisations directly at the following addresses:

    DFP Central Procurement Directorate – www.dfpni.gov.uk/cpd

    Central Government Procurement Service – www.civilservice.gov.uk/networks/gps

    “

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.

    Jeremy Wright

    I have met with the Nigerian Attorney General twice on 1 October 2013 and 9 January 2014 to discuss justice issues and was accompanied by officials on both occasions.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Teresa Pearce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what research has been undertaken on the prospects of former Remploy factory workers who were made redundant in (a) 2007-08 and (b) phases 1 and 2 of the 2012-13 factory closures.

    Mike Penning

    The Department is not able to assess the prospects of former Remploy factory workers made redundant as part of the 2008 modernisation plan as this plan agreed by the previous Government did not include tracking processes.

    Before implementing the Sayce recommendations, the Government considered the lessons from implementation of the modernisation plan changes. This is why it introduced the £8 million guaranteed People Help and Support Package (PHSP) providing help for up to 18 months to disabled former Remploy workers and is tracking the support that this is providing. As at 21 March 2014, 1,513 disabled former Remploy workers are choosing to work with our Personal Case Workers to find another job and 716 are in work.

  • Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether agreement has been reached to extend to 2020 the reduction to household water bills for South West Water customers.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Government announced the decision to fund South West Water to enable it to cut bills by £50 per year for all household customers in the Budget 2011. Households in the South West have received the reduction since April 2013. The understanding has always been that this reduction would continue for the duration of both the current spending review and the next.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Attorney General, how and on what basis the Crown Prosecution Service decides whether to prioritise the allocation of resources to its decision-making on criminal charges following conclusions of unlawful killing at an inquest or public inquiry; and whether there is additional consideration where the events in question occurred more than three years prior to the conclusion of the inquest or public inquiry.

    Oliver Heald

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will consider whether there is any new evidence or information within the coroner’s proceedings which may have an impact upon any previous CPS decision not to bring criminal charges against an individual(s) or organisation following a conclusion of unlawful killing at an inquest or public inquiry. Where it is found that a further investigation will need to be conducted by the police, and a fresh decision made by the CPS, the police and CPS should ensure the Coroner and bereaved family / next of kin are notified of the next steps to be taken.

    The allocation of CPS resources to make decisions on criminal charges will be determined by the specific facts and circumstances of the individual case. The Complex Casework Units in each of the CPS Areas will deal with more complex homicide cases; other homicide cases will be handled by senior prosecutors in the Areas. The Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division in CPS headquarters also deals with a wide range of homicide cases including deaths in custody, assisted suicides, terrorist-related homicides and homicides arising from so-called ‘disaster’ cases. There are no additional considerations where the events in question occurred more than three years prior to the conclusion of the inquest or public inquiry.

  • Lord Palmer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Palmer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by Earl Howe on 3 April (HL Deb, col 1121–2), whether in preparing for the publication of the draft regulations on standardised packaging for tobacco products they are considering the scope of the types of tobacco products to be included, such as drawing a distinction between cigars and pipe tobaccos and mainstream tobacco products.

    Earl Howe

    The Government continues to carefully consider all issues relevant to the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products, including the scope of the types of tobacco products covered by the policy.

  • 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, what studies the Government is undertaking on the future of the vapour recovery scheme; and when conclusions from such studies will be published.

    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.