Category: Speeches

  • Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, HC 263, published on 11 June 2014, page 17, if he will provide details of the eight options for force structures that his Department considered in 2011, and his Department’s estimate of the savings each would have accrued.

    Mr Mark Francois

    I am not able to provide the information requested, since to do so could adversely affect the formulation of future defence policy.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the additional £5 million for tackling waste crime announced in the budget statement will reduce in the planned workforce and associated workload in the enforcement and legal department of the Environment Agency.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra and the Environment Agency have been working together to ensure that the additional funding is targeted effectively to tackle waste crime. A decision on how the additional £5 million will be spent is subject to Defra Ministerial approval.

    Depending on how the £5 million is to be spent, the Environment Agency will review its planning assumptions to determine the impact on its workforce and associated workload

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

    Anna Soubry

    Details of Ministers visits and the purpose of each visit overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications

    Details of Ministers overseas visits and the purpose of each visit from January to December 2013 are published. The details from January 2014 to date will be published in due course.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by what date each of the 40 air quality zones with exceedances of nitrogen dioxide limit values in 2010 will achieve compliance with 2010 nitrogen dioxide limit values.

    Dan Rogerson

    Meeting EU standards for nitrogen dioxide remains a challenge for many large urban areas in the UK and across Europe. In 2011 Defra submitted estimates of the year each part of the UK would meet these standards to the European Commission. The assumptions behind our projections are regularly reviewed to reflect new understanding and we expect to have new projections available later this year.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Pensions, Steve Webb, on 13 March (HC Deb, 317W) and the Written Answer by Baroness Stowell of Beeston on 3 March (WA 278–9), how they reconcile the statements that it was always the intention that 2014–15 would be the last year of separate funding for local welfare provision from the Department for Work and Pensions” and that “this decision was taken at the Spending Round 2013″.”

    Lord Freud

    I see no contradiction in the above statements.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to draw attention to the persecution of Christians in Vietnam; and what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Vietnam on that matter.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We highlight Vietnam as a country of concern in the annual Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights report published on 10 April.

    Our assessment is the Vietnamese government is allowing more space for religious expression and has increased the number of churches and places of worship approved for use in 2013. In general the Vietnamese are able to practise the religion of their choosing and a number of prominent Ministers, including the Prime Minister, are openly Buddhist.

    The authorities take a harder line when religious groups are involved in political movements, with persecution taking place in this context.

    Our Embassy continues to promote freedom of religion and belief in this atmosphere and meets with leaders of all faiths. In January they accepted a petition by families of Catholic activists on trial and supported an EU statement calling for the Vietnamese to uphold freedom of expression in these cases. Staff also attended meetings, alongside other EU Member States, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling for greater transparency over allegations that authorities had intimidated Catholics in Nghe An province.

    We also make sure to raise our concerns at a Ministerial level at every opportunity – be it through the annual UK-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue in October 2013 or the Foreign Secretary’s meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh earlier this month. The UK also runs projects deisgned to allow greater scope for civil society to develop and receive basic protections when raising their concerns and pursuing their beliefs.

  • David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many prosecutions there have been for breaches of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 in each of the last three years.

    Michael Fallon

    The data requested is not held centrally.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to support the Tanzanian Government to ensure the effective implementation of the Literacy and Numeracy for All Children, pre and primary education age, in and out of school programme.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID is the largest financier of the Global Partnership for Education and in Tanzania has supported the award of a £57m grant to implement the “Literacy and Numeracy Education Support (LANES)” programme. LANES targets the acquisition of reading, writing and numeracy skills among children in and out of school, targeting especially the marginalised.

    DFID’s programme in Tanzania provides major support to basic education. In 2013/14 £24m of education sector budget support was provided directly to the Tanzanian government. In addition a £49m programme of support commenced, to improve the overall quality of primary education in seven disadvantaged regions.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes there have been in the claimant count for women claiming for over 12 months since May 2010.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many items were borrowed from prison libraries in each year from 2010 to 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    The requested information is not held centrally and would need to be collated through enquiries at each prison in England and Wales. This would incur disproportionate cost.