Category: Speeches

  • 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, how many monitoring stations were in place and returning air quality data for NO2, PM2.5 and PM10 in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra operates an extensive monitoring network in order to assess air quality in the UK. The number of sites may vary year to year as sites are upgraded or replaced. A summary of the number of monitoring stations for each pollutant by year is provided below.

    Year

    NO2

    PM2.5

    PM10

    2010

    117

    78

    68

    2011

    118

    78

    68

    2012

    121

    80

    69

    2013

    118

    83

    72

    2014

    115

    80

    70
  • Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the budget for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate is for 2014-15.

    Jenny Willott

    The budget for the Employment Agency Standards inspectorate is no longer devolved below branch level in the Labour Markets Directorate, and we are therefore unable to provide this information.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish a note of the meeting with Dmitry Firtash at his Department on 24 February 2014.

    Mr David Lidington

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials met Dmitry Firtash on 24 February to discuss developments in Ukraine and support for Ukraine from the international community. They did not discuss matters of national security. The meeting was part of a wider approach by the FCO to understand better the situation in Ukraine, by seeking information and views from a wide range of contacts, including senior business figures. The Government does not have plans to publish a note of the meeting at this time. According to our records, Dmitry Firtash has not attended any other meetings with the FCO in London.

  • 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 2014-06-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 160W, on venture capital, what steps he has taken to support crowdfunding and peer-to-peer (a) lending to and (b) investment in small businesses; and if he will assess the value of such forms of finance to the small and medium-size sector.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Crowdfunding and peer to peer lending are innovative new forms of finance that support competition in the business lending sector.

    The Government has taken a number of steps to support their growth, including bringing peer to peer lending within the scope of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and announcing that the range of products that can be held in stocks and shares ISAs will be expanded to include loans made through peer to peer platforms.

    The Government also operates two tax-advantaged venture capital schemes which are used by equity crowdfunding investors; the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).

    The Government has not made any assessment of the value of investment in small and medium sized businesses from peer to peer lending and crowdfunding platforms.

  • Frank Dobson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Frank Dobson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Dobson on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if, in the light of the High Court decision of 11 February 2014, she will now set up a public inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Secretary has decided not to seek permission to appeal the judgment and is giving fresh consideration to the exercise of her discretion to establish an inquiry. The Government continues to co-operate fully with the Inquest into Mr Litvinenko’s death.

  • Ben Wallace – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ben Wallace – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Wallace on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to review the boundaries of the county of Lancashire.

    Brandon Lewis

    It is not possible to make changes to county areas other than as a consequence of local government structural or boundary changes recommended by the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England. We have no intention of seeking such change. We are however keen to recognise and acknowledge the continuing role of England’s traditional counties in the public and cultural life of the nation and the Government has sought to encourage the marking and continued use of traditional county names and areas irrespective of current tiers of local administration.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of changes to the number of fast delivery reports to magistrates’ courts in England and Wales after the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation Agenda.

    Jeremy Wright

    Pre-Sentence Reports currently fall into three categories; Standard Delivery (SDR), Fast Delivery (FDR), and Same Day (or Oral) reports. This process allows Courts the flexibility to deliver sentencing decisions in the appropriate timeframe, depending on each individual case, reducing the number of adjournments and expediting the criminal justice process.

    The Transforming Rehabilitation reforms will introduce a new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool which will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) or the National Probation Service (NPS) and complements the pre-sentence report process. Our testing with operational staff in Trusts of the RSR tool indicates that it is straightforward to use, in line with our commitment to minimising bureaucracy for frontline staff.

    The new National Probation Service (NPS) will be responsible for advice to courts and, prior to sentence, the NPS will advise courts on sentencing options for cases as part of a pre-sentence report (in accordance with the reserved function of advice to court under section 4 of the Offender Management Act 2007).

  • Lisa Nandy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lisa Nandy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will release all email correspondence between officials, Ministers and special advisers in his Department and Dominic Cummings since Mr Cummings left the Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    Mr Cummings is an ex-employee of the Department for Education. It is not uncommon for ex-employees to be in contact with Ministers and the Department. As the Secretary of State for Education explained to the House on Monday 16 June, many people seek to visit and contact the Department for Education to exchange ideas with old friends and colleagues.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) asylum and (b) non-asylum New Matter Starts were awarded to the firm that had its award of a contract withdrawn in August 2010.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    These questions relate to ongoing litigation against the Lord Chancellor and in the circumstances it would be inappropriate to respond at the current time.

  • 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 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what research his Department has co-sponsored with its US, French and German counterparts at the Sandia National Laboratory into the safety and security of spent nuclear fuel casks; and if he will publish details of the reports arising from such research.

    Michael Fallon

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not funded any co-sponsored research with US, French and German counterparts, at the US Sandia National Laboratories into the safety and security of spent nuclear fuel casks.