Category: Speeches

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Liam Byrne on Business, Innovation and Skills.

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    Mr David Willetts

    No estimate of retention rates at alternative providers has yet been made. The designation conditions that apply from 2014/15 onwards require alternative providers to provide a data return to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This data once available will help inform BIS decisions on designations and enable the Department to estimate retention rates across the sector.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence of murder, kidnapping or infanticide contrary to the common law of England and Wales in each of the last four years.

    Damian Green

    Murder, infanticide and kidnapping are all indictable only offences. A life sentence is mandatory for murder and the maximum penalty for infanticide and kidnapping.

    The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of ‘murder’, ‘infanticide’ and ‘kidnapping’ in England and Wales from 2009 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.

    Court proceedings data for 2013 is planned for publication in May 2014.


  • Biography information for Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Biography information for Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Gregory Campbell on Defence.

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    Anna Soubry

    The Ministry of Defence-sponsored cadet forces offer challenging and enjoyable activities for young people, and prepare them to play an active part in the community while developing valuable life skills.

    Information held centrally by the Ministry of Defence on the numbers of sea and army cadets in Northern Ireland is provided in the following tables. For sea cadets, reliable data is available from January 2005. For army cadets, estimated information on the Army Cadet Force is available from March 2012 although comparable data about the Army Combined Cadet Force is not available in the format requested. Information prior to these dates could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    Sea Cadets

    Royal Marine (RM) Cadets

    Adult Volunteers (Sea and RM)

    January 2005

    225

    13

    146

    January 2014

    235

    22

    157

    Change +/-

    +10

    +9

    +11

    Army Cadet Force

    Army Combined Cadet Force

    Adult Volunteers

    March 2012

    1,925 (estimated)

    Not held

    350 (estimated)

    January 2014

    1,422

    598

    397

    Change +/-

    -503

    Not known

    +47

    Since 2012 the Army has worked to improve the accuracy of their record keeping with a concerted effort to identify those cadets not actively participating and to either encourage them back into cadet activities or to remove them from the management information system. This has accounted for a significant drop in Army Cadet Force figures over the past few years. However, we are actively recruiting Army cadets in Northern Ireland and numbers are beginning to increase.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Leader of the House, what levels of stock his Office holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Mr Andrew Lansley

    The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. The information requested is not held centrally.

  • Biography information for Andrew Bridgen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Biography information for Andrew Bridgen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Andrew Bridgen on Health.

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    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England is not responsible for policy on cancer, but does ensure the delivery of several cancer related functions including NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, Be Clear on Cancer campaigns, cancer screening quality assurance, the National Cancer Intelligence Network and the National Cancer Registration Service. National strategic oversight and policy on cancer screening, early diagnosis and cancer informatics remains with the Department with 3.5 whole time equivalent posts.

  • Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many coastguard operations room staff have applied for posts in the restructured coastguard service.

    Stephen Hammond

    As at 14 April 2014, of those Coastguards currently working in a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, 86 have applied for both new posts in the new coastguard structure and voluntary redundancy, 140 have applied for voluntary redundancy only and 128 have applied for a new post in the new coastguard structure only.

  • Mark Garnier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Garnier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Garnier on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Capita on processing medical assessment reports for personal independence payments.

    Mike Penning

    The Department’s contract with Capita for the delivery of assessments for Personal Independence Payment includes a full set of service level agreements setting out the Department’s expectations for service delivery. We are closely monitoring their progress against these and are taking action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards.

    We are aware that, in many cases, it is taking longer than we would like for claimants to have their assessments with Capita. We are working closely with our supplier to speed up the process for claimants.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Michael Fabricant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress he has made on developing the role of the Crown Commercial Service; what savings to the public purse he expects to accrue from commercial reform of government procurement; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Crown Commercial Service is now a fully operational legal entity providing expert commercial services to the public sector.

    It is at the heart of the Government’s Commercial Reform Programme and will continue to drive further savings for the taxpayer and improve the quality of commercial and procurement activity across government.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 2 April (WA 208–12), how many prosecutions brought in the last 10 years in connection with religious hatred offences (as distinct from homophobic hatred offences) under 29B and 29C of the Public Order Act 1986 and in connection with religiously aggravated offences (as distinct from racially aggravated offences) under sections 31 and 32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 have resulted in a guilty verdict.

    Lord Faulks

    It is not totally possible to identify separately offences of religious hatred from those of homophobic hatred or religious aggravation from those offences of racial aggravation. Relevant details may be held on the court record, which can only be checked at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Inglewood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Inglewood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the timetable for the negotiations on the United Kingdom’s opt-in to the European Arrest Warrant and other European Union Justice and Home Affairs measures; whether they agree with the statement made by the Presidency of the European Union in note 7519/14 that they will need to finalise their position by June 2014 so that national internal procedures can take place before the summer recess; and if so, whether those procedures will include a debate in the House of Lords on the final text of the instruments.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    As my Rt. Hon. Friend the Home Secretary stated to Parliament on 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 27, ‘Detailed and constructive discussions are taking place with the European Commission and other member states. The Government is keen to avoid the possibility of an operational gap that will ensue if we have not settled the matter before 1 December when the UK’s opt-out takes full effect.

    Our aim is therefore to reach an "in principle" deal well ahead of that date.’ As I stated to the House on 23 January 2014, Official Report, column 846, the Government remains committed ‘to holding another vote on the final package of measures that we will apply to rejoin.’ We remain of the view that Parliament should be given the opportunity to scrutinise this matter fully.