Category: Speeches

Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s latest assessment is of the security situation in Egypt following the recent suicide bombing outside Cairo University grounds.

Mr William Hague

Our assessment, as published in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice, is that there is a high threat from terrorism in Egypt, including Cairo. We believe that terrorists continue to plan attacks, which could be indiscriminate and occur without prior warning. Attacks have mainly been aimed at the security forces, their facilities and other government buildings. However, attacks targeting foreigners cannot be ruled out. We continue to keep our travel advice under constant review.

During my meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy on 2 April, I condemned the recent attacks in Cairo and sent condolences to the family of the victim and those who have been injured.

01/11/2022
Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

Brandon Lewis

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Francis Maude) on 16 June, Official Report, Column 434W.

01/11/2022
David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his contribution of 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 877, what the evidential basis was of his statement that the sale of the Royal Mail was in the manifesto of the last Government.

Mr David Cameron

I was referring to the previous government’s policy of seeking to part-privatise the Royal Mail.

01/11/2022
Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

Elizabeth Truss

We take into account an organisation’s diversity policy and record where it is relevant to the subject matter of the contract or grant and is permissible by law. Where the organisation is listed as a Crown Strategic Supplier, we would also approach the relevant Crown Representative as part of the appraisal.

01/11/2022
Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote innovation within industry; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Willetts

This Government is fully committed to improving the UK’s innovation performance as an essential component of its growth plan. Innovation has long been, and will continue to be, a key driver of UK growth and economic prosperity, accounting for up to 70% of economic growth in the long-term.

The UK’s Industrial Strategy, a new long-term partnership between business and all parts of Government, has identified a range of opportunities to help create growth for the future, from developing new skills and securing critical investment, to commercialising our scientific research and inventions.

Support for technologies is one of five core themes of the Industrial Strategy. The Government has identified "Eight Great Technologies" where the UK’s science strengths and business capabilities combine to give us world-leading potential and announced an additional £600M investment to help support their development from laboratory to marketplace.

We have made the Technology Strategy Board the Government’s prime channel for supporting business-led technology innovation, which delivers a range of interventions in support of innovative businesses, such as the network of Catapult Centres and collaborative research and development competitions.

We have also put in place a range of wider policies to support innovation which include a tax regime that supports innovation, investment and enterprise that enables the UK to be internationally competitive, as the increasingly international nature of innovation means that it is crucial for the UK and its businesses and universities to remain active in the global innovation ecosystem.

We know that other leading innovators and the emerging economies are increasing their investment in science and innovation and that we need to strengthen our own performance in some areas and build on our acknowledged strengths to retain our position as one of the world’s leading innovation countries.

This is why we will be developing a new Science and Innovation Strategy to be published this Autumn. This will set out the future shape and scale of the UK’s science and innovation system and look at how we measure the system’s performance and the key challenges that the UK needs to address to maintain its global leadership position.

01/11/2022
Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Department publishes Workforce Equality Data which consists of information about disciplinary cases combined together with grievance cases, by ethnicity. This information is presented in the attached table with the proportion of cases where ethnicity has not been declared.

Detailed information on disciplinary cases alone is not held for this full period, as penalties which may have been imposed would have been ‘spent’.

However, since 1 April 2013 detailed information is available and for the financial year 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 54% of staff who were subject to formal disciplinary proceedings were white British and 9% were of undeclared ethnicity.

More information for the years 2012 to 2014 is available on the .GOV website on the links below:

2012 – www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-health-workforce-information-2012

2013 – www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-equality-information-department-of-health

2014 – www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-equality-information-2014

01/11/2022

Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding allocated under the Regional Growth Fund in each (a) holding and (b) region has not yet been drawn down by winning bidders.

Michael Fallon

Regional breakdown of RGF allocations for each bidding round (Rounds 1-4) including the amount drawn down and remaining to be drawn down are provided in the attached tables. This data is as at 2 April. The RGF not drawn down for Rounds 1 to 4 totals £1,238 million. Of this, currently, £1,152 million is budgeted to be drawn down in 2014/15 and later years. Payments schedules are agreed with companies and payments are made when they need them.

Round 1

Region	RGF Allocation (£m)	RGF Drawdown (£m)	RGF not drawn down (£m)
North West	21	19	2
Yorkshire & Humber	47	39	8
North East	34	34	0
West Midlands	89	22	67
East Midlands	2	2	0
East of England	16	10	6
South East & London	0	0	0
South West	4	4	0
National	175	175	0
TOTAL	388	305	83

Round 2

Region	RGF Allocation (£m)	RGF Drawdown (£m)	RGF not drawn down (£m)
North West	189	123	66
Yorkshire & Humber	68	45	23
North East	64	56	8
West Midlands	91	87	4
East Midlands	80	49	31
East of England	35	20	15
South East & London	60	45	15
South West	71	69	2
National	90	80	10
TOTAL	748	574	174

Round 3

Region	RGF Allocation (£m)	RGF Drawdown (£m)	RGF not drawn down (£m)
North West	113	43	70
Yorkshire & Humber	63	28	35
North East	113	44	69
West Midlands	158	24	134
East Midlands	57	14	43
East of England	25	8	17
South East & London	48	18	30
South West	82	8	74
National	177	75	102
TOTAL	836	262	574

Round 4

Region	RGF Allocation (£m)	RGF Drawdown (£m)	RGF not drawn down (£m)
North West	96	5	91
Yorkshire & Humber	30	2	28
North East	33	1	32
West Midlands	65	1	64
East Midlands	41	1	40
East of England	15	3	12
South East & London	25	2	23
South West	14	0	14
National	115	12	103
TOTAL	434	27	407

01/11/2022

Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Simon Hughes

Staff within the Ministry of Justice (MoJ HQ), HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and Legal Aid Agency (LAA) can, but are not compelled to, declare their ethnicity. Consequently, definitive figures for the proportion of white British staff who have been dismissed or subject to formal disciplinary proceedings over the last five financial years cannot be provided.

The MoJ Diversity report for 2012/2013 provides an overview of information on staff grievances, investigations, conduct and discipline. This can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279638/moj-diversity-data-report-2012-13.pdf

This information has not been collated or published in respect of earlier financial years.

“

01/11/2022
Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-04-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the digital inclusion implications of requiring online accounts for new childcare proposals announced in Budget 2014.

Nicky Morgan

Tax-Free Childcare will be hosted on the Government Digital Service (GDS) Gov.uk website alongside other Government digital services. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have overall responsibility for the implementation of these services, in partnership with National Savings and Investments (NS&I) who will operate the accounts.

The GDS are leading the Government’s work to link digital inclusion into policy programmes and digital services. HMRC have directly consulted with GDS who have been involved in the design of the process and the creation of the solution for Tax-Free Childcare.

The Government will continue to talk with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders to ensure that Tax-Free Childcare is as simple and secure as possible for parents to access and use.

01/11/2022

Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many remote sites are available and in use by child victims and witnesses in (a) each region of England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Damian Green

We must do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice.

The department does not hold data on the number of child victim and witnesses that use video links to give evidence (either a court building, or from a remote site).

The list below sets out the number of courthouses in each of the seven HMCTS Regions in England & Wales; criminal justice is a devolved matter for Scotland and Northern Ireland. These facilities enable any victim or witness to appear by video link from a different court location to that of the trial court; it is also possible for third party users to access the court system through a secure bridge.

HMCTS Region	Number of courthouses enabled for remote video link.
Wales	22
London	32
South East	52
South West	35
Midlands	40
North West	31
North East	37
Total	249

01/11/2022