Category: Speeches

  • Martin Horwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Martin Horwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martin Horwood on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether information included in the registry of company beneficial ownership information will be cross-checked against data held by (a) passport authorities, (b) vehicle licensing authorities, (c) electoral registers and (d) other databases.

    Jenny Willott

    Companies House currently undertakes a range of checks across the breadth of documents delivered to them. In 2012-13 over 400,000 documents were rejected because they did not pass these checks.

    We are carefully considering whether any further reform is necessary, whilst ensuring the UK’s company registration regime remains quick, simple and inexpensive. We do not however envisage that this would include cross-checking data against other sources of information.

  • Martin Horwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Martin Horwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martin Horwood on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the amount of housing proposed on what had been designated Green Belt land in 2010 in adopted and emerging Local Plans.

    Nick Boles

    It is for local authorities in conjunction with their communities to assess development needs and plan to meet them in a way which is consistent with national policy. Our planning reforms have strengthened the role of Local Plans and abolished the previous administration’s undemocratic Regional Strategies which imposed housing targets and Green Belt reviews. This returns power to local authorities and communities to determine whether it is appropriate to develop on Green Belt land, taking into account the strong protections in the National Planning Policy Framework.

    This Government attaches great importance to Green Belt as a way to prevent sprawl and encroachment on open countryside, and as a vital ‘green lung’ for many communities. The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that openness and permanence are essential characteristics of Green Belt. And that Green Belt boundaries can only be revised in exceptional circumstances through the Local Plan process. Planning guidance published on 6 March re-affirmed Green Belt protection.

  • 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 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2014, Official Report, columns 789-90, on special educational needs, when he expects the special educational needs (SEN) gateway will be available for all parents of SEN children.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education is providing funding of £918,000 to Nasen over two years to develop a special educational needs (SEN) gateway. This will provide professionals with access to free high-quality SEN resources and training materials to support children with SEN and disabilities.

    The gateway will be designed primarily for educational professionals in schools, colleges and other educational settings rather than for parents, although they will be able access the gateway. It is due to be launched in May 2014.

  • 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 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage businesses in the fishing sector to operate in the Falkland Islands.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Honourable Member will be aware that responsibility for the promotion of business and trade opportunities in the Falkland Islands, including in the fishing sector, lies with the Falkland Islands Government (FIG). FIG itself would be the best source of further information as it has responsibility for fishing policy, licence applications and most other maritime matters in the Islands.

    As noted in the Overseas Territories White Paper of 2012, the UK is strongly committed to supporting British companies who wish to do business in the Territories. The investment opportunities in the Overseas Territories were highlighted in November last year as part of the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC), with a half day Investment Forum at which over 150 businesses attended. A similar event is planned as part of the JMC programme for this year.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria are used to decide in which countries to have UK consular and visa offices.

    James Brokenshire

    Decisions regarding the location of our visa application centres, and the
    places in which the applications are decided, are based on a number of
    different factors, including geography, security issues, distribution of
    demand, political and economic impacts, as well as the financial cost. The
    Home Office uses commercial partners to help run its network of visa
    application centres, which are the customer-facing end of the service. Under
    new contracts which came into effect on 1 April, we will have 340 visa
    application points in 142 countries around the world. Applications submitted at visa
    application centres are then sent to one of our 32 decision-making hubs for
    consideration.

    On the Consular side, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supports
    British nationals through the Diplomatic network of 220 Posts around the world, in 170
    countries. They also have a network of 230 Honorary Consuls who provide
    support in places where the UK is not otherwise represented. Having consular
    partners present in countries where the UK is not represented ensures British
    nationals have immediate access to assistance. There are only three countries
    in the world where there is no in country consular representation by the UK or
    any of our main consular partners (EU, Australia, Canada, US or New Zealand).

    These are Palau, Sao Tome & Principe and Tuvalu. In these cases, UK Travel
    Advice instructs British nationals to seek assistance when needed through the
    nearest country with British diplomatic representation: Philippines, Angola and
    Fiji respectively. The FCO currently advise against all travel to Syria and
    warn British nationals who travel there that the FCO will not be able to
    provide them with any assistance. The FCO also advise against all but
    essential travel to Iran and advise British nationals to seek assistance from
    any EU Member State present in the country.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints were made by imprisoned child sex offenders against (a) prison officers and (b) prison staff in each of the last 10 years.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information requested is not available centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to emphasise the importance of education provisions and support for disabled children, their teachers and families in order to ensure that Millennium Development Goal 2 is attained.

    Justine Greening

    The UK Government’s programmes and partnerships are focused on ensuring better inclusion of children with disabilities. For example, the Girls’ Education Challenge is supporting over £9 million of disability-focused programmes.

    In September 2013 we announced two additional commitments to step up our support; ensuring all DFID funded education construction is fully accessible and improving data on children with disabilities.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to extend Pulse Oximetry screening for children.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The UK National Screening Committee has recommended that a pilot for pulse oximetry screening for children should be set up to explore the practicalities of implementation. Ministers have accepted this advice and a pilot will commence shortly.

  • Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregg McClymont on 2014-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are employed by HM Revenue and Customs in regional post rooms at each location in the UK.

    Mr David Gauke

    As requested please find detailed below staff numbers employed in HMRC Regional Post Rooms employed solely in post room activities.

    Shipley 45

    Cardiff 65

    Bootle 35

    Newcastle 98

    Cumbernauld 46

    I also refer the Honourable Gentleman to my answer on 12 May 2014.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who authorises the public release of photographs of aircraft that are intercepted during Quick Reaction Alert flights.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Photographs are routinely taken during Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) interceptions. There is strong public and media interest in the RAF Quick Reaction Alert deterrent capability. MOD policy is to release a limited amount of non-sensitive information on QRA launches, sometimes including photographs. This provides the public with strong examples of how the RAF is able to respond to this kind of incident. It also provides public awareness of the RAF’s ability to defend the UK through the effectiveness of its air defences and to maintain the full deterrence value of the QRA mission. Media enquiries regarding QRA launches also often include requests for photographs.

    Consequently, RAF Operations Staffs in coordination with MOD officials, including the MOD Directorate of Media and Communications, will occasionally consider these photographs for public release.

    Photographs of a recent QRA mission were released on 25 April 2014. The previous release of photographs of intercepted aircraft from a recent mission was in March 2010; additionally for other QRA information releases in the last three years, MOD have utilised stock images from the Defence Image Library.