Category: Speeches

  • John Healey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library the model and detailed methodology used for the forecast of the effects of affordable rent on housing benefit expenditure published by his Department in the document, Impact Assessment for Affordable Rent, in June 2011.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Affordable Rent Impact Assessment, published in June 2011, sets out the methodology and assumptions used at the time to model the expected impact of Affordable Rent on Housing Benefit expenditure. The Impact Assessment is published here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6021/1918816.pdf

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  • Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle employment discrimination amongst transgender people.

    Baroness Northover

    The Government is strongly committed to advancing equality for transgender people and ending discrimination in the workplace. The Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination because of gender reassignment in employment.

    In March 2011 the Government published Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality: Moving Forward; and in December 2011 Advancing transgender equality: a plan for action both of which set out the actions to be taken across Government to enhance equality for transgendered individuals. Actions included the Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs improving the experiences of transgender people seeking work. These include providing employers with help on employing transgender people and ensuring training is available to Jobcentre Plus staff on the specific challenges faced by transgender people.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department takes to support parents whose children attend a school in special measures; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Government is clear that the best way forward for any school judged inadequate by Ofsted is for it to become an academy with the support of a strong sponsor. We consider that sponsored academy arrangements will safeguard the long-term future of such schools and will secure rapid and sustained improvement, which should reassure parents.

  • Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to allow colleges to provide free meals transactions on individual student smart cards.

    Lord Nash

    We published guidance for further education funded institutions, including colleges, on 16 April setting out full details of the requirement on institutions to provide free meals to their disadvantaged 16- to 18-year-old students from September 2014.

    Exactly how those requirements are met is for individual institutions to determine, and will depend on current practices and systems already in place. Institutions have the flexibility to be able to provide either a meal or a voucher or credit for the student to exchange for a meal. Smart cards would be an ideal way to make such provision.

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

    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, how many meetings the Minister of State for Europe has held with the European Commission with the sole purpose of discussing incursions by Spanish government vessels into British Gibraltar territorial waters.

    Mr William Hague

    We are confident of UK sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) under international law, a matter over which the European Commission has no locus to intervene. As a result the the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), the Minister responsible for Europe, has not had any meetings with the EC in the last two years where the sole purpose was discussing Spanish incursions into BGTW.

    However, my right hon. Friend has raised on a number of occasions, at a senior level in the European Commission, the adoption by the European Commission of a proposal from the Spanish government to designate a site of community importance (SCI) under the EU habitats directive (92/43/EEC). The SCI in question overlaps virtually the whole BGTW area. Spain has used this fact to justify certain incursions on the grounds that they are enacting obligations in relation to EU environmental legislation.

    The British Government maintains that the purported site known as the Estrecho Oriental was unlawfully designated and, in any event, cannot have any legal effect in BGTW due to UK sovereignty over this territory. We have made our position on this clear to the European Commission and the Spanish government.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the proportion of accident and emergency attendances caused by accidents in the home.

    Earl Howe

    This information is not available centrally.

  • Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual cost to her Department is of providing UK border control services at (a) Paris Gare Du Nord station, (b) Bruxelles Midi station and (c) Calais port and Eurotunnel terminus.

    James Brokenshire

    The annual costs of providing UK border control services are as follow:
    Paris Gare Du Nord station – £4.6 million
    Bruxelles Midi station – £3.3 million
    Calais port – £21.8 million
    Eurotunnel terminus (Coquelles) – £21.2 million

    The above resource costs are based on the last financial year’s data(2013/14)
    and are taken from the Home office accounting system Adelphi. These have not
    yet been audited. Publication of the annual set of accounts will not present
    these costs in this level of detail.

  • The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress was made towards improving the security and affordability of off-grid fuel supply at the third ministerial roundtable meeting on heating oil and liquid petroleum gas supply on 21 May.

    Baroness Verma

    My rt. hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy chaired the third Ministerial Roundtable meeting on heating oil and LPG supply on 21 May. My rt. hon Friend the Minister of State for Climate Change joined the roundtable discussion on off gas grid fuel poor households and support for off gas grid consumers. This continued the useful discussions government has had at the previous two Roundtables with representatives from industry, consumer groups, oil buying groups and others on how to improve heating oil and LPG supply to UK consumers.

    Issues covered at the third roundtable included the promotion of the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers’ Customer Charter, the messaging to consumers on buying oil early ahead of the winter and an update on the action government is taking more broadly to help fuel poor off-grid households. Full details of the meeting can be found in the minutes of the meeting which has been placed in the Library of the House.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Heidi Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 591W, on Southeastern network, what estimate he has made of demand on routes on the Southeastern network; which routes his Department believes require increased capacity provision on peak services; and when he expects capacity to be increased on these routes.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Department holds information collected by Southeastern about the level of demand on each of its routes. However, this data is held by DfT on a commercially confidential basis and so cannot be released. As part of its Long Term Planning Process, Network Rail will undertake a Kent Route Study during 2015/16 to identify which routes may require increased capacity provision. On the basis of this work, Ministers will consider priorities for funding capacity enhancements during railway Control Period 6 (2019-2024).

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of public expenditure on science on UK economic productivity figures.

    Mr David Willetts

    A number of academic studies find a positive link between research and development (R&D) investment and economic growth. Much of the relevant evidence was set out in a recent report for BIS "Insights from international benchmarking of the UK science and innovation system[1]" and the 2014 BIS Innovation Report[2].

    A further recent UK report estimated that public investment in science yields a social rate of return of around 20%, through its impact on private sector productivity[3]. This means that for every £1 spent by Government on R&D, private sector output rises by 20 pence per year in perpetuity. This effect could be larger where additional public spending on R&D attracts additional private R&D spending. The same report and other studies have shown that there is a "crowding-in" effect of public investment on R&D. The effect is greater in industries that conduct significant R&D or collaborate with universities.

    [1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/science-and-innovation-system-international-benchmarking

    [2]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/innovation-report-2014-innovation-research-and-growth

    [3]http://sciencecampaign.org.uk/UKScienceBase.pdf

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