Category: Speeches

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings (a) the Prime Minister and (b) officials in his Office had with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) on the pilot badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset in 2013; what advice he has given to the NFU on communications with the media during the commencement of the culls; and if he will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Meetings were held with the National Farmers Union in the six months prior to the start of the pilot culls in 2013.

    There was no media blackout during the pilots. Defra and the National Farmers Union continued to make spokespeople available to talk to the media throughout the period in which culling was taking place.

    However, both the National Farmers Union and Defra were always clear that operational information that could compromise the effectiveness of the cull or the safety of those involved would not be disclosed during the operation.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of men in prison who have been victims of sexual abuse.

    Jeremy Wright

    Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.

    The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.

    The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr

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  • 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 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the major factors that could change the unit production cost of the Joint Strike Fighter.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence has a comprehensive understanding of all major factors that effect unit production cost. These are constantly managed as part of our procurement and risk management process.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what effect on the budget of universal credit the decision to develop a second IT system will have; and if he will make a statement.

    Esther McVey

    I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 12 December 2013, Official Report column 314w.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what co-operation programmes between the UK and Thailand there are; and what steps he has taken to review that co-operation.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK and Thailand have strong bilateral ties which are exemplified by a range of activities and programmes across the political, commercial, and cultural spectrum, for example strong trading and tourism links. We want our bilateral relationship to prosper, but in view of the rapid and serious deterioration of the democratic environment, we are reviewing the scope of our cooperation with Thailand. We are particularly concerned by restrictions on the freedoms of assembly, association and expression, and by the large numbers of arbitrary detentions we have seen since the coup was announced.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on the payment of pensions into post office card accounts.

    Steve Webb

    The Department pays benefits and pensions by Direct Payment into a bank, building society, credit union or Post Office card account.

    The Post Office card account is a very simple account with limited functionality. Our policy has always been clear that the best option, especially for people of working age, is an account that can accept payments from employers and has transactional facilities such as direct debits for the payment of bills and housing costs.

    The Department is currently in discussions with Post Office Ltd and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills to consider the future needs of customers beyond 2015.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what reports on the management, financial conduct and teaching standards at the Park View Education Trust he has requested since the school became an academy.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The allegations made in relation to Park View Educational Trust in Birmingham are very serious and are being investigated. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, made a statement to the House on 9 June 2014 on the allegations.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what customer, user and satisfaction surveys were conducted in the last 12 months in the Attorney General’s Office and the agencies that report to it; which of them have been reported to the management board in the last 12 months; and which were commissioned by the management board.

    Lord Wallace of Tankerness

    The Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol), which provides legal services to a number of government departments and bodies, conducted an annual client satisfaction survey in January 2014 The outcome of the survey was reported to the TSol Board and is one of the measures agreed with TSol by HM Treasury.

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are conducting a survey of victims of crime who had received the revised victim communication and liaison scheme which is currently being piloted by three CPS Areas. The survey is still ongoing but will feed into the evaluation of the pilots later this year.

    There have been no other external customer, user or satisfaction surveys conducted by the Law Officers’ Departments during the past 12 months.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for what reasons condensing oil and liquefied petroleum gas condensing boilers were excluded from being eligible technologies for the purposes of the receipt of monies from the Green Deal Improvement Fund.

    Gregory Barker

    DECC has introduced the domestic renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme to support renewable heating systems. The RHI aims to compensate householders for the additional costs they face when installing a renewable heating system compared to an oil heating system. The domestic RHI is targeted at, but not limited to, homes off the gas grid. Incentivising oil and LPG boilers in this context would undermine the design of the RHI, and potentially cause confusion for consumers. For more vulnerable customers, support is available through the Energy Company Obligation, with proposals to strengthen this support for off-grid properties. For these reasons, DECC considers it appropriate to exclude these heating measures from the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) scheme.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants of what grades have been employed on the Crown Oversight Function since its creation.

    Francis Maude

    Prior to the last General Election the Civil Service lacked commercial and procurement skills. This Government’s commercial and procurement reforms saved taxpayers £3.8 billion last year alone. The Government is strengthening central procurement skills to ensure further savings can be realised. The Crown Oversight Function was created on 1 November 2013 and has 52 Civil Service roles. Further details will be available via the department’s organogram. Consultants were not employed at Government expense.