Category: Speeches

Lord Lexden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2014-06-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much they spent in each of the last three years on the prevention and control of HIV infection in the developing world through (1) multilateral bodies, and (2) bilateral programmes.

Baroness Northover

Over the past three years the UK Government has spent nearly £1 billion on tackling HIV through multilateral organisations and bilateral programmes.

Details of DFID spending on HIV prevention, treatment and care are available at Section 4.1 of the 2013 evaluation of the HIV Position Paper “Towards Zero Infections” and can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/towards-zero-infections-two-years-on.

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01/11/2022
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
Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the government of Bahrain concerning the number of children who have been arrested there since 2011.

Baroness Warsi

Our Embassy in Manama has raised the rates of imprisonment of young people with the Ministry of the Interior and senior members of the Government of Bahrain on several occasions. This included supporting the decision by the Ombudsman’s Office of the Ministry of the Interior to investigate fully concerns about the imprisonment of children set out by human rights non-governmental organisations last year.

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
Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2014-06-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received any representations about the refusal of Eurostar to allow pets on board its trains using the Passports for Pets scheme.

Lord De Mauley

Defra has received a small number of letters from pet owners on this issue since 2012.

Government does not impose any obligation on transport companies to carry pet animals. It is a commercial decision on the part of transport companies as to whether they offer this service to their customers.

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 for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

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

Jenny Willott

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Francis Maude) on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

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 Department for Culture Media and Sport

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, 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.

Mrs Helen Grant

The table shows the proportion of staff, within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years and who have declared themselves as white British.

Year	Percentage of DCMS headcount who have been subject to disciplinary proceedings	Proportion of staff subject to disciplinary proceedings who declared themselves as white British	Proportion of staff subject to disciplinary proceedings who declared their nationality as British but ethnicity is undeclared
1 April 2009 – 31 March 2010	0.2%	100%	0%
1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011	0.7%	67%	33%
1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012	0.4%	50%	50%
1 April 2012 – 31 March 2013	0.3%	100%	0%
1 April 2013 – 31 March 2014	0.8%	67%	33%

The figures as they relate to the period from September 2012 include the Government Equalities Office, which joined the Department in that month as part of a machinery of Government move. Before September 2012, the Government Equalities Office was part of the Home Office and the information requested for this period is not available.

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