Category: Speeches

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer given in the House of Lords of 28 October 2013, Official Report, column 208W, on Agriculture: Pesticides, if he will place in the Library a list of the (a) published research being considered by the current review of the EU approval of glyphosate and (b) ongoing or completed research relating to potential links between glyphosate and chronic diseases and conditions in humans.

    Dan Rogerson

    Lists of the studies found by a search of published literature and of those determined to be relevant by the German regulatory authorities, who are assessing the data on behalf of the EU, can be found in Volume 3 of the Renewal Assessment Report. This was published on 12 March 2014 on the European Food Safety Authority’s website at http://dar.efsa.europa.eu/dar-web/provision. The Government does not plan to publish a separate list of ongoing or completed research.

    “

  • 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 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on the Jobcentre Plus rapid response service in each year since 2003-04.

    Esther McVey

    Information requested can only be provided in part due to 7 year archive period for financials data.

    Spend on Rapid Response Service has therefore been:

    Period £

    2007-08 579,853

    2008-09 851,954

    2009-10 9,963,293

    2010-11 6,472,119

    2011-12 3,432,793

    2012-13 4,020,041

  • Meg Hillier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Meg Hillier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her statement of 30 April 2014, Official Report, column 831, on Stop-and-Search, which police forces have signed up to the revised code on stop-and-search to date.

    Damian Green

    The Home Office is currently in discussion with all police forces on the Best
    Use of Stop and Search Scheme. The Scheme already has the backing of the
    Metropolitan Police – the biggest user of stop and search in the country – and
    the intention is to launch the Scheme in the Summer.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for backlogs of medical assessments for personal independence payments.

    Mike Penning

    We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.

    As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.

    Whilst there are no statutory (legal) requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, we have set both personal independence payment assessment providers a target for the length of time to complete assessments of 30 working days.

    Any delays experienced in the new claims process will not affect the date from which claimants are paid; all successful claims will be paid from the date the claim was initially made or the date the qualifying period is met, whichever is the later.

    As for the administration of all benefits, a claimant is free to complain about the service they have received from the Department for Work and Pensions. Complaints about the service received from our assessment providers should be made direct to the relevant assessment provider. A complaint may result in a special payment if the claimant has experienced unfair treatment or suffered financially.

    The Department has robust expectations for provider performance and contracts include a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. The contracts include a range of remedies and failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits in line with the contract.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what use his Department has made of the National Wellbeing Index introduced by the Office for National Statistics in formulating policy since the introduction of that Index in 2011; and what policies his Department has introduced to improve national wellbeing as defined in that Index since 2010.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is measuring National Wellbeing, not as an index but through a framework of 41 indicators which capture social progress around important aspects of life for individuals, communities and the nation. The statistics are experimental and as such we should not expect to have examples of major policies that have been heavily influenced by the wellbeing data at this stage.

    Since the introduction of the ONS framework for measuring National Wellbeing in 2011, DCMS has worked closely with the ONS to introduce sport and culture participation measures within ONS’ national wellbeing headline measures for adults (May 2013). In January this year, measures of sport and culture were also included within ONS’ initial national child wellbeing measures. DCMS’ National Statistic ‘Taking Part’, on culture and sport engagement, has measured subjective wellbeing since 2005/06. In 2012 ONS’ subjective wellbeing questions were also added to support further analysis of wellbeing impacts.

    Our policies of ‘Getting more people playing sport’ and ‘Supporting vibrant and sustainable arts and culture’ are directly linked to ONS’ national wellbeing measurement. DCMS continues to work to better understand and consider the impact of its sectors and policy on people’s wellbeing across a number of the domains in ONS’ national wellbeing measures including health, education, crime and unemployment. For example, in our recently released reports on ‘Quantifying the Social Impacts of Culture and Sport1‘ and ‘Quantifying and Valuing the Wellbeing Impacts of Culture and Sport2‘

    1https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quantifying-the-social-impacts-of-sport-and-culture

    2 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quantifying-and-valuing-the-wellbeing-impacts-of-culture-and-sport

    “

  • Lord Myners – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2014-04-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the external law firm appointed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to review its handling of its announcement on closed life funds is independent of the FCA and the firms covered by the FCA investigation.

    Lord Deighton

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have announced that the FCA Non-Executive Directors have appointed Simon Davis, a senior commercial litigation partner at Clifford Chance, to conduct an independent inquiry into the handling of the FCA’s announcement of proposed supervisory work on the fair treatment of long standing customers in life insurance.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what use his Department has made of the National Wellbeing Index introduced by the Office for National Statistics in formulating policy since the introduction of that Index in 2011; and what policies his Department has introduced to improve national wellbeing as defined in that Index since 2010.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Secretary of State for Education, my Right hon. Friend, the Member for Surrey Heath, Michael Gove, is responsible for a wide-range of issues which relate to a number of the key determinants of children’s well-being as captured in the ONS’ Children’s well-being measures in the Measuring National Well-being Programme. These include policies designed to raise educational attainment, promote take-up of early years education, tackle bullying in schools and reduce child poverty.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-04-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, as part of their package of sanctions towards Russia, they intend to instruct Centrica to cancel their agreement with Gazprom to supply the United Kingdom with gas; and if so, what will be the consequences for United Kingdom gas supplies and energy prices.

    Baroness Verma

    The international community has sent a clear, strong, consistent message to Russia. The sanctions we have imposed to date are having an impact. The European Council is clear that it will respond with further wide-ranging measures if there is any further destabilisation in Ukraine by Russia.

    The contract between Gazprom and Centrica is a commercial matter. It relates to a small part of total gas supply to the UK. While the contract is with a Russian company, the gas can be sourced from anywhere in the European network. The UK is not dependent on Russian energy imports and this contract does not alter that.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the current starting age for children entering primary education on the wellbeing and attainment of those born in summer months.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Department for Education has not made an assessment of the effect of the current starting age for children entering primary education on the wellbeing and attainment of those born in the summer months.

    However, research[1] carried out by the Department has demonstrated that the age at which tests are taken is the dominant reason for month of birth gaps in educational attainment, and not the age at which children start school; it is simply the fact of being younger when tested that accounts for most of the differences observed. The research reported no evidence of a causal relationship between school entry age and attainment.

    Parents of summer born children who think their child is not ready to start school can request that their child is admitted outside of their normal age group and be admitted to reception year in the September following their fifth birthday. The school’s admission authority is responsible for making the decision which must be based on the individual circumstance of each case.

    [1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182664/DFE-RR017.pdf

    “

  • Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) incidence rate and (b) age standardised incidents rate of prostate cancer in (i) England and (ii) each parliamentary constituency was in the latest year for which figures are available.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.