Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to instruct the various investigative and regulatory authorities to give priority to suspect deposits, in particular laundered money and investments, originating from Russia and Ukraine.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Government is committed to tackling money laundering and ensuring that the UK is a hostile place for the proceeds of corruption.

    Prior to EU sanctions being agreed, the Treasury contacted anti-money laundering supervisors suggesting that they emphasise the increased risk in relation to Ukraine to their firms and remind them of the need to have appropriate systems and controls for due diligence, ongoing monitoring and reporting of suspicious transactions.

    It is not possible to comment on specific operational matters.

  • Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pete Wishart on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have applied for passports using the (a) fast track and (b) premium service in the last month; and how many recent passport applications will receive compensation from her Department.

    James Brokenshire

    In June 2014, (a) 59, 692 people applied and paid for fast track and (b) 31,
    289 applied for premium service. Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) only
    normally offer compensation for financial loss as a result of delays in their guaranteed
    (Fast Track and Premium) services. HMPO does not have an estimate of how much
    compensation may be paid this year in line with their policy. As the Home
    Secretary announced on 12 June 2014, customers who need to travel within 7 days and who
    have waited more than the three weeks service standard for a straightforward application to
    be processed through no fault of their own, are fast-tracked free of charge.
    To 15 July, HMPO has issued 13, 461 passports as a result of this change of
    policy.

  • Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of death sentences handed down so far during 2014 in Egypt; and whether they have discussed the issue with the government of Egypt.

    Baroness Warsi

    The British Government is aware of 559 people who have been sentenced to death in Egypt during 2014, including 529 by a court in Minya on 24 March. We are deeply concerned by these sentences. We have raised this issue with the Egyptian government, most recently during the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague)’s meeting with Foreign Minister Fahmy on 2 April. The Foreign Secretary asked the Egyptian government to review these sentences as a matter of urgency and to ensure that the individuals’ human and legal rights were properly upheld. The Foreign Secretary also made a statement on 24 March in which he expressed his concern over the sentences.

    It is the long-standing policy of the British Government to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances.

  • Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on the incorrect 0870 telephone number being given out to applicants seeking advice on their applications with UK Visas and Immigration; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    We are aware that some UK Visas and Immigration letters may still contain the
    0870 contact number, and this is being addressed. A small number of
    representations have been received on this matter.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what safeguards were (a) sought and (b) put in place to ensure that priority investors would continue to invest over a longer period of time in respect of the privatisation of Royal Mail.

    Michael Fallon

    More than 500 would-be investors in Royal Mail were approached in the lead up to the sale including potential long term institutional investors.

    As is standard practice for any flotation, we did not seek to lock in any investors in as they would have paid less for a stock they could not trade.

    We understand that the majority of the shares, other than those owned by government, the Royal Mail workforce and retail investors, are currently held by long term institutional investors.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of staff employed (a) directly and (b) indirectly by his Department were employed on (i) short term and (ii) zero hours contracts in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    We are unable to provide the number of staff and proportion of those employed by a third party to work indirectly by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). This information is partially held centrally and to collate all of this information as a whole would incur disproportionate costs.

    However figures that are held on the MoJ central systems on staff directly employed by the MoJ and its agencies from 2008 to 2014 on (i) short term and (ii) zero hour contracts can be found in the tables below.

    MoJ Staff with Fixed Term Contracts (SFTC) of 12 months or less as per the Office on National Statistics definition can be found below.

    SFTC

    % of SFTC Workforce in MoJ

    31-Mar-08

    2,087

    3%

    31-Mar-09

    1,489

    2%

    31-Mar-10

    1,305

    2%

    31-Mar-11

    1,025

    1%

    31-Mar-12

    409

    1%

    31-Mar-13

    1,372

    2%

    31-Mar-14

    637

    1%

    MoJ Staff recorded as having no fixed hours of employment i.e. zero hour’s contracts.

    Staff on Zero Hours contract

    % of ‘Zero hour’ Workforce

    31-Mar-08

    158

    0.25%

    31-Mar-09

    208

    0.29%

    31-Mar-10

    188

    0.26%

    31-Mar-11

    204

    0.26%

    31-Mar-12

    158

    0.21%

    31-Mar-13

    133

    0.17%

    31-Mar-14

    123

    0.16%

    The percentage of MoJ staff on zero hour contracts has been decreasing since 2009.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his policy to encourage civil servants to use video conferencing in order to reduce costs; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Yes. Video conferencing can be used to reduce costs but specialist equipment can be required. Officials and ministers also make use of telephone conferencing.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which 100 wards in which town, county and constituency in Northern Ireland had (a) the highest electoral registration rate and (b) the lowest registration rate in the latest period for which information is available.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not hold information about ward electorates for Northern Ireland. This information is held by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-04-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidelines exist for the sale of assets and land belonging to HM Revenue and Customs.

    Mr David Gauke

    The guidelines for the sales of assets and land belonging to HM Revenue and Customs are contained in “Managing Public Money” published by HM Treasury.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has given to the tribunals service of how many appeals will be brought by universal credit claimants in each of the next five years.

    Esther McVey

    We announced our plans for the implementation of Universal Credit on 5 December, and these were set out in a written ministerial statement Official Report 5 Dec 2013, Column 65WS. The WMS can be found here:

    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131205/wmstext/131205m0001.htm#13120551000006

    Official statistics on Universal Credit were most recently published on 14th May and can be found at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics

    Our estimates of the number of appeals will depend on the details of the migration schedule which will be determined in due course.

    “