Category: Speeches

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the annual cost in each school of setting up a new Combined Cadet Force detachment.

    Anna Soubry

    The cost of setting up a new Combined Cadet Force (CCF) unit under the Cadet Expansion Programme depends largely on the number of cadets in the unit.

    Decisions on opening new CCFs in schools are made jointly by the Department for Education and Ministry of Defence (MOD). The key criteria for deciding which schools can establish a new CCF are the ability of the school to fund the new unit and provide sufficient adult volunteers to run it. However, we are particularly interested in establishing CCFs in areas of deprivation.

    No assessment has been made of the effect of establishing new CCFs in state schools on recruitment to community cadet units. However, it should be noted that CCFs and community cadet units deliver different but complementary elements of the MOD’s youth engagement strategy.

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Newport West of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 231W, on cycling: Greater London, how many (a) men and (b) women cyclists’ in London suffered (i) fatal and (ii) serious injuries in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The numbers of reported a) fatal and b) seriously injured male and female cyclist casualties in Greater London for each of the last 10 years are shown in the table below.

    Reported fatal and seriously injured cyclists by gender, Greater London 2003-2012

    Number of Casualties
    Fatal Serious Injuries
    1)Male 2)Female Total 1)Male 2)Female Total
    2003 12 7 19 334 85 419
    2004 6 2 8 269 63 332
    2005 18 3 21 283 68 351
    2006 11 8 19 282 91 373
    2007 11 4 15 353 93 446
    2008 11 4 15 338

    92

    		 430
    2009 3 10 13 337 83 420
    2010 6 4 10 359 99 458
    2011 10 6 16 437 118 555
    2012 13 1 14 527 132 659

    Data for 2013 will be available in June 2014.

    “

  • Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many cases of academy trusts acquiring freehold interests on land for schools there have been in each of the last five financial years.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    When community schools convert to academies, the freehold is retained by the local authority and a lease is granted to the academy trust. In some circumstances, where the school governors or supporting foundation already hold the freehold, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, may allow publicly-funded school land to be transferred to an academy trust, which will have satisfied the Secretary of State as to its ability to operate a state-funded school.

    There are strict rules protecting publicly funded land used by academies, regardless of who holds the freehold. This is set out in published guidance, which is available online:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/protection-of-school-playing-fields-and-public-land-advice

    A copy of the guidance has been placed in the House Library.

    The Department does not hold information about the average value of land used for academies on a freehold or leasehold basis. Information about the number of academies that occupy land on a leasehold and freehold basis is not held centrally.

    “

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what budget is allocated to each Jobcentre Plus office to reimburse jobseekers’ travel expenses; and how each such budget is decided.

    Esther McVey

    Each jobcentre is allocated funding to support claimants move towards and into work, and this could include meeting their travel expenses. For internal planning purposes each District Manager will estimate of the likely number of claimants requiring additional support and the cost within that locality but the information is not routinely collated and reported centrally. District plans are reviewed regularly to ensure they make best use of available funding and all local priorities can be met.

  • John Howell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    John Howell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Howell on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Henley constituency have been subject to restrictions on cattle movements following a test proving the presence of TB in each of the last three years.

    George Eustice

    Statistics on TB breakdowns are only available at county and herd level. Figures below show the number of herds restricted as a result of positive bovine TB test results in Oxfordshire in each of the last three years:

    · 2011 – 30

    · 2012 – 29

    · 2013 – 27

    Bovine TB statistics are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb.

    “

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many disqualification reports were submitted by each Official Receiver’s office in the year ending 31 March 2014.

    Jenny Willott

    Detailed in the following table is the office breakdown for the number of disqualification reports submitted in the year ended 31 March 2014.

    OR Offices

    Number of reports submitted

    Anglia

    20

    Central Midlands

    25

    East Midlands & S Yorks

    29

    Greater Manchester

    13

    Humber and E Yorks

    20

    Kent

    9

    London – Essex

    5

    London – Herts, Bucks

    20

    Mid West and N Wales

    21

    North

    5

    North East

    19

    North West

    20

    South Central

    9

    South Wales

    26

    South West

    7

    Surrey and Sussex

    24

    West England

    17

    Total

    289

    PIU

    North

    71

    South

    36

    Total

    107
  • Andrew Bingham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Bingham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on allowing the transplant of organs from people deceased outside of hospital.

    Jane Ellison

    Organ donation following death outside of hospital is not broadly practiced in the United Kingdom. For organs to remain viable and suitable for transplantation, they must either be kept supplied with oxygen, blood and nutrients, or kept cold so that the metabolism of the cells is slowed right down. When someone’s heart stops beating suddenly, the blood supply to organs stop and the cells begin to get starved of oxygen and nutrients and start to die. Therefore, there is a very narrow window of a few minutes between the heart stopping beating and the need for organs to be removed and preserved.

    A pilot programme is underway in Edinburgh for retrieval of organs from those who suffer a witnessed cardiac arrest from which they are unable to be resuscitated and are brought within minutes to the hospital. NHS Blood and Transplant is supporting this pilot and, depending on the outcome, will support further similar initiatives.

    Additionally, health care professionals need to obtain consent and get a full medical history to ensure the organs are suitable for transplantation.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions the Office for National Statistics has had with EU counterparts about differences in the way projected growth is estimated.

    Mr Nick Hurd

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

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will assess the achievements of Kidney Research UK’s Peer Educator model to support sign-up to the NHS Organ Donor Register in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities; and if his Department will take steps to support rollout of Kidney Research UK’s Peer Educator model across the UK.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department, as part of its support for the National Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Transplant Alliance, is funding Kidney Research UK to run a Peer Educator Project to raise awareness of the lack of donors and increase the numbers on the organ and bone marrow/stem cell registers within the Pakistani Muslim community in Birmingham. Subject to Parliamentary business, the project will be officially launched by the Public Health Minister on 26 June 2014 and will build upon the success of an earlier Department funded Peer Educator project. The project will be fully evaluated and further lessons learned will be used to inform the roll out of any future Peer Educator projects in other BAME locations across the country.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Rushanara Ali – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure continuity in local authority provision of youth services during commissioning processes to tender those services.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Local authorities are expected to make arrangements for continuity of provision of services and activities to young people throughout any commissioning activity. Statutory guidance on this duty was issued by the Department for Education in July 2012.

    Local authorities are required to submit to Government separate budget and outturn statements outlining planned and actual expenditure for their education and children’s social care functions annually. This includes spend information on youth work and youth services, however this information does not allow a complete breakdown by different categories of organisation to be calculated.