Category: Speeches

  • 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, how many (a) men and (b) women convicted of benefit fraud in each of the last five years received (i) a conditional discharge, (ii) a fine, (iii) a community order and (iv) a suspended prison sentence.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Department for Work and Pensions operates a tough series of specific penalties for benefit fraud that run alongside the criminal justice system. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 toughened penalties for those who commit, or attempt to commit benefit fraud. We have introduced a financial administrative penalty as an alternative to prosecution which, for the first time, can be applied to attempted fraud.

    The Government has also introduced a tougher loss of benefit penalty to restrict benefits to people convicted of benefit fraud or who have accepted an administrative penalty. Benefits can be reduced for periods of 13 weeks, 26 weeks or 3 years, dependent on the number of benefit fraud offences committed within a specified period, where the latest offence results in a conviction.

    Judges make their decisions independently of Government based on the facts of each case. The maximum penalty for fraud is 10 years in prison.

    The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ court found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to benefit fraud, with sentencing outcomes and the average custodial sentence length by gender, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.

    Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.

  • 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, how much his Department has spent on Atomic Weapons Establishment facilities at Aldermaston in each of the last five years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Expenditure specifically on AWE facilities at Aldermaston is not held in the format requested. Contract payments for AWE are made against an agreed programme of work that covers all AWE sites; Aldermaston, Burghfield and Blacknest. These costs are not recorded according to site.

  • Mr Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mr Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Murphy on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much in housing benefit payments was paid to recipients in (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Dundee and (d) Aberdeen in the last year.

    Steve Webb

    The amount paid in Housing Benefit in 2012/13 can be found in the table below.

    2012/13

    £m

    HB

    Glasgow City

    348

    City of Edinburgh

    200

    Dundee City

    77

    Aberdeen City

    55

    Source: Local authority statistical data and subsidy returns.

    Note: Expenditure is shown for the last complete financial year. Benefit expenditure for Housing Benefit can be found in the Local Authority tables as per link https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/266828/la-tables-201213.xls

    “

  • 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 steps he has taken to ensure that the outcome of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict reflects the wide range of people affected by such violence.

    Mark Simmonds

    The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict will turn the political commitments made in the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict into practical action and bring real change to those affected by this crime. We have consulted widely with experts, practitioners and international partners since the launch of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative in 2012, including on the outcomes of the Summit. Over 1,500 delegates will attend, including legal, military and judicial practitioners, representatives from multilateral organisations, and over 100 NGOs and grassroots organisations. The Summit is an opportunity for governments from countries around the world to hear directly from those affected what action needs to be taken to effectively tackle this issue.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been signed off work in the UK as a result of having obsessive compulsive disorder.

    Mike Penning

    The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information on the number of people taking sickness absence from work as a result of having obsessive compulsive disorder.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken with UN Women in the planning of the June 2014 summit to end sexual violence in conflict.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is working closely with a broad range of UN agencies who work on sexual violence, including UN Women. UN Women have provided a valuable contribution to Summit planning, as well as the wider development of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative and will have an active role at the Summit. The FCO will continue to work with UN partners, including UN Women, to ensure that Summit outcomes and ongoing work on this agenda are supportive of the UN Action 2014-2017 Strategic Framework.

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

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

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Post Office Limited and (b) the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters on the future use of the Post Office Card Account.

    Steve Webb

    The Post Office card account (POca) contract expires in March 2015 with the possibility of a 2 year extension beyond that date.

    The POca is a very simple account designed for the receipt of pensions and legacy benefits. It cannot be used for the payment of wages/salaries and does not offer transactional services such as direct debits so will not be suitable for the majority of working age claimants eligible for Universal Credit.

    No decision has been made on the future of the POca but discussions are currently taking place between DWP, Post Office Ltd and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to consider the future needs of customers beyond 2015 and any announcement on this matter will be made in due course.

    Ministers and Officials have also met with relevant stakeholders, including the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters to discuss POca related issues.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the average waiting times at the UK border for the last three years at (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick, (c) Stansted, (d) Manchester, (e) Birmingham and (f) Luton airports.

    Karen Bradley

    The yearly average queue times for passengers arriving at the Primary Checkpoint to be admitted into the UK are set out in the table below. All meet service level agreement targets, which are below 25 minutes for European Economic Area (EEA) passengers and below 45 Minutes for non-EEA passengers.

    Average Passenger Queue Times (hr:mm)
    2011 2012 2013
    Port EEA NonEEA EEA NonEEA EEA NonEEA
    Heathrow TN1 00:05 00:13 00:03 00:08 00:02 00:05
    Heathrow TN3 00:06 00:19 00:03 00:11 00:02 00:09
    Heathrow TN4 00:04 00:22 00:02 00:11 00:02 00:08
    Heathrow TN5 00:06 00:21 00:04 00:13 00:04 00:09
    Gatwick North 00:03 00:05 00:03 00:05 00:02 00:04
    Gatwick South 00:04 00:07 00:03 00:05 00:02 00:03
    Stansted 00:13 00:20 00:07 00:10 00:06 00:09
    Manchester TN1 00:09 00:15 00:10 00:17 00:09 00:15
    Manchester TN2 00:10 00:19 00:09 00:16 00:08 00:15
    Manchester TN3 00:08 00:14 00:15 00:23 00:11 00:16
    Birmingham 00:07 00:11 00:06 00:09 00:05 00:09
    Luton 00:09 00:09 00:08 00:08 00:07 00:09
    The figures quoted above are management information subject to internal quality checks and may be subject to change.

    “

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average annual salary and expenses paid to (1) members of the House of Commons, and (2) members of the European Parliament.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The determination and administration of the pay, pensions and expenses for Members of Parliament is the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). The current salary of a Member of Parliament is £66,396. IPSA publish the salary and total business costs and expenses paid to each MP.

    Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) paid by the European Parliament under the Statute for Members of the European Parliament are paid at 38.5%of the basic salary of a judge at the Court of Justice of the European Communities, which is currently € 7.956,87 a month before EU tax and accident insurance contribution. Those British MEPs who are not paid under the Statute for Members of the European Parliament are paid at the same rate as MPs.

  • Mark Durkan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Durkan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 8 May 2014, Official Report, column 279W, on developing countries: family planning, how much of her Department’s budget has been allocated to achieving outcomes in her Department’s policy paper Safe and Unsafe Abortion in each of the last two years.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID adheres to Development Co-Operation Directorate (OACD-DAC) expenditure coding requirements to allow comparison across donor spending towards attainment of the Millennium Development Goal targets. This measures against coding titles as have been internationally agreed. Only coding titles as have been internationally agreed can be individually disaggregated by DFID systems.