Category: Speeches

  • Biography information for Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Biography information for Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Adrian Sanders on Transport.

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    Stephen Hammond

    All Train Operating Companies (TOCs) are required under their franchise agreement to have in place a Passenger’s Charter which will include arrangements for compensation for passengers.

    In connection with the severe weather related disruption earlier this year, the Department for Transport (DfT) sought to understand what First Great Western’s proposals on compensation were likely to be. Where discussions have taken place with other TOCs these will also have been to ensure that the DfT was aware of their intentions and not to seek to require these to be changed.

    An improved system of compensation based on delays to individual journeys, known as Delay/Repay, is being introduced for all passengers in place of the system of poor performance discounts and optional Void Days for season ticket holders.　 Introduction is taking place as franchises are let following competitions and opportunities arise within Direct Awards and existing franchises.　 Where discussions have taken place between the DfT and TOCs these will have been in this context.

  • Mark Hoban – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Hoban – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hoban on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that health professionals are trained in the identification and notification of (a) all special educational needs and (b) educational needs related to cerebral palsy in children under two years of age.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Government works with Health Education England, which provides leadership on the training of the health workforce, and the professional regulatory bodies, such as the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which set professional standards, to ensure that health professionals are appropriately trained in identification and support of children with special educational needs, or cerebral palsy.

    Clinical commissioning groups are under a statutory duty to make arrangements to notify the local authority where a provider is of the opinion that a child under compulsory school age has special educational needs (having first discussed this with the child’s parents). The Children and Families Act introduces new arrangements for local authorities and health services to work together to support children with special educational needs.

  • John Spellar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    John Spellar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will introduce legislative proposals to protect police dogs by recognising them as an extension of their handler as a police officer.

    Simon Hughes

    The Government agrees that attacks of any sort on police dogs, horses or any other police animal should be dealt with severely under the criminal law. However, it is not necessary to create a new offence in order to do this.

    An attack on a police dog can be treated as animal cruelty under s4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The maximum penalty is six months imprisonment, or a fine of up to £20,000, or both.

  • Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson on Work and Pensions.

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    Mike Penning

    The information you have requested is not available.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Agreed Conclusions of the 58th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, if she will support the inclusion of a specific target on women’s full, equal and effective participation in all fields and leadership at all levels of decision-making within the post-2015 development framework.

    Lynne Featherstone

    I am pleased that the Agreed Conclusions reached by member states at the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) included a call for a dedicated goal on gender equality, women’s and girls’ empowerment and the human rights of girls and women. It also called for ending all forms of violence against women and girls; economic empowerment; leadership and participation in decision making; and ending harmful practice, including Child, Early and Forced Marriage, and Female Genital Mutilation.

    The UK statement at the CSW highlighted the need for a dedicated goal on gender equality, and the empowerment of girls and women in the post -2015 framework. We are working with others across the international community, including civil society, to ensure that this is achieved.

  • Biography information for Michael Dugher – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Biography information for Michael Dugher – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Michael Dugher on Education.

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    Matthew Hancock

    Dominic Cummings has not accompanied the Secretary of State on any official visits in 2014.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to sections 126 to 129 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the last four years.

    Jeremy Wright

    The number of offenders found guilty of offences under Sections 127 and 128 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table. There have been no findings of guilt recorded under Section 129 in this time period.

    Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014

    Data for offences under Section 126 of the Mental Health Act 1983 cannot be separately analysed from other offences under other statutes. This information is held by the individual courts in England and Wales but could only be separately identified at disproportionate cost

  • Biography information for Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Biography information for Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Ian Murray on Justice.

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    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly official statistics on the tribunals which come under it, including Employment Tribunals. These are produced by statisticians in the Analytical Services Division using data produced by HM Courts and Tribunals Service. There are no plans for a review of the statistics at this time.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 1967 in each of the last four years.

    Jeremy Wright

    The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of the offences specified in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, the Indecency with Children Act 1960, the Sexual Offences Act 1967 and the Criminal Law Act 1977, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 is provided in the attached tables.

    Please note that offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 sections 9 to 12, 14 to 19, 25 to 26, 47 to 50 provide data where the victim can be specifically identified as a child, whereas offences under sections 3, 4, 52 to 53, 57 to 59, 61 and 66 to 67, are not specific to the age of the victim.

    The tables do not include data for offences under section 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, or under section 3 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000. These offences, along with section 54 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, were repealed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and there have been no convictions in the last four years.

    The number of offenders found guilty of offences under section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was provided in answer to PQ 193582 and can be found at Official Report c638W, 1 April 2014. It is not possible to separate out the age of the victims of offences under section 2.

    Similarly, it is not possible to separate out the age of the victim of offences committed under sections 30 – 41 Sexual Offences Act 2003 from centrally held data. For data on offences under this legislation as a whole, I refer the honourable lady to the answer provided to PQ 193810, which can be found at Official Report column 136W, 7 April 2014.

    Section 20 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 deals with offences in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Statistics for these offences in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Government, with those in Northern Ireland being a matter for the Department of Justice Northern Ireland

    Court proceedings data for England and Wales for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.

    The Government takes very seriously all matters relating to the sexual abuse of children and adults. Our laws in these areas are rightly robust and clear. The 2003 Act, which came into effect in May 2004, significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales.

  • Biography information for Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Biography information for Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Thomas Docherty on Defence.

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    Mr Philip Dunne

    The UK remains committed to the Joint Strike Fighter programme, and the next Main Gate investment decision will be made in due course. The UK has already taken delivery of three F-35B aircraft and has one aircraft currently in production. It remains on track to enter service in 2018.