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Category: Speeches

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on staffing levels at coastguard stations in the Irish Sea.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The new National Network for Her Majesty’s Coastguard became fully operational in December 2015.

    Coastguard centres within this network do not have fixed geographic boundaries; the network enables workload and incidents to be managed on a national rather than centre-by-centre basis. Workload is moved around the network to balance local demand against a national workforce.

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25652, whether people resident in Northern Ireland are able to apply for apprenticeships in England.

    Nick Boles

    The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funds apprenticeships training in England. The devolved administrations of Northern Ireland (NI), Wales, and Scotland have their own funding arrangements for apprenticeships. Employers and training providers must not actively recruit learners who live or work outside of England.

    Residents in NI can apply for English Apprenticeships provided they want to live in, or travel to, England to work and study. The SFA will only apply funding under these circumstances.

    The SFA will not fund individuals whose main employment or normal place of work is not in England.

    Skills is a devolved matter to NI and are funded by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) in NI.

  • Edward Garnier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Edward Garnier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Garnier on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of times that lawyers have not been able to meet their clients in custody in England and Wales at less than 12 hours’ notice due to staff shortages, staff disputes or other administrative reasons in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many Crown or magistrates’ court hearings have been adjourned or delayed as a result in each of those years.

    Mike Penning

    The specific information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We are committed to ensuring that prisoners have appropriate and early access to their legal representatives. Guidance to both prisons and legal practitioners on facilitating legal visits is published in Prison Service Instruction 16/2011.

  • Richard Graham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Richard Graham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Graham on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has undertaken or commissioned research into the relationship between people who are convicted of multiple breaches of restraining orders and commission of stalking offences.

    Dominic Raab

    The Government recognises that stalking is an insidious crime that can have a devastating impact on the lives of victims and their families. That is why the coalition Government created specific stalking offences in 2012 and why we continue to look at ways to protect victims of stalking, ensure stalking is recognised early and dealt with effectively and, where an offender is convicted, provide the courts with appropriate sentencing powers.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 May (HL7985), in the light of their policy of not cutting the education budget of individual schools, what extra funding they are providing to schools to support the increase in the on-costs on teachers’ salaries in the last three years.

    Lord Nash

    At the Spending Review we announced we would protect the core schools budget in real terms during this Parliament. Schools are expected to manage within their individual budgets, including taking account of national insurance and pension contributions. From 2017 we have committed to introduce a national funding formula so that we can allocate funding more fairly, based on schools’ individual needs and the characteristics of their pupils. That will mean schools are better placed to manage cost pressures and to make informed decisions about their spending over a longer term.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it policy to adopt a national assessment framework at Key Stage 3 in order to remove from schools the need to spend time writing their own assessment guidelines.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government removed the system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s attainment in September 2014 and has no plans to replace it. At Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, schools are expected to implement assessment systems that meet the needs of their pupils and takes account of their curriculum.

    Levels were only ever intended to be used for end of Key Stage statutory assessment but, over time, they came to dominate all assessment and have a damaging impact on teaching practice. Removing levels has put assessment back in the hands of schools and restored its real purpose of helping teachers to evaluate pupils’ understanding of curriculum content and plan lessons to support their progress. The removal of levels should also help to alleviate teacher workload over time by reducing the tracking burdens that levels encouraged.

    In order to support schools so that they can make the most of the freedoms created by the removal of levels, we set up the Commission on Assessment Without Levels. In 2015, the Commission published guidance for schools, which includes examples of best practice. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commission-on-assessment-without-levels-final-report

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  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of whether retrospective planning permission is more likely to be granted if the development in question is occupied.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Department has not made such an assessment.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 22 October (HL Deb, GC53–4), what response they have received from the government of Bangladesh following the representations they have made about the murder of secularists and upholding rights of freedom of belief set out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has been unequivocal in its condemnation of the murder of four secular bloggers in Bangladesh this year, and in calling for the Government of Bangladesh to protect those who face threats to their lives because of the views they have expressed. The Bangladesh authorities continue their investigations to find the perpetrators and a number of arrests have been made. The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, visited Bangladesh from 31 August to 9 September. We look forward to his report at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2016 and we will encourage the government to consider all its recommendations carefully.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Nigeria; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    There are a number of security challenges in Nigeria and the threat from terrorism continues to be high. In the north east of Nigeria, recent military successes have driven the terrorist group Boko Haram from key towns, but they remain a serious threat and continue to launch regular suicide attacks. Elsewhere in Nigeria inter-communal violence and incidents of kidnaps and crime have led us to advise against all travel, or all but essential travel, to some areas of the country. This is set out in more detail in Foreign & Commonwealth Office travel advice for Nigeria, which is kept under constant review.

    The UK is providing a substantial and increasing package of security, intelligence, development and humanitarian support to Nigeria to help it defeat terrorism and improve security.

  • Huw Irranca-Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Huw Irranca-Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22432, by what measure the Director of the Serious Fraud Office judges whether there is a significant public interest element in a case.

    Robert Buckland

    The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”

    Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.

    The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.

    Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.