Category: Speeches

  • Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department takes to (a) monitor how the grants awarded through the Sponsor Capacity Fund are used and (b) recoup grants from the Sponsor Capacity Fund where the recipients do not go on to sponsor any academies or use the money in an inappropriate way.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Academy sponsors who receive the Sponsor Capacity Fund are required to sign a Grant Funding Agreement, agreeing to adhere to the terms and conditions of grant. They are required to submit an Annual Certification of Expenditure, signed by their auditors, and a final report detailing what has been achieved through use of the grant.

    If they fail to comply with any of the conditions of grant, or are deemed to be in breach of it, they are required to return the grant to the Department.

  • Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Leadsom on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to work with police forces across the country to protect children from online sexual exploitation.

    Norman Baker

    The Government is committed to preventing online child abuse. Details of the Government plans to strengthen the protection of children from online sexual exploitation were published last summer in the Action Plan of the National Group to tackle Sexual Violence Against Children and Vulnerable People. Copies will be placed in the House Library and can be found at the following link;

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/230443
    /Sexual_Violence_against_Children_and_Vulnerable_People.pdf

    The Child Exploitation Online Protection Command of the National Crime Agency (NCA-CEOP) is the UK’s national law enforcement agency committed to preventing and tackling the sexual abuse of children both online and offline. In 2012/13, NCA-CEOP safeguarded and protected 790 children, an increase of 85% on the previous year.

    The NCA-CEOP Command works closely with all 43 police forces in England and Wales, Police Scotland and PSNI.

    In January 2013, the police created a National Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan which sought to improve the police response to all forms of CSE both online and offline. Each force has now completed a benchmarking exercise, allowing them to understand and improve their capability to deal with CSE.

    HMIC are close to completing an inspection into the policing of online sexual exploitation and should be publishing their findings in the near future. This will help us identify best practice and also where the service needs to improve to deal with the proliferation of indecent images on the internet and grooming.

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

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which company designed and what the cost to the public purse was of production in 2009 of the plans for a young offender institute at Glen Parva.

    Jeremy Wright

    Interserve designed the 2009 plans for a Young Offender Institution at Glen Parva with their designers, HLM Architects.

    The previous Government spent £5.6 million on developing the plans for a new Young Offender Institution at Glen Parva up to 2010. Although the Secure College pathfinder will be fundamentally different from a Young Offender’s Institution, we are making use of the previous work where relevant.

  • Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Leadsom on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will update the business case for High Speed 2 to reflect the fact that there will be no link with High Speed 1.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We will continue to revise and update the economic case for HS2 as new project milestones are reached, such as decisions on the preferred route for Phase 2, to ensure it is based on the best available evidence and latest understanding of the project, including taking account of the decision to remove the existing proposals for the HS1-HS2 link from the scheme.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK Space Agency in promoting the UK space industry; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Willetts

    The UK Space Agency (UKSA) was created in April 2011 to lead and foster the growing UK space sector. It does so through funding and delivery of civil space projects and downstream space related activities, developing space policy including advice to Ministers and regulating UK space activities to meet international obligations.

    The UKSA formally tests its performance against such objectives in a number ways and includes amongst these a measure of its effectiveness in promoting the UK space industry. This is primarily through an independent bi-annual “Size and Health” survey of the UK industrial sector which assesses the growth of the UK space economy. The Agency also monitors contracts that flow back to UK industry from Agency-targeted subscriptions to the European Space Agency as well as monitoring where Agency-supported research and development work has positioned UK industry for success in future operational contracts. More recently the Agency has extended its role in actively supporting and promoting UK industrial exports of both satellite and emerging space-related data services.

    All objective measures from these activities point to a growing success story for our space industry. Indeed it is one of our economy’s fastest growing sectors, with an average growth rate of almost 7.5%, and it has ambitions to increase its annual turnover to £40 billion by 2030. The role of the Agency in this development is significant and it has developed close relationships with industry.

    The Size and Health survey due to be published in autumn 2014 is expected to show that the Space Economy has continued to grow between 2011 and 2013.

    Its coordination of a business-driven industrial space policy has provided leadership for the UK industrial community (acknowledged by the UK space Innovation and Growth Strategy published in 2013) and this has been recognised by the Parliamentary Select Committee report into the UKSA which was published in October 2013.

    The Agency serves as an effective platform to raise awareness of the successes of the UK space sector. BIS and Agency officials continue to evaluate its success in promoting that work using Government Communications Service best practice.

    A further key measure of success is the increasing number of overseas space companies choosing to invest in the UK and so growing the UK’s wider space capability and economic development.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with chief constables in England and Wales about hate crimes against LGBT people; and if she will make a statement.

    Norman Baker

    The Coalition Government is committed to tackling all forms of hate crime and
    works closely with the National Policing Lead on hate crime.

    We will shortly publish our progress report on the Government’s hate crime
    action plan, which will set out a range of activities that have been taken
    forward, including by the police.

    New hate crime guidance, which includes information on dealing with cases of
    hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities will be
    issued by the College of Policing this Spring.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with B&K Universal Ltd, Yorkshire Evergreen or their associates relating to their planning application for a facility at Grimston, Yorkshire for the breeding of dogs and other animals for laboratory use in the last 12 months.

    Mr David Willetts

    UK Trade and Investment and BIS officials provided general planning advice to B&K Universal in the last year at the company’s request. BIS officials met with B&K’s parent company Marshall and signposted other sources of advice and information. Officials were also asked to provide advice on EU Directive 2010/63 and referred this query to the Home Office as the Department with responsibility for implementing the Directive in the UK.

    The use of animals in scientific research remains a vital tool in improving our understanding of how biological systems work both in health and disease and in the development of new medicines and treatments vital for human health and for that of animals. It also underpins the success of the UK’s life science sector which has one of the strongest and most productive industries in the world.

    The UK has a rigorous regulatory system which ensures that animal research and testing is carried out only where no practicable alternative exists, and under controls which keep suffering to the minimum.

    The Government is committed to working to further reduce the use of animals in scientific research and in February 2013 published its delivery plan. This demonstrates our commitment to the “3Rs”: where possible to replace animal use, reduce the number of animals used and to refine the procedures involved so as to find additional ways to minimise suffering. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-to-reduce-the-use-of-animals-in-research-delivery-plan

    “

  • Aidan Burley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Aidan Burley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Aidan Burley on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what timetable he has adopted for the introduction of a Statutory Code and Adjudicator in the public house sector.

    Jenny Willott

    Between April and June 2013 the Government consulted on proposals to establish a statutory Code of Practice and an independent Adjudicator, which are aimed at supporting pub tenants. The Government received over one thousand one hundred written responses to the consultation on pub companies and their tenants and over seven thousand responses to the online survey conducted in parallel. We are considering the evidence carefully, to ensure that intervention is both proportionate and targeted, and we intend to publish a Government Response to the consultation as soon as we can.

  • Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 12 March (WA 375), in relation to the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR), how many work packages have to date involved general aviation.

    Baroness Kramer

    The SESAR Joint Undertaking is the EU public/private partnership which is responsible for managing the SESAR programme. The SESAR Joint Undertaking seeks to involve all affected stakeholders, including General Aviation, in the development of all work packages to ensure the technologies meet their needs.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment he has made of the effect of pensioners savings bonds on the private sector investment market.

    Nicky Morgan

    The Budget set an upper limit of £10 billion for the level of inflows that National Savings and Investments (NS&I) should attract into the fixed-rate savings bonds for people aged 65 or over. This is less than 1% of the total UK retail savings market.

    The NS&I savings bonds announced at Budget should therefore not stop other institutions from attracting deposits or increasing lending. Furthermore, the introduction of New ISAs with an annual subscription limit of £15,000 will provide additional opportunities for banks and building societies to attract retail deposits.