Category: Speeches

  • Alec Shelbrooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alec Shelbrooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alec Shelbrooke on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that houses purchased by HS2 Limited under the Exceptional Hardship Scheme are not sold on at less than market value.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport has asked HS2 Ltd to prepare an asset management strategy that reflects best practice in the public sector and relevant policy aims for HS2, including community cohesion and the normal function of local housing markets. To date, no properties purchased under the Exceptional Hardship Scheme have been sold, or offered for sale. Any eventual sales will be undertaken with a view to obtaining the best outcome for the tax payer and for local communities.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will publish a list of all consultancy groups and sub-contractors used by her Department on the Bost Agri-Business and Airfield projects in Afghanistan.

    Justine Greening

    The Bost industrial business park proposal was originally approved by officials in 2009 at a time when Ministers did not approve spend under £40m. In 2012 it became clear that the project could no longer be completed within the original timeframe and in good order. To avoid wasting taxpayers’ money I decided that UK funding for the project should be cancelled. The completed park designs have been handed over to the Afghan authorities to enable them to pursue the project over a revised time frame. DFID’s work on Bost Airfield was completed in November 2013.

    The following consultancy groups were paid directly by DFID on the Bost Airfield and Business Park programme:

    Coffey International

    Crown Agents

    Mott Macdonald

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on tackling worklessness among social housing tenants.

    Esther McVey

    The Secretary of State has met the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on a number of occasions and they have discussed a variety of issues.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people with cases before (a) civil and (b) criminal courts received legal aid in (i) England and (ii) York in each year since 1995.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The amount spent on (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid in (i) cash (i.e. net of operating receipts) and (ii) real terms in each of the last 20 years was provided by way of a written response on 18 June 2013 to the hon. Member for York Central’s Parliamentary Question 160682.

    The Legal Aid Agency does not record the number of people who receive legal aid. Instead it records the number of ‘acts of assistance’. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person. As the categorisation of legal aid has changed over the last 20 years, acts of assistance relating to representation in court cannot be accurately compared over time. The total acts of assistance relating to civil and criminal cases from 1995 onwards were provided by way of a written response on 18 June 2013 to the hon. Member for York Central’s Parliamentary Question 160683.

    With regard to the breakdowns requested for England and York, to extract the information requested from the Legal Aid Agency’s IT Systems would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the incidence of truancy was in schools in the latest period for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to reduce it and to involve parents in those efforts.

    Elizabeth Truss

    Since the report by Charlie Taylor on improving school attendance, the Government’s focus has been on reducing absence overall and encouraging schools to address patterns of poor attendance early.

    To help schools do this, the Department for Education reduced the threshold at which pupils were classified as persistent absent, from 20% to 15% of sessions missed. In 2012, we increased the level of the school attendance penalty fines, from £50 and £100 to £60 and £120 respectively, and in 2013 reduced the overall timescales for paying fines from 42 to 28 days. The second most common reason for absence is family holiday, so we tightened the law in September 2013 so that headteachers could only grant requests for leave during term time in exceptional circumstances.

    Our reforms are working. In 2012/13, 300,895 pupils were persistently absent, down from 433,130 in 2009/10 – a fall of almost a third. 130,000 fewer pupils were missing 15% of school in 2012/13 compared to 2010/11. Overall absence rates are down from 6.3% of possible sessions missed in 2008/09 to 5.2% in 2012/13.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of the number and proportion of young people aged 16 to 24 in York in (a) training, (b) employment and (c) education in each year since 1995-96.

    Matthew Hancock

    Data are not available prior to 2000. Estimates for the proportion of young people in training, employment and education separately are not available.

    Information on the number of Apprenticeship starts and achievements by geography and age is published in supplementary tables to a Statistical First Release:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships–2

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/308808/apprenticeship-starts-by-geography-level-and-age.xls

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296382/apprenticeship-achievements-by-geography-level-and-age.xlsm

    “

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many requests to leave the Environment Agency under the voluntary early release scheme are from staff in the operations and legal services departments.

    Dan Rogerson

    As of 1 April this year, the Environment Agency had received 956 requests within its operations and legal services departments to leave the organisation under its voluntary early release scheme.

  • Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael McCann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much public interest lawyers have received in legal aid for cases against the Department for Work and Pensions in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.

    The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:

    Financial Year

    Net Payments

    FY2003-2004

    £139,620.72

    FY2004-2005

    £158,282.52

    FY2005-2006

    £251,844.27

    FY2006-2007

    £299,667.99

    FY2007-2008

    £577,263.60

    FY2008-2009

    £628,527.75

    FY2009-2010

    £267,433.88

    FY2010-2011

    £439,268.02

    FY2011-2012

    £331,238.85

    FY2012-2013

    £50,633.27

    These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to prevent famine in South Sudan.

    Justine Greening

    The UK is the second largest donor to the Crisis Response Plan for South Sudan, and we are working with the UN and other donors to raise the prominence of the appeal, and secure new and increased commitments of funds. DFID has contributed £20.8 million of new humanitarian funding in South Sudan since December 2013. We have also allocated £17 million to support the refugee response in neighbouring countries.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Nigerian counterpart on the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria.

    Mark Simmonds

    My right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (William Hague) discussed the abduction of the school girls with FM Wali on 18 April, and attended a Summit in Paris on 17 May with the Nigerian President, which was specially convened to discuss this issue. I discussed the abduction with President Jonathan and Defence Minister Gusau during my visit to Nigeria on 14 May. During that visit we agreed the package of support the British Government would offer to help find the girls, as well as to help tackle Boko Haram’s wider activities. Foreign Minister Wali and I have been in contact since then on the subject of Boko Haram. I look forward to further detailed conversations with him and representatives from Nigeria’s neighbours, the US, Canada, France, EU, UN and AU at this week’s ministerial meeting on security in northern Nigeria.