Category: Speeches

  • Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage local media and regional broadcasting in Kent and Medway.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Government recognises the important role local media plays in communities, and has created the foundations for new local TV services to establish themselves and enrich UK television with quality local news and programming. Ofcom has received applications for a local TV licence in Maidstone, and we expect an award to be made soon. More widely, 25 local TV services have been licensed to date, and further launches will take place over the summer and autumn.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the effect was on revenue from top rate income tax of the reduction of the top rate from 60 per cent to 40 per cent in 1988 in the (a) first year and (b) second year following that reduction.

    Mr David Gauke

    Observed changes in tax receipts following rate changes will reflect a combination of effects of the rate changes and underlying economic and distributional changes.

    One study that analyses these effects is set out in the Institute Fiscal Studies (IFS) Mirrlees Review, Dimensions of Tax Design. This studied the revenue impacts of tax changes during the 1970s and 1980s, including the rate changes in 1988. It is available at: http://www.ifs.org.uk/mirrleesreview/dimensions/ch2.pdf (see Chapter 2).

    This study was part of the evidence considered by HMRC in the report “The Exchequer effect of the 50 percent additional rate of income tax” published at Budget 2012. The behavioural response estimated in the HMRC report is consistent with a range of academic studies including the results from the IFS.

    The HMRC report is available at; http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/excheq-income-tax-2042.pdf

    “

  • Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what preliminary tests his Department conducted to assess whether it was feasible to recruit and train the required number of reserves within the necessary timescale envisaged by the Army 2020 proposals.

    Anna Soubry

    Following the Strategic Defence and Security Review, a three month exercise was undertaken which examined a range of force structure options which built upon analysis undertaken during the review. These options were then tested for their efficacy against a wide range of scenarios. The options were then assessed by a senior judgement panel, chaired by the Vice Chief of Defence Staff. Included in this panel were the Assistant Chiefs of Staff for the Royal Navy, Army and royal Air Force. The panel took decisions collectively and all members were fully involved and consulted.

    In July 2011 an Independent Commission to Review the UK’s Reserve Forces, chaired by my hon. Friend, the member for Canterbury and Whitstable (Julian Brazier) and General Sir Nicholas Houghton, then set a target of 30,000 for a trained Army Reserve. This judgement was reached in the knowledge that the strength of the Territorial Army had been over 70,000 in the 1980s.

    Subsequent work was then undertaken to establish the timescales to build the trained strength of the Army Reserve to 30,000. This was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement and paper placed in the Library of the House by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013 (Official Report, column 124WS).

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to contact members of the armed forces wrongly disciplined in addition to receiving a police caution; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    No such steps have been taken.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recruits are expected to commence Phase 1 training at ITC Catterick in financial year 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    The number of recruits programmed to start training at AFC Harrogate and ITC Catterick in financial year 2014-15 is shown in the table.

    Establishment

    2014-15

    AFC Harrogate

    1,450

    ITC Catterick

    2,750

    Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in ‘5′ are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the quality of early years education support for children diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Under the Children and Families Act 2014, health bodies identifying a 0-5 year old child with special educational needs (SEN) or a disability must discuss this with the parent and bring the child to the attention of the local authority so they can consider whether an education, health and care plan is needed. The Department for Education is working with the Department of Health and NHS England to support health commissioners and clinicians to play their part in the SEN reforms.

    In early years settings practitioners must consider the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child in their care and whether a child may have SEN or a disability requiring specialist support. Providers must review children’s progress between the ages of two and three. Where SEN or disability is identified, practitioners should develop a targeted plan to support the child’s future learning and development involving other professionals as appropriate.

    We provide funding to Early Support to support the implementation of the SEN reforms. As part of this, Early Support worked with Scope to produce guidance to parents and others on cerebral palsy, which was published in 2012. This guidance is published online at: http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/923252/earlysupportcerebral_palsy_final.pdf

    “

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 6 May (WA 322), what form the review of asylum support rates will take; and which stakeholders will be consulted.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The review is an internal Home Office one, to ensure that the payments provided to destitute asylum seekers are sufficient to cover their essential living needs consistent with the judgement of 9 April. The Home Office has met with represenatives of "Still Human Still Here", a coalition of organisations with an established interest in the issue. The review will take full account of both their views and the details of the judgment of 9 April.

  • Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Mark Tami – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what oversight mechanisms his Department had in place of bid evaluations of the contract to award ownership of shares in Magnox Ltd and Research Sites Restoration Ltd on 31 March 2014; and if he will make a statement.

    Michael Fallon

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is responsible for running the competition to secure a new Parent Body Organisation for Magnox Ltd and Research Sites Restoration Ltd. Bid evaluations were made by the NDA’s competition team in strict accordance with UK and EU procurement regulations. DECC was not involved in the bid evaluations. Oversight and governance of the wider competition process is provided by the NDA’s Competition Programme Board (CPB), on which DECC is represented by the Shareholder Executive. Formal Government approval will be required before the contract can be awarded in September.

  • Lord Eames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Eames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Eames on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to review pensions currently paid to former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    There are no plans to review pensions currently paid to former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Gardiner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which air quality monitoring stations went off-line in each year since 2010-11; and on what dates they were off-line.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra operates an extensive monitoring network of nearly 300 sites in order to assess air quality in the UK and report to the EU for compliance. Many of these sites have multiple instruments measuring different pollutants.

    The Automatic and Urban Network has 130 sites that provide information on five key pollutants on an hourly basis. Information from this network is updated hourly on the UK Air website to provide the most recent data to the public.

    An extensive Programme of maintenance, auditing and site inspections is required to maintain the networks operation. EU directives state that instruments must be operational for a minimum period of time for data to be reported and these requirements are met in our annual compliance reporting.

    It is therefore not possible to provide information on the specific times when instruments were not operational during the last four years, but I refer the hon. Member for Brent North to the UK’s annual compliance report for statistics regarding data capture at each site, at:

    http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/index

    “