Category: Speeches

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of current performance towards achieving the target of assessing all current disability living allowance claimants for personal independence payment by 2018; and if he will estimate the potential additional costs in (a) the amount of benefit claimed and (b) the cost of processing claims if the current rate of assessments were to be maintained.

    Mike Penning

    We continue to monitor performance in the current phase of reassessment and along with our performance on new claims, this will inform further rollout plans for natural reassessment.

    Our plan is to complete reassessment within our original timescales and budget.

  • Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Julian Huppert on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential of water cannon to cause (a) temporary and (b) permanent injury.

    Damian Green

    The Home Secretary has now received the request to authorise water cannon for use by the police in England and Wales. She is considering this request and will announce her decision in due course and lay the relevant information in the House Library.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will move home as a result of the construction of High Speed 2 because of (a) demolition for construction of the line and (b) blight.

    Stephen Hammond

    There are 464 dwellings within the area currently subject to surface-level safeguarding for the London to West Midlands section of HS2, of which 339 are to be demolished. Given recent Census data showing an average 2.3 occupants per property in the UK, we expect around 1,000 people will move from those homes.

    We have not estimated numbers of people who may move for reasons of generalised property blight, but there are approximately 220 dwellings within the Voluntary Purchase Area for the London to West Midlands Route announced on 9 April. Our aim is where possible to avoid serious impacts on local residents and enable people to remain in their homes. We expect to consult shortly on further measures that may make that choice more attractive for homeowners.

    Pending future decisions on routes and designs, we have made no similar estimates for other proposed sections of HS2.

  • Sarah Teather – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Teather – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied migrant children have been forcibly removed to another country in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    No unaccompanied child under the age of 18 can be forcibly removed from the UK
    unless adequate care and reception arrangements are in place in their country
    of origin. The difficulty of setting up suitable reception arrangements has
    meant that, with the exception of transfers to other European Union countries
    under the *Dublin Regulations, the Home Office does not routinely enforce the
    return of unaccompanied children to any country. The majority of unaccompanied
    children whose asylum claims are rejected are granted temporary leave which is
    reviewed when they reach 17½ years of age. We believe that the vast majority of
    enforced returns of unaccompanied children undertaken between 2006 and 2010
    were transfers under the Dublin Regulations.

    Table 1: Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children removals 2009 to 2013

    Date of Removal

    Total

    2009

    31

    2010

    12

    2011

    2

    2012

    6

    2013

    2

    Grand Total

    53

    ‘Migrant children’ have been interpreted as unaccompanied asylum seeking
    children (UASC) in answering this question.

    * The Dublin Regulation EC No. 343/2003 is a binding measure of European
    Community law to determine which State should be responsible for examining an
    application for asylum made within the EU territory.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) services and (b) jobs within the Passport Office were transferred to the private sector in the last five years; and when those transfers took place.

    James Brokenshire

    No jobs have been transferred from Her Majesty’s Passport Office to the private
    sector in the last five years.

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic benefits to (a) the North-West and (b) Warrington of further upgrading the West-East line as proposed in the HS2 Plus Report.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    No specific assessment has yet been made. In response to the HS2 Plus report, we have commissioned HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to undertake work to allow proposals to accelerate construction of the Crewe section of HS2 Phase Two and to build a new integrated hub station at Crewe to be looked at in detail as part of the consideration of the public consultation responses to Phase Two. We have also commissioned HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to make recommendations on enhancing connectivity in the midlands and the north before our response to the Phase Two consultation.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the World Society for the Protection of Animals’ report Cayman Turtle Farm: A Continued Case for Change”; and what measures they are taking to protect flora and fauna in all British Overseas Territories including the Cayman Islands.”

    Lord De Mauley

    The Cayman Islands Government has constitutional responsibility for a large measure of self-government, including for decisions relating to the Cayman Turtle Farm. The recommendations in the publication are therefore the responsibility of the Cayman Islands Government. However, we note that the report contains inaccuracies about UK engagement in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for the Overseas Territories, Mark Simmonds, is writing to the World Society for the Protection of Animals to bring these inaccuracies to its attention.

    The UK Government’s ambition is for the natural environments of the Overseas Territories (OTs) to be protected and managed to the highest international standards, as set out in our 2012 White Paper, “The Overseas Territories Security, Success and Sustainability”. OT Governments are constitutionally responsible for the protection and conservation of their natural environments and the UK Government works in partnership with them to identify where our support can be most effective. On 12 May 2014, the Government published an update to the Overseas Territories Biodiversity Strategy, which provides detail of the Government’s activities on biodiversity in the OTs.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what change there has been in his Department’s data entry spending in the last year; and what the reasons are for any such change.

    Mike Penning

    There are no dedicated data entry roles and accordingly no cost to the department can be reliably estimated.

  • Baroness Uddin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Uddin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people with autismspectrum disorder currently receive support under the Independent Living Fund.

    Lord Freud

    It is not possible to calculate this because the Independent Living Fund’s systems categorise its users by their main condition only; it is not known therefore how many users may have an autism spectrum disorder in addition to the main disability or health condition recorded.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what customer, user and satisfaction surveys were conducted in the last 12 months in the Wales Office and the agencies that report to it; which of them have been reported to the management board in the last 12 months; and which were commissioned by the management board.

    Baroness Randerson

    The Wales Office has not conducted any customer or user surveys in the last 12 months.

    However, the Wales Office conducts a staff engagement survey annually, and the results are reported to the Department’s management board.