UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to amend the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to deal with the mistreatment of migrant domestic workers by employers who exploit their employees’ vulnerable situation, in the light of the remarks by Baroness Hale of Richmond in paragraph 34 of the judgment on 22 June in Taiwo v Olaigbe and another [2016] UKSC31.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is considering the Judge’s remarks in the context of the wider support available to victims of modern slavery provided for in the Modern Slavery Act.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) when and (b) by whom the decision was taken to withdraw funding for the NHS retirement fellowship; and what evidence on the health benefits of fellowship activities was considered prior to that decision being made.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Health Education England (HEE) has, for the last two years, provided funding on behalf of the system to the NHS Retirement Fellowship. The funding was provided in support of the work they do for former employees of the National Health Service, however, the funding was always intended to be transitional support and not a guaranteed grant year on year. Like all publicly funded bodies, HEE is having to review its financial commitments and in turn, has prioritised funding for the education and training of the future workforce.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what work his Department has commissioned to identify the number of exchange-only lines on the telecom network that are incompatible with fibre to the cabinet broadband technology.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The vast majority of phone lines across the UK connect to the nearest telephone exchange via a street cabinet, which can be upgraded to deliver fibre broadband. Estimates are not available of the number of premises served by exchange only lines which connect directly to the local exchange rather than via one of BT’s street cabinets. There are a variety of reasons why exchange only lines are created. For example, for rural exchanges serving few premises where there was no need for cabinets, or for urban exchanges where it may have been a more cost-effective. Exchange only lines present a greater engineering challenge to deliver fibre broadband than those connected via street cabinets but technical solutions are available. One solution is to rearrange the existing network, lay new cables to reroute lines to new cabinets. This technique was developed as part of the BDUK Superfast Broadband Programme, and the number of exchange only lines is reducing all the time as roll out under the programme continues.

  • Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer grade staff have (a) joined and (b) left the prison service in each of the last six years.

    Andrew Selous

    Information on the number of Band 3 to 5 prison officers in post, and on the number who joined and left the public sector Prison Service, is published in the National Offender Management Service Workforce Statistics Bulletin. The 30 September edition of the bulletin can be found at the link below.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics-september-2015

    “

  • Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to increase tree-planting as a method of flood prevention.

    Rory Stewart

    In some places trees can slow the flow of water down stream and reduce the local impacts of floods. That is why flood risk management is one of the targeting criteria for woodland creation funded through the new Countryside Stewardship scheme. The Forestry Commission also continues to undertake research into understanding what role woodlands can play in managing flood risk.

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

    Lord Tyler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Education will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

    Lord Nash

    The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries’ meetings with external organisations, and Special Advisers’ meetings with senior media figures. The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of a drone collision with an emergency helicopter attending a scene in a built-up area.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport is currently working with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to develop consistent, EU-wide safety rules for drones.

    The Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) work with a wide range of industry partners across the aviation sector, (including manufacturers, airports, and operators), to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircraft remains up-to-date and mitigations effective.

    This collaboration is also considering the need for other potential drone policies, such as geo-fencing. There are a number of drone models already sold in the UK with types of this technology installed and we are assessing the potential for solutions that could restrict drone operations around sensitive locations and key infrastructure.

    The Government has undertaken analysis of the use of drones for criminal purposes, including the potential use of drones for terrorist purposes, and the impacts of their negligent use near sensitive locations, such as airports. This work is kept under review and is being used to inform research and testing to improve mitigation techniques and strategies.

    Education of drone users is vital. The DfT is working with the CAA on raising awareness of responsible drone use. This includes the CAA’s ‘Drone Code’ safety awareness campaign and the issuing of safety leaflets at the point of sale.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual cost is of running the driving theory test under his Department’s contract with Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of running that test under the contract with Learn Direct from September 2016.

    Andrew Jones

    The annual cost of running the Driving Theory Test under the contract with Pearson Professional Assessments Ltd (formerly Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd) in 2015/16 was £31.2 million. This cost was as a result of new contract arrangements, where net costs per test fell from September 2014 and again from September 2015. This resulted in a reduction in fees paid by car candidates from £31 to £25 in October 2014 and to £23 in October 2015.

    The estimated cost of running the Driving Theory Test from September 2016 with learndirect was dependent on the future volume of tests and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency estimates that the annual cost with learndirect would have been between £38 million and £42 million.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33551, when he expects the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to report; what information he holds on the number of reported mass arrests, beatings and killing of protesters, journalists and opposition party leaders and members in (a) the Oromia region and (b) Ethiopia in the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    The UK Government remains deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and has repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the ongoing situation in Oromia. Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for International Development, raised our concerns with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 21 January, as did I, with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Dr Tedros, at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 27 January. Our Ambassador did the same in a meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 26 April.

    The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been appointed to look into the handling of the protests in Oromia, and we await the publication of its report. We will continue to urge the EHRC and the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that their report is credible, transparent and leads to concrete action.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment has been made of the access to clean drinking water and adequate water supplies for the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories.

    Baroness Verma

    Water and sanitation facilities in Gaza are declining. Demand for water exceeds supply by nearly four times and 96% of extracted water currently fails WHO safety standards. 40% of Gaza’s population receive just 5-8 hours of water every 3 days. In the West Bank the Joint Water Committee has not met for a number of years, which continues to stall agreement of water projects. In the West Bank, there are reports of reduced water supplies in large parts of the West Bank during Ramadan.

    UK officials are in regular dialogue with Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA), the UN, World Bank, EU and other development actors on energy and water issues in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We continue to press both parties to reconvene the Joint Water Committee to facilitate approval of projects that will improve Palestinian access to water. Through the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, DFID has invested up to £1.24m to help vulnerable rural farmers in Area C and improve irrigation efficiency by rehabilitation of water systems. The UK supports partners such as the UN Works and Relief Agency, who provide basic services and repair water infrastructure in Gaza. Through the Climate Action for Middle East and North Africa programme, DFID has provided €600,000 to develop project preparation documents for the Gaza Desalination Plant.