Category: Speeches

  • Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Camberwell and Peckham constituency have taken more than 60 days to process in each of the last 12 months.

    Karen Bradley

    The number of applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Camberwell and Peckham constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in each of the last 12 months is listed in the table below.

    Month

    Total Applications Issued to Applicants from the Constituency of Camberwell and Peckham

    Applications that took longer than 60 days

    Feb-15

    1,106

    211

    Mar-15

    1,355

    204

    Apr-15

    1,181

    179

    May-15

    1,213

    185

    Jun-15

    1,286

    184

    Jul-15

    1,364

    263

    Aug-15

    1,041

    154

    Sep-15

    1,241

    185

    Oct-15

    1,311

    215

    Nov-15

    1,099

    216

    Dec-15

    954

    165

    Jan-16

    1,023

    210

    14,174

    2,371
  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department’s South East Flexible Ticketing Programme Definition Document was last updated; and if he will place a copy of the latest version of that document in the Library.

    Claire Perry

    The South East Flexible Ticketing Programme Definition Documents were last updated in June 2015. Some of these documents contain commercially sensitive information. The release of the documents could also prejudice current policy making, so they will not be placed into the Library at this stage.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to maximise engagement of children and young people in the arts.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Culture White Paper published last month makes clear that this Government is committed to ensuring that the arts should be an essential part of every child’s education both in and out of school. This includes working with the Department for Education on a range of music and cultural education programmes since 2012, supporting the Arts Council’s Cultural Education Challenge to create a network of cultural education partnerships and a new Cultural Citizens programme which will be piloted in three areas to support the engagement of disadvantaged young people with arts and culture in their local community.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether (a) the Government will be able to bring cases to Investor State Dispute Settlements tribunals and (b) UK companies will be able to instigate actions against the US administration through such tribunals under the current terms of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

    Anna Soubry

    Investment protection provisions in trade and investment treaties such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) aim to protect international investors from discriminatory or unfair treatment by a state. Their investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions allow international investors to bring claims if they think the obligations set out in the treaty have been breached by the host state. As such, Governments cannot initiate claims against investors. Under the European Commission’s proposals for TTIP, in line with normal investment treaty practice, UK investors would be able to bring ISDS claims against the US Government.

    The jurisdiction of any ISDS tribunal established in TTIP will be set out in the investment protection and ISDS provisions of the agreement. The aim of the European Commission’s proposals for investment protection provisions in TTIP is to clearly define the scope for ISDS claims and tribunal jurisdiction, including protecting the right of governments to regulate lawfully in the public interest. If an ISDS tribunal did exceed its jurisdiction in making an award, typically those elements of the resulting award would not be enforceable.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-06-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to prevent regulated financial intermediaries from promoting products in the unregulated sector by implying that victims of misselling or fraud will have recourse to the protections offered by regulation.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The issues raised are a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.

    The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of women who are in hardship as a result of the decision to change women’s state pension age.

    Lord Freud

    The welfare system provides a safety net for those of working age and there are a range of benefits tailored to individual circumstances. The system is designed to deal with the problems which affect those most in need and takes into account difficulty in finding work, disability and caring responsibilities. No figures are available as to why claimants apply for help to the benefits system.

    Independent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown that the rise in women’s State Pension age since 2010 has been accompanied by increases in employment rates for the women affected.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 16 September (HL1580), whether they plan to run a similar programme for Islamic extremists still in prison.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    In line with the former Prime Minister’s commitment, we are currently considering how the Desistance and Disengagement programme can best be introduced within the prison estate.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government’s policy is on the provision of incremental annual pay rises for personnel of the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

    Penny Mordaunt

    As part of its New Employment Model programme, Defence is developing a new pay model which will be simpler, more transparent and provide Service personnel with greater pay predictability, removing some of the unpopular and divisive features of the current pay model. However, the details of this new pay model, including incremental progression arrangements, cannot be finalised until the outcome of the Spending Review is known.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of changes in revenue from the Horserace Betting Levy arising from the activities of remote betting operators based offshore.

    Tracey Crouch

    The levy rate is set annually and is paid by bookmakers based in Great Britain, it does not currently apply to betting operators based offshore. The Government remains committed to replacing the current levy system to create a level playing field for British based and offshore gambling operators.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will increase investment in research on rehabilitation, health and social care models that can improve quality of life for ill Gulf War veterans and their families; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Government greatly values the service of all 1990-91 Gulf War veterans, particularly as we reach the 25th anniversary of the start of combat operations. We have long accepted that the ill health of some veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War is associated with their service in the Gulf. In such cases compensation may be claimed under the War Pensions Scheme with appropriate medical care provided by the National Health Service across the UK .

    The Department has funded extensive research into Gulf War illness including some research into rehabilitative therapies for those veterans with persistent symptoms.

    Our strategy on research topics and studies has been informed and overseen by independent scientific experts nominated by the Medical Research Council taking account of published peer-reviewed international literature and international studies. We have no plans to undertake further research on Gulf War issues. We continue to monitor any Gulf War research that is published round the world including from the United States.