Category: Speeches

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many bids her Department received from local authorities to the competition to offer 30 hours free childcare from September 2016.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department for Education received 69 Local Authority applications for the delivery of the three and four year old extended entitlement, a year earlier than planned. These applications were developed in partnership with childcare providers, as part of a formal Expressions of Interest process, which included a rigorous assessment process based on a selection criteria agreed by the Ministerial-level Childcare Implementation Task Force.

    The requested information can also be found at:

    https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-02-02/debates/16020246000010/ChildcareBillEarlyImplementation?highlight=30%20hours%20free%20childcare#contribution-16020246000032

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many foreign workers his Department employs.

    Greg Hands

    Following her appointment on 13 July 2016 the Prime Minister established the Department for International Trade (DIT). The DIT aggregates UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), UK Export and Finance (UKEF), Trade Policy Units from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as well as some new hires.

    Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes my Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade as a corporation sole, DIT remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes.

    As DIT is currently being formed, details of the staff that the Department employs is being finalised, whilst employee transfers and recruitment are taking place.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on introducing a statutory definition of plying for hire in the taxi and private hire vehicle industry.

    Andrew Jones

    As part of the process of considering all the recommendations in the Law Commission’s report on reforming taxi and private hire vehicle legislation, my Department is continuing to discuss the proposals with colleagues in other Government departments.

    The Government will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions in due course.

  • Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in The Gambia.

    James Duddridge

    The UK remains concerned about The Gambia’s human rights record. We are the only EU Member State with a resident Ambassador and have a leading role in pressing the Gambian government for improved respect for human rights. We welcome some recent positive steps taken by President Jammeh, such as banning Female Genital Mutilation and the unconditional release of over 300 prisoners – including 60 high profile political prisoners. However, more needs to be done. Through our bilateral dialogue, and alongside EU partners, we will continue to make clear to the Government of The Gambia the need for further progress on its human rights record.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of laser pen attacks on air traffic control towers have been recorded in the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In the last five years from the period 1 July 2009 to 31 July 2015, the Civil Aviation Authority recorded 17 reports of laser pen attacks affecting air traffic towers in the UK.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied child refugees in Europe the Government expects to relocate in 2016.

    James Brokenshire

    My Written Ministerial Statement of 28 January set out the government’s plans to reinforce its response to refugee unaccompanied children from Syria, other conflict regions and within Europe. That included a commitment to work with partners, including the European Asylum Support Office, to help identify and support unaccompanied children on arrival in the EU. The government has also created a new fund of up to £10 million to support the needs of vulnerable migrant children in Europe.

    If an unaccompanied child claims asylum in a European country participating in the Dublin Regulation we will consider requests to take responsibility where there are close family members legally present in the UK. Unaccompanied minors already in Europe may also apply for family reunion under the Immigration Rules.

    We have asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to advise us on what more we can do to assist unaccompanied refugee children fleeing conflict and persecution in the Syrian region and more broadly across the globe. The number the UK will resettle will be dependent on the UNHCR’s assessment and whether it is in the child’s best interests and our capacity to absorb them.

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

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has agreed the terms of the Remedial Plan with Govia Thameslink Railway since the issue of a Remedial Plan Notice in December 2015; and if he will publish that plan.

    Claire Perry

    The Secretary of State has accepted Govia Thameslink Railway’s Remedial Plan that sets out the steps the operator is taking to improve their performance and it will shortly be published on the Government’s website. The plan covers the period to September 2018.

  • Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the event of the UK leaving the EU, UK citizens living in EU member states will retain all of their UK pension rights and will continue to be treated the same as if they were resident in the UK.

    Baroness Altmann

    The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU.

    As set out in the Government’s White Paper: ‘The process for withdrawing from the European Union’, published on 29 February, the withdrawal process is unprecedented. No country has ever used Article 50 – it is untested. There is a great deal of uncertainty about how it would work. UK citizens living in the EU currently enjoy a range of specific rights to live, to work and access to pensions, health care and public services that are only guaranteed because of EU law. There would be no requirement under EU law for these rights to be maintained if the UK left the EU.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for a National Stroke Strategy after the end of the ten year strategy plan in 2017.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Stroke Strategy remains valid and implementation of it continues. There are, therefore, no current plans to renew the strategy. Action continues to be taken to ensure the progress made on stroke continues. This includes:

    – ongoing work across the country to organise acute stroke care to ensure that all stroke patients, regardless of where they live or what time of the day or week they have their stroke, have access to high quality specialist care;

    – publication of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy in 2013, which includes many stroke specific strategic ambitions;

    – a CVD expert forum, hosted by NHS England, to coordinate delivery of the work which was initiated in the CVD Outcomes Strategy; and

    – NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Stroke working with the Strategic Clinical Networks, clinical commissioning groups, voluntary agencies and individual providers to support better commissioning and provision of stroke care.

    More generally, the NHS Five Year Forward View recognises that quality of care, including stroke care, can be variable and that patients’ needs are changing and new treatment options are emerging. The Five Year Forward View sets out high level objectives to address these issues.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the amount of regulation on farming.

    George Eustice

    Until we leave the EU, current arrangements for farming, fisheries, food and drink and our environment remain in place.

    The negotiation for Britain’s future relationship with Europe will need to begin under the next Prime Minister.