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Category: Speeches

  • Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to encourage an increase in the number of HGV drivers in the UK to meet demand for such drivers.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department’s agencies are taking action on HGV driver testing and licensing. This includes recruiting 78 new driving examiners, as well as 65 in training and 41 offered posts. Licence renewal times where there are not medical issues have reduced and changes are being made to the operation of parts of the medical renewals process. The Department is working with other parts of Government to encourage and enable more people to become lorry drivers, including via apprenticeships and action related to Jobcentre Plus.

    I note that over 55,000 tests were conducted in 2014-15, the highest total since 2008-09. Further, the number of Large Goods Vehicle practical and theory tests of all types conducted during July to September 2015 was 34 per cent higher than in the same quarter of 2014.

  • 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 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department paid to charities in 2014-15; and what criteria were used to make decisions about those payments.

    George Freeman

    The Department works with charities and other voluntary sector organisations and makes grant and procurement payments to these organisations. In 2014-15, £120 million was paid to the voluntary sector. Payment data is held at voluntary sector level, as such, charities are not separately categorised within this data set. It would incur disproportionate cost to extract this subset of the information.

    Payments made through the procurement route are processed in line with Departmental processes, which are consistent with payments made to other organisations. Grant payments are made in accordance with the individual terms of the grant.

  • Lord True – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord True – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received any indication from the government of France that it would unilaterally abrogate the Treaty of Le Touquet were the people of the UK to vote to leave the European Union.

    Lord Bates

    Juxtaposed Controls were introduced for short sea crossings by the “Treaty Between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the French Republic Concerning the Implementation of Frontier Controls at the Sea ports of Both Countries on the Channel and North Sea”, signed at Le Touquet on 4 February 2003.

    This bilateral agreement between the UK and France provides for immigration controls to be conducted by the country of arrival in designated control zones in the country of departure at both French and UK sea ports on the Channel and North Sea, including Calais and Dunkirk in France, and Dover in the UK.

    The Le Touquet Treaty is an agreement concluded between the UK and France under international law. The UK and France have an excellent relationship and work closely together to secure the UK/France border, including at sea ports on the Channel and the North Sea.

    The Le Touquet Treaty has resulted in a reduced number of asylum claims and continues to be a valuable part of our border security.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2016 to Question 28770, on social security benefits: mental health, who has commissioned the evidence review of supported housing; who will be conducting that review; when that review will be concluded; and whether that review will be made public.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) commissioned an evidence review on the shape, scale and cost of the supported housing sector. The review is being conducted by Ipsos-MORI in partnership with Imogen Blood and Associates and the Housing and Support Partnership. The review report will be published this year.

  • Nadine Dorries – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nadine Dorries – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to make travel on the Thameslink line more accessible for disabled passengers.

    Claire Perry

    On the Thameslink route, the new Thameslink trains currently being manufactured will enter service later this year. The full fleet will be in service by the end of 2018. The train specification was developed to meet the latest standards and is fully compliant with accessibility standards for heavy rail (the Persons of Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability – PRM-TSI).

    To aid boarding and alighting, the Thameslink Programme is providing dedicated ramps at stations and on board the trains, in addition to raised platform areas at busy central London stations that will step free from street level to the new trains. The boarding positions will be clearly indicated for disabled users.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Royal College of Physician’s report, Nicotine without smoke: Tobacco harm reduction, published in April 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has and will continue to keep abreast of all evidence and consider it in developing policy. The report published by the Royal College of Physicians is consistent with the Government’s current policy that the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking and quit for good, but we recognise that e-cigarettes have a role to play in helping some people to quit.

  • Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what legal advice they have received about whether the result of the EU referendum is legally binding.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has been clear in his statement on 27 June 2016. The British people have voted to leave the European Union, and that the decision must be respected.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, at how many (a) NHS hospitals, (b) NHS agencies and (c) approved private sector places abortions were able to take place in each year since 2009-10.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Comprehensive and comparable data is not collected centrally on waiting times for abortions performed in both the National Health Service and independent sector. Information on the average time between the two medical practitioners’ signatures is also not collected centrally.

    Because of the way information is stored the number of places where abortions took place in England and Wales is only available from 2013 to 2015 and is shown in the table below. All independent sector places perform abortions under contract from the NHS (previously known as NHS agency).

    Table: The number of clinics at which abortions took place, by clinic type, England and Wales 2013 to 2015

    Year

    Total number of clinics

    NHS Hospital

    Independent Sector

    Private Hospital

    2013

    348

    234

    97

    16

    2014

    354

    223

    117

    14

    2015

    385

    220

    151

    14

    “

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many of her Department’s policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps she has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Family Test policy does not apply to DFID’s work as foreign policy is outside of the scope of the Test.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people are classified as long-term unemployed in the Dorset County Council area.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.