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Category: Speeches

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 27211, whether the remit of permission granted to use the Sigonella air station extends to UK (a) Reaper launch and recovery operations and (b) combat missions.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We have had a long-standing presence at Naval Air Station Sigonella, and have made frequent use of it. However, it is not normal practice to comment on the details of arrangements with host nations.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on special forces in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of the total amount was spent on equipment in each such year.

    Penny Mordaunt

    This Government has demonstrated its commitment to our Special Forces by announcing a £2 billion programme of investment over the course of this Parliament. All military operations, including the activities of the Special Forces, are discussed and scrutinised at the highest levels of Government, including at the National Security Council. However, as it is the longstanding policy of the Government not to comment on our Special Forces, or to release information relating to them, I cannot comment on specific questions about personnel, equipment, discussions or activities in relation to these units.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36280, for what reasons work capability assessments have been cancelled.

    Priti Patel

    Work Capability Assessments can be cancelled for a wide variety of reasons linked to the need for matching the customer’s own requirements with the availability of all those parts necessary for an assessment to take place. Over half of all cancellations are customer instigated cancellations.

    Where the cancellations are instigated by DWP we will rearrange the appointment at a convenient time for the customer.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many girls under 18 years of age were reported missing in each year from 1998 to 2005; how many of those girls were subsequently found; and how many investigations into those girls’ cases are ongoing.

    James Brokenshire

    The information in this request is held by individual police forces.

    Between 1998 and 2005, the Metropolitan Police Service was responsible for the Missing Persons Bureau, but did not publish reports detailing the number of missing cases. In 2013, the function was transferred to the National Crime Agency to improve the service offered to policing in respect of the handling of missing person and unidentified investigations.

    The National Crime Agency publishes annual statistics on Missing Persons which includes missing children http://missingpersons.police.uk.The last published report shows that in 2014/15 there were 112,252 missing persons incidents involving children. Of these, the report finds that 54% of these missing incidents involved female children under the age of 18.

  • Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Security Industry Authority has met its performance target of 80 per cent of applications being processed within 25 days in each month since January 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Security Industry Authority (SIA) have an annual performance target to process 80% of applications (including renewals) within 25 working days. The SIA met this annual target in the 2015/16 financial year. Performance for 2016/17 to date is shown in the table below.

    Apr

    May

    June

    July

    Aug

    Percentage processed in 25 working days

    86%

    81%

    80%

    46%

    72%
  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake a national review of liver transplantation services to help (a) ensure better access for patients and (b) increase capacity.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS England intends to review liver transplantation services during 2018/19. There is sufficient capacity to transplant the organs that are donated currently.

    Organ donor and transplant rates have been increasing steadily over the last eight years. In 2008/09 there were 1,860 donors and 3,513 solid organ transplants. In 2015/16 these figures were 2,439 donors and 4,601 transplants. This increase of 31% in both donors and transplants over this timeframe, was achieved mainly through a strengthening of the donation infrastructure including increased specialist nurses, improved retrieval arrangements, increasing consent rates and better organ utilisation.

    The current United Kingdom strategy launched in July 2013, Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, sets the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates still further.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve awareness of the health implications of drinking during pregnancy.

    Jane Ellison

    The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is overseeing a United Kingdom-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives.

    The Guidelines Development Group, a group of independent experts, was tasked with developing the lower-risk drinking guidelines for the UK CMOs to consider. The group have researched and developed a proposal on the guidelines, including a UK wide approach for guidance on alcohol and pregnancy. We will be consulting on these shortly.

  • Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made regarding the government of Zimbabwe’s attempt to access external funding from multilateral financial institutions including the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank.

    Baroness Verma

    The Government of Zimbabwe has been in arrears to the International Financial Institutions for over a decade. This prevents Zimbabwe from accessing any new financing for development from the World Bank, IMF and African Development Bank.

    The Government of Zimbabwe presented its plans to clear multilateral arrears at a side meeting during the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings, in October. Bilateral creditors at the meeting, including the UK, broadly welcomed the intention of the Government of Zimbabwe to work towards arrears clearance, but stressed that implementation of reforms would be necessary to achieve debt resolution.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing HM Revenue and Customs’ Location Strategy over the next 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

    HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

    HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

    Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people in Wealden constituency have a full driving licence.

    Andrew Jones

    On 30 January 2016, there were 188,244 full driving licence holders in the Wealden constituency postal code areas.