Category: Speeches

Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the budget for the Trade Show Access Programme will be in financial year (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

For 2016/17 and beyond, UKTI will be reviewing how the Tradeshow Access Programme is aligned with other Export Services as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement. It is therefore not possible to confirm the budget at this stage

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the income that Arts Council of England will receive from National Lottery funding in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

Mr Edward Vaizey

As Good Cause income is dependent on sales, we can not provide precise figures for future forecasts; figures are a guide to likely overall income if sales remain at levels at the time of the review. However, Arts Council England’s annual share of income to the National Lottery Distribution Fund is estimated to be £255 million for each year from 2016/17 to 2019/20.

01/01/2023
Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK productivity of the planned introduction of research and development grants.

Joseph Johnson

Innovation is a key driver of productivity and the UK ranks among the best in the world in various indices. The Government is focussed on creating the best conditions for innovative businesses to flourish and will be protecting, in cash terms, total spending on business led innovation through Innovate UK.

We are exploring the range of finance products, including loans, available in a number of other countries. We will also be conducting market research to engage with, and further understand the needs of, innovative businesses in the UK.

The Government also intends to commence pilots to test specific finance products before progressing to full roll out.

01/01/2023
Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of disabled people who will lose their entitlement to the (a) standard rate of and (b) enhanced rate of personal independence payment as a result of changes to the assessment criteria regarding the use of aids and appliances for activities five and six.

Justin Tomlinson

It is not possible to forecast exact figures because it will depend on factors such as caseload, possible behavioural change, and the outcome of DLA reassessment outcomes.

We estimate that in 2020/21 there will be a total of 640,000 people who will be in some way affected by these changes.

However, a significant number will continue to qualify for an award, and for many the effects will be notional because they are not yet receiving the benefit. Claimants affected may also remain eligible for other forms of Government support. This includes, but is not limited to, the mobility component of PIP, ESA, local welfare provision, support through the NHS, adult social care and the Disabled Facilities Grant.

01/01/2023
Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to clinical commissioning groups on the provision and availability of fertility treatments.

Jane Ellison

The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) fertility guidelines. CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to NICE guidelines.

Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England are considering options for addressing variation in the prices that CCGs are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation treatment.

01/01/2023
Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government with whom refugee children will be required to register in order to be admitted into the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As announced on 4 May we are looking to admit children who were already present in the EU before 20 March 2016. This is the date the EU-Turkey deal came into force.

We are working with the relevant Member States, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other Non-Governmental Organisations and local authorities to establish the best way to implement the provisions of the Immigration Act 2016 for the transfer of unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK.

We will be flexible in our interpretation of what ‘registered’ means. We are not seeking to impose an overly burdensome legalistic requirement on children to prove they have formally ‘registered’ but we would expect clear evidence that they were present in Europe before 20 March

01/01/2023
Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials of his Department are paid a private secretary allowance.

Ben Gummer

There are currently 39 members of staff who are in receipt of a private secretary allowance. Staff at Band B2 or above who currently work in the Private Office of a Director General, Permanent Secretary or Minister are entitled to receive the Private Office allowance. There is no further guidance on the allowance. The authorisation process is robustly enforced within the department, with accountability resting with the Head of Private Office Group.

01/01/2023
Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate the Government has made of the number of structures in the West Bank funded through EU aid projects that have been demolished by Israeli forces; and what the cost of their reconstruction will be.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

While we have not made any estimate on the number of EU-funded structures that have been demolished in the West Bank, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) database on demolitions in the West Bank, 271 donor-funded structures have been demolished since the beginning of the year up to 11 June. OCHA measure demolitions of donor-funded structures, we do not know how many of these are EU funded. We have not made any estimates of the costs of reconstruction.

01/01/2023
Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school days have been lost to snow closures in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb

The Department does not collect information on the number of school days lost due to snow closures.

01/01/2023

Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-12-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a full list of each enterprise zone and the original date of its announcement.

Greg Hands

I set out in the table below the full list of Enterprise Zones together with the original date of announcement:

Enterprise Zone	Date of announcement
Mersey Waters Black Country Nottingham, Nottinghamshire Derby and Derbyshire Bristol Temple Quarter EZ London Royal Docks Manchester Airport City Leeds City Region Sheffield City Region North East EZ Birmingham City EZ Tees Valley	23^rd March 2011
Newquay Aerohub Sci-Tech Daresbury Solent Enterprise Zone MIRA Technology Park Hereford Discovery Park Harlow Science Vale UK Northampton Waterside Alconbury Enterprise Campus Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft	17^th August 2011
Humber Lancashire	29^th November 2011
Plymouth	20^th August 2015
Blackpool Airport	12^th November 2015
New EZs Ceramics Valley Dorset Green Carlisle Kingsmoor M62 Corridor EZ Greater Manchester Life Science Luton Airport York Central Hillhouse Chemicals and Energy Cheshire and Warrington EZ New Anglia EZ EZ Newhaven Aylesbury Vale Cambridge Compass Didcot Growth Accelerator Enterprise M3 Enviro-Tech Enterprise Zone Heart of the South West Enterprise Zone North East Round 2 EZ Aerohub (extension) Infinity Park Derby (extension) Humber EZ (extension) Tees Valley EZ (extension) Bristol Temple Quarter and Bath and Somer Valley (extension) North Kent Innovation Zone (extension) Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft EZ (extension) Birmingham Enterprise Zone Curzon St (extension)	25^th November 2015

01/01/2023