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Category: Speeches

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to tackle cold-callers.

    Matt Hancock

    We are determined to tackle the scourge of nuisance calls, however a balance needs to be struck between ensuring that consumers are adequately protected and also ensuring that the legitimate direct marketing industry can continue to operate. Our efforts are focused on taking action against companies that are deliberating break the rules, rather than penalising legitimate businesses who comply with the law.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of people released from each prison in England and Wales (i) reoffended and (ii) went into employment within six months of their release in each of the last five years.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Information on the employment status of prisoners beyond the point of release is not available centrally and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

    All other information requested can be found on GOV.UK.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools facilitate highly-able pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds accessing the best universities.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Widening participation in higher education (HE) is a priority for this government, building on the real progress being made in the last 5 years. In England the entry rates for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were at record levels in 2014, rising from 13.6 per cent in 2009 to 18.2 per cent in 2014. Applications from this group also reached a record high in 2015, with the latest data showing a 21 per cent application rate. As set out in the Green Paper on Higher Education, published on 6 November, this government has set a goal to double the proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering HE by the end of this Parliament from 2009 levels. Schools have a critical role in delivering on this commitment.

    We have introduced compulsory study of the key English Baccalaureate subjects to make sure more pupils get the rigorous academic education they need to succeed in getting a place at university.

    We are also committed to continuing the pupil premium, protected at current rates, so that pupils from the poorest backgrounds get the help they need, including the most able.

    Work is underway to implement collaborative national networks that will provide single points of contact to help teachers and advisers to find out about HE outreach activity in their area, and give general advice about progression to HE. A total of £22 million is being provided in 2014-16, and 35 networks will cover schools across England.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representation in the Vienna peace talks on the future of Syria it is planned Assyrian-Syriac Christians will have.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Members of all major communities of Syrian society – including Syrian Christians – participated at the Riyadh Opposition Conference in December 2015. The meeting participants agreed to form a delegation to negotiate with the Syrian regime representatives, in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué, under the auspices and guarantee of the UN and supported by the International Syria Support Group.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made in dealing with the migrants who arrived (a) in October 1998 and (b) on 21 October 2015 in the RAF Dhekelia and RAF Akrotiri Soverign Base Areas in Cyprus.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The remaining migrants, both recognised refugees and failed asylum seekers, from those who arrived in the Soveriegn Base Areas (SBA) in 1998, are currently living in former Service Family accommodation close to the British Forces Garrison in Dhekelia. For those whose claims for asylum have not been accepted and who are unable to return to their country of origin, we continue efforts to identify a third country willing to accept them.

    The majority of those migrants who arrived in the SBA on 21 October 2015 have transferred into the Republic of Cyprus asylum system and are housed in a facility in the Republic. Of those who remain in the Transit Facility in Dhekelia, all have either claimed asylum or are seeking voluntarily to return to their point of origin. Their asylum claims are being considered by the Sovereign Base Area Administration, with assistance from Republic of Cyprus immigration officials.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on levels of self-employment in the construction industry of his proposed changes to tax relief for travel and subsistence.

    Mr David Gauke

    The changes to tax relief for travel and subsistence only affect those who work through an employment intermediary. The Government’s assessment of the effects of the measure can be found in the Tax Information and Impact Note:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-employment-intermediaries-and-relief-for-travel-and-subsistence/income-tax-employment-intermediaries-and-relief-for-travel-and-subsistence

    Further assessment can be found in the summary of responses to the consultation document published on this change: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/483389/Employment_Intermediaries_and_Tax_Relief_for_Travel_and_Subsistence_-_Summary_of_Responses__M7057_.pdf

    “

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of rough sleepers has mental health issues; and what plans he has to address that issue.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we have increased our central investment for homelessness to £139 million over the next four years, and protected homelessness prevention funding to local authorities, totalling £315 million.

    We know sleeping rough is rarely the result of a personal housing crisis alone and that the most entrenched rough sleepers often have complex needs, including mental health difficulties or addiction. That is why we are investing £10 million in an innovative new national Social impact Bonds Fund to help address these complex needs in order to help entrenched rough sleepers move off the streets. Through my Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness, I am working with ministerial colleagues across government including the Department of Health, to develop actions to address these underlying causes of homelessness.

  • Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the evidential basis is for NHS England’s decision not to fund the pre-exposure drug prophyaxis for HIV for the at-risk population.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has placed its position on the commissioning of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) under review. This review of the commissioning process will be undertaken by the Specialised Services Committee of NHS England in late May 2016. Depending on the outcome of that decision, a further decision taking account of the clinical evidence for PrEP, the evidence and demand for other new treatments not currently commissioned and NHS England’s available funding and priorities is currently planned for June 2016.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department’s White Paper, Success as a knowledge economy: teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice, published on 16 May 2016, what the minimum number of (a) students and (b) higher education students is which any new provider would have to have registered at their institution in order to be granted university teaching powers.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government’s intention is that – as now – in order to be eligible for taught degree awarding powers a provider must have the majority of its higher education students enrolled on study programmes which are recognised as being at level 6 or above of the Framework of Higher Education Qualifications for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This requirement will be set out in detailed criteria and guidance on degree awarding powers on which there will be a consultation in due course.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what average length of time taken was to re-broker an academy that received formal intervention in each year since 2010.

    Edward Timpson

    Where an academy is not meeting the required standard or needs a change of sponsor, the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) strives to ensure that this change happens as quickly as possible, with minimum impact to the school. The Department does not hold a central record of the time taken for re-brokerage.

    The Education and Adoption Act 2016 gives RSCs powers to tackle underperformance in academies more quickly, by allowing them to terminate their funding agreement and re-broker an academy if it is judged inadequate by Ofsted or identified as coasting.