UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on the UN Security Council referring evidence of potential genocide by Daesh to the International Criminal Court.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The International Criminal Court Prosecutor set out some of the complicated issues involved in the ICC investigating Daesh in her statement of 8 April 2015. Under article 13 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Court may exercise its jurisdiction if a situation in a specified territory is referred to the Prosecutor by the UN Security Council. When efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014, this proposed referral was vetoed by Russia and China. However, the Government remains committed to working with our international partners to ensure that Daesh is held to account for its crimes and that those who have suffered at its hand receive justice.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what systems are in place to monitor main service providers’ management of patient transport.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is the responsibility for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission and performance manage patient transport services, in line with the national guidance Eligibility for Patient Transport Services. This guidance is attached.

    CCGs will manage performance of patient transport providers through regular monitoring performance against Key Performance Indicators and have a range of interventions to improve performance, which are available through the NHS Standard Contract.

    NHS England ultimately maintains oversight of CCG commissioning, and holds CCGs to account for their commissioning decisions. In addition, NHS Improvement has a role in ensuring that procurement, patient choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients, and to step in if anti-competitive behaviour by National Health Service commissioners or providers goes against patients’ interests.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to establish social services and psychosocial support for unaccompanied minors brought to the UK from refugee camps in Europe.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 May and now reflected in the Immigration Act 2016, we will work to admit unaccompanied refugee children to the UK from elsewhere in the EU, where this is considered to be in the child’s best interests.

    The legislation is clear that consultation with local authorities is needed before any figure is set. We are working closely with local authorities and consulting NGOs, the UNHCR, UNICEF and relevant Member States to establish suitable processes to im-plement this initiative.

    We are committed to act as quickly as we can but we must take the necessary time to ensure we have the capacity to resettle and support those who are resettled.

    We must also ensure that we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK. We will be working closely with local authorities to find suitable placements within the UK. Statutory agencies at a local level are best placed to understand and meet the needs of all children and will continue to make decisions about the right accommodation and support services for those who are looked after. Unaccompanied children will be eligible for foster care if it is considered that that this placement type will provide appropriate support and best meet their individual needs.

    The UK has well-established and effective safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of children who come to the UK. All children brought to the UK will be given the care, support and education they require.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to delay or revisit the (a) bilateral aid review and (b) multilateral aid reviews in response to the EU referendum result.

    Rory Stewart

    The Secretary of State is currently considering the outcomes of the Department for International Development’s Multilateral and Bilateral Aid Reviews, ahead of their publication.

  • Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Parish on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to encourage local authorities to implement a voluntary Clean Air Zone; and what estimate she has made of how many will do so within the next 12 months.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    As part of the national air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide, we are requiring five cities (Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Nottingham and Southampton) to implement Clean Air Zones. Other local authorities can introduce Clean Air Zones should they wish to do so using their powers under the Transport Act 2000.

    On 13 October we launched a consultation on a framework for Clean Air Zones. This will provide a consistent approach to the implementation of Clean Air Zones. Its use by local authorities will give businesses and individuals a clear understanding of what a Clean Air Zone will deliver, and the impacts and benefits for them. Setting out the principles in this way will support both those authorities required by Government to implement a Clean Air Zone and those who, after analysing their own situation, consider a Clean Air Zone to be an appropriate measure to bring in.

    In addition, applications are now open for councils to bid for a share of at least £3 million as part of an Air Quality Grant to help improve air quality in their area. Applications could include activities such as feasibility studies for Clean Air Zones.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 13212, by when the assurance of clinical commissioning groups’ (CCG) local transformation plans by NHS England’s regional teams are planned to be completed; and whether he plans that the additional £30 million that has been allocated to CCGs will be spent in full in 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    The deadline for clinical commission groups to submit their Local Transformation Plans was Friday 16 October, and plans were submitted covering all local areas. These plans are currently being assured by NHS England’s regional assurance teams and this is intended to be completed during November.

    The £30 million NHS England allocated to clinical commissioning groups for improving children and young people’s eating disorders is intended to be spent in 2015-16.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme is introduced and now planned on 1 January 2016.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government remains committed to introducing the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) from 1 January 2016. Since 1 October 2015, HMRC has invited a number of businesses to test the registration service that will be released, including some whose applications are now lodged with HMRC and are ready to be considered when registration activity formally begins.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was of her Department’s employment of interpreters for immigration purposes in 2014-15; and what the roles and responsibilities were of those interpreters, beyond assisting with the processing of refugee applications.

    James Brokenshire

    The total spend on interpreters in 2014-15 was £749,746 for Border Force, £1,455,375 for Immigration Enforcement and £5,366,622 for UK Visas and Immigration (Asylum) for translation in asylum claims.

    Responsibilities include but are not limited to enabling a full and accurate two way interpretation service whilst not impeding the progress of any formal interviews or encounters.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what funding the Government has provided for carbon capture and storage research and development projects not based in the UK since 2010.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under DECC’s £20m CCS Innovation Programme, Net Power LLC, a US company, was awarded a Research and Development grant of £7.5m to demonstrate a British invented low carbon power generation technology. Net Power worked with Goodwin Steel castings, an established UK manufacturer, to manufacture turbine casings for the project.

    Through the International Climate Fund (ICF) the Government has funded capacity building projects in a number of partner countries. In December 2012, the UK committed £60 million from the ICF to trust funds operated by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to support developing countries to develop both the technical and institutional knowledge necessary to enable the deployment of CCS technologies. The ICF finance is supporting CCS capacity building through pilot projects, with the aim of demonstrating the technology and reducing the cost of the technology application across the CCS chain.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department uses to assess whether a local authority should be subject to a Sure Start claw-back.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Where local authorities dispose of or change the use of buildings or other assets funded wholly or partly through Sure Start capital grants, they must repay the money through the claw-back process.

    The Department for Education has a thorough set of monitoring arrangements in place regarding claw-back rules. Local authorities are required to notify the department of each and every proposed change of services and provide details about the level of early years services that are to continue. The department then considers if the local authority has continued to offer a sufficient level of early years services for children and their families from the building in question to meet the original aims of the grant.

    If the department is satisfied that the funding for the asset will continue to be used for purposes consistent with the grant, the department may defer claw-back. Deferring claw-back means that we accept the change of usage at that time, however, the department retains its interest in the asset and if in the future the asset has its usage changed, is transferred or otherwise disposed of, and does not continue to meet the purposes of the grant the local authority must inform the department and we will claw-back the funding. The department’s interest in an asset funded by Sure Start capital grants is 25 years from designation of the building. If the grant was used to purchase capital items or re-furbish an existing asset, the length of time and value of any claw-back depends on the depreciation value of the items, according to local authority depreciation rules.