Category: Speeches

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to further regulate the use of fireworks.

    Anna Soubry

    I am aware of recent concerns about the use of fireworks in some parts of the country. However, I believe that the majority of people enjoy fireworks sensibly, responsibly and in accordance with the current restrictions on their use and I therefore have no immediate plans to review the legislation already in place.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department work in the referendum unit.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities. It is not possible to identify a precise figure for full time equivalent staff working on the referendum because a range of staff are involved across various FCO departments – eg EU department, legal advisers, press office – and for some of whom the proportion of their time devoted to referendum issues varies day by day.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish its response to its consultation on Section 75 employer debt in non-associated multi-employer defined benefit pension schemes which closed in May 2015.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Following a Call for Evidence on Section 75 employer debt in non-associated multi-employer schemes, my Department is currently considering further changes to employer debt legislation. Alternative methods to help employers in multi-employer schemes manage an employer debt following an employer cessation event are currently being explored; we will consult on any specific proposals later in due course.

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timetable is for Stephen Shaw to complete his follow-up review of the use of immigration detention.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The follow up to Stephen Shaw’s review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons will take place in late 2017, with timings to be agreed with Mr Shaw.

  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to encourage banks to reduce interest rates inline with base rate reductions.

    Simon Kirby

    Alongside the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to cut Bank Rate to 0.25%, the Chancellor on 4 August authorised the introduction of a new Term Funding Scheme.

    The Term Funding Scheme will lend central bank reserves to banks and building societies for an extended period at rates close to Bank Rate, in order to ensure the low level of Bank Rate is passed onto borrowing rates faced by households and businesses.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what regulations apply to the size and colours of printed information on benefits published by his Department to ensure access to that information for people with visual impairments.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department has the following documented standards for printed information:
    • Minimum type size of 10pt FS Me or 12pt Arial, based on recommended best practice from RNIB

    • The majority of publications are printed in black and white.

    • Where colour is used, we apply international standards for suitable contrast between text and background.

    • The Department provides staff guidance explaining how to commission large print, Braille or audio versions of publications in response to individual requests.

    • Publications can also be made available in electronic formats suitable for most computers equipped with screen reader software; or as Portable Document Format (PDF) files which have been optimised for the free-of-charge Adobe Reader built-in ‘Read out loud’ function.

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what grounds it was decided that compliance checks for tax credit applications would be outsourced to Concentrix.

    Mr David Gauke

    Reducing tax credits fraud and error is a top priority for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The contract with Concentrix offers additional capacity to help build on HMRC’s own work, which has reduced tax credits fraud and error to the lowest ever level. Using a private company provides a cost-effective way to reach additional claims that need checking.

    The checks are to ensure that people are paid the correct amount of money to prevent them from getting into debt which they may find difficult to repay and protect losses to taxpayers.

    Concentrix operate under the same powers and processes as HMRC. Concentrix select cases to be checked using information provided by HMRC. Concentrix decide how best to achieve the expected benefits, including the number and type of cases and number of staff employed. HMRC closely monitors their performance.

    The contract uses a payment by results model, which means Concentrix is only paid based on the money it saves the Exchequer as a result of correcting claims that are incorrect. They will not be paid if the decisions they make about claimants’ awards are incorrect.

    The contract was signed on 6 May 2014. The contract was awarded to Synnex-Concentrix UK Ltd in April 2014, following a procurement exercise advertised under the open procedure. Information about the contract value and contract award is already in the public domain.

    https://www.deltaesourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=97910033

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance the Government has given to former Gurkhas who are homeless as a result of recent earthquakes in Nepal.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    A Joint DFID and Ministry of Defence (MOD) response was launched immediately in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquakes in April and May 2015. The MOD through the Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT) supported both immediate and longer term initiatives. The GWT carried out a detailed assessment of the damage to Gurkha communities and provided £1.2 million in emergency aid that included distribution of shelter kits, tarpaulins and corrugated iron sheets in remote areas immediately in the aftermath of the earthquake. In addition, a unit of the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers was deployed to repair and rebuild the homes and communities of approximately 2,200 Gurkha servicemen that were severely damaged by the earthquake. To date, 150 new houses, built to an earthquake resistant design, are under construction and a further 600 houses will be started this year. DFID has been supplying humanitarian assistance to the Gurkha communities hit by the earthquake since April 2015 and continues to do so.

    The GWT’s commitments for the earthquake response now stand at £19 million over 5 years. The MOD has provided an additional grant of £512,000 to assist the GWT in its on-going response operations. Between 2012-20 DFID has committed £14.19 million to support the GWT’s Gurkha Welfare Scheme, a programme predominantly supporting the Nepali servicemen and their communities, on water and sanitation programmes.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that approved personalised medicines are available to patients with colorectal cancer.

    George Freeman

    On 24 September, the NHS England Board agreed the development of a Personalised Medicine Strategy for the National Health Service. Personalised medicine is a move away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the treatment and care of patients with a particular condition. It uses emergent approaches in areas such as diagnostic tests, functional genomic technologies, molecular pathways, data analytics and real time monitoring of conditions to better manage patients’ health and to target therapies to achieve the best outcomes in the management of a patient’s disease or predisposition to disease. The high-level vision and strategy is to create a Personalised Medicine service in the NHS embracing four overarching principles: the prediction and prevention of disease; more precise diagnoses; targeted and personalised interventions; and a more participatory role for patients.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce’s five-year strategy for cancer, Achieving World-Class Outcomes (July 2015), recommends improvements across the cancer pathway, with the aim of improving survival rates.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. She has set up a new Cancer Transformation Board to implement the strategy, and this met for the first time on Monday 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.

    The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to transformative new medicines and technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include personalised medicines for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK meets its renewed target of zero carbon emissions by 2050.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government believes we will need to take the step of enshrining the global goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the century, agreed in Paris, into UK law. The question is not whether but how we do it.

    The Government also remains committed to its existing Climate Change Act target of an at least 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 on 1990 levels. Our working assumption is that we will publish our Emissions Reduction Plan by the end of 2016, which will set out our proposals for meeting our Climate Change Act targets.