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Category: Speeches

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle disparities in broadband coverage in (a) London and (b) the UK.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is working with commercial broadband providers to encourage them to fill the remaining gaps in superfast broadband coverage in London. BT has announced £50 million of investment in new commercial coverage, much of which will be aimed at London, and Virgin Media has announced a demand led investment programme of £3 billion over the next few years. Other suppliers are also active in London.

    As a result of commercially-led delivery and public funding in areas which are not commercially viable, superfast broadband coverage across the UK now reaches almost 90% of premises, providing access to speeds of more than 24Mbps. Coverage is on track to increase to 95% of premises by December 2017. The Government has also announced proposals for a Universal Service Obligation to enable all premises to request a broadband speed of at least 10Mbps, with the aim of implementing it in this Parliament. A basic broadband scheme has also been introduced across the UK allowing all premises with speeds below 2Mbps to gain access to speeds above this level through a subsidised satellite broadband connection.

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that bodies undertaking anti-doping investigations in UK sport have access to the most up-to-date science and technology; and if he will make a statement.

    David Evennett

    UK Anti-Doping’s dedicated Science and Medical team work closely with the Drug Control Centre at King’s College London and others to research new substances and methods of using performance enhancing substances, as well as provide expertise in helping to develop new detection methods.

    Under the World Anti-Doping Code, UK Anti-Doping can store samples for up to 10 years to allow retrospective testing of samples as new testing methods are developed.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

    Harriett Baldwin

    A report was generated from the department’s data management system for the financial years requested. I can confirm that a total of 541 officials have resigned in the last six financial years. The proportion of resignations for each of those six years can be viewed in the table below.

    April 10 to March 11

    April 11 to March 12

    April 12 to March 13

    Resignations

    92

    104

    82

    Proportion of Officials (%)

    6.9%

    9.0%

    7.2%

    April 13 to March 14

    April 14 to March 15

    April 15 to March 16

    Resignations

    83

    101

    79

    Proportion of Officials (%)

    7.5%

    9.1%

    6.3%

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the Government’s policy is on the granting of market economy status to China.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government believes it is important that World Trade Organisation members meet their international obligations. But we are also committed to tackling unfair trade and ensuring that the Commission continues to have the necessary tools available to do this.

    China’s 2001 Protocol of Accession to the WTO removes certain provisions after 15 years, so countries may need to alter the methodology for calculating dumping when conducting anti-dumping investigations involving China. In such an event, the EU would still be able to impose anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures against China, just as it does against Russia, the US and other market economies. We recognise there are real concerns about this. We are committed to discussing implementation of the Protocol’s requirements with our international partners.

    The European Commission is due to present its proposals in this area in the summer. Alongside its proposal, the Commission is expected to present a detailed assessment of the legal, economic and social impacts of this issue. It conducted a consultation earlier this year to collect evidence to inform its assessment and on possible measures to mitigate any adverse effects on EU industry. We welcome this and will examine the Commission’s proposal and impact assessment carefully before deciding our position.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-06-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many pensioners pay income tax at the higher rate.

    Mr David Gauke

    For 2013-14 it is estimated that 558,000 individuals above State Pension Age were liable for Income Tax charged at or above the higher rate. This is based on the most recent Survey of Personal Incomes (2013-14)

  • Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the prospects of talks on North Korea under the Six Party talks format.

    Alok Sharma

    The UK is not a member of the Six Party talks, but we maintain a close dialogue with all participants, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Through our bilateral engagement with DPRK we have made clear to the regime that their nuclear and ballistic missile programmes are in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions and that the DPRK should return to credible and authentic multilateral talks on denuclearisation. We assess that the resumption of Six Party talks is unlikely given the current situation and only if the DPRK agrees to discuss denuclearisation.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote joint work between special needs assessors and disability advisers within universities on ensuring that appropriate support is given and provision made for disabled students and for students with dyslexia.

    Joseph Johnson

    Higher education institutions are responsible for meeting their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including for students with dyslexia.

    The legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments applies to all disabled students. In addition Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs) are available where the needs of the student cannot be met by the institution by way of such a reasonable adjustment. A consultation on DSAs closed on 24 September and the Government response will be published in due course.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) HMS Brocklesby M33 mine sweeper will be refitted at Portsmouth naval dockyards and (b) that refitting will include new propulsion capability; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As part of the Royal Navy’s continual examination of its resources and operational priorities, HMS Brocklesby’s docking period and refitting of her propulsion capability has been deferred.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the importance of mental health research and its contribution to improved mental health nationally.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Mental health research is vital for better prevention of mental illness, development and evaluation of effective treatments, and to inform organisation and delivery of high quality care. Research funders are working together in this field to identify priorities and co-ordinate activity. In November 2015, the Department and Royal College of Psychiatrists held a joint meeting to identify key questions for mental health research. Following this meeting, funding organisations met on 6 January to discuss the strategic co-ordination of mental health research.

    In 2014/15, the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) spent £27.7 million on mental health through its research programmes – expenditure higher than in any other disease area including cancer (£19.8 million). In all, the NIHR spent a total of £72.6 million on mental health research in that year, including research infrastructure and fellowships.

    Total NIHR investment in mental health research infrastructure (including that provided through NIHR biomedical research centres and the NIHR Clinical Research Network) has nearly doubled from £23.8 million in 2009/10 to £41.8 million in 2014/15.

    The NIHR has launched a new, open competition for biomedical research centre funding from April 2017 to March 2022. In this competition, a number of clinical areas of particular strategic importance to the health of patients are highlighted including mental health.

    The NIHR Clinical Research Network supports delivery in the National Health Service of studies funded by the NIHR itself and by eligible partners including the United Kingdom Research Councils and medical research charities. To date in 2015/16, the network has recruited 23,778 participants in 273 studies where mental health is recorded as the main specialty. The network will continue to monitor the study pipeline for mental health.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the reserve forces are cyber specialists.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We are significantly growing the number of dedicated Cyber specialists in the Reserves. Recruiting is on track to meet our target by April 2017. As with other sensitive Defence capabilities, I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.