Category: Speeches

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2016 to Question 905825, whether he has received reports on which formal charges have been levelled against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have not received further information about the charges faced by Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe despite raising with the Iranians repeatedly at the highest levels. Although the Iranians do not recognise dual nationality, we continue to push for consular access to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Most recently, the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) raised Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case with Iranian President Rouhani on 9 August and the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) raised Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 4 August.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Kris Hopkins

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) targets and (b) goals the Bahraini authorities have been asked to work towards in the reform programmes in that country funded by his Department; and what progress has been made towards achieving those goals.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Government of Bahrain set out its own programme of reforms to implement the recommendations of Bahrain’s Independent Commission of Inquiry in 2011 and to respond to recommendations made at the UN Universal Periodic Review of Bahrain’s human rights situation. Our assistance supports Bahrain’s reform programme and is focussed on strengthening human rights and the rule of law. We welcome progress made in areas including: youth justice; the establishment and increasing effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s office, the Prisoner and Detainees’ Rights Commission and the reformed National Institute of Human Rights. We continue to work with the Government of Bahrain to ensure momentum and progress on its reforms, for the benefit of all Bahrainis.

  • Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the funding received by police forces operating in areas where crime levels are rising.

    Mike Penning

    Police reform is working and crime is falling. According to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales, crime has fallen by more than a quarter since 2010. This is the lowest level since the survey began in 1981.

    The Government has protected overall police spending in real terms over the Spending Review period, when precept is taken into account. This is an increase of up to £900 million in cash terms by 2019/20. Funding allocations for individual police force areas were published in the Provisional Police Grant Report on 17 December.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has been made with his EU counterparts on resolving the issue of the confiscation of property held by EU nationals in Goa.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Joint lobbying with EU counterparts has not been pursued because those affected are predominately UK nationals. Our High Commission has consistently lobbied the Goan government and local authorities on the main issues relating to property disputes involving British nationals. This has lead to contact between the UK nationals in the Goa Property Working Group and officials working for the Goa Property Committee, the relevant Indian government body.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers of his Department have had with (i) arms manufacturers, (ii) tobacco manufacturers and (iii) representatives of the Israeli embassy since the period covered in the Cabinet Office’s most recent ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings data release.

    Michael Fallon

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Cabinet Office Minister (Matthew Hancock) to her Question 27634 on 26 February 2016.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries have received funding from his Department to provide free wi-fi services since 2010.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Public libraries are funded and run by local authorities. However, the Government provided funding in 2015-16 which means that by March 2016, free WiFi will be available in 99% of public libraries in England. In total, 70 local authorities will have received funding of around £2.7 million to upgrade or install WiFi in 1017 public libraries. In addition, through the Government’s super connected cities programme, WiFi was previously installed in 288 libraries across 14 cities, UK-wide by the end of March 2015.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons take charge requests under the Dublin regulations have been refused since April 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Whilst all asylum claims, including those accepted under Dublin III, are registered on the main immigration database the specifics of each case are not currently available in the form requested as the data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what Government funding has been awarded to (a) Welcome to Yorkshire, (b) the campaign to bring the Turner Prize to Hull in 2017 and (c) the creation of a new cycle gateway to the Yorkshire Dales National Park since the publication of the Long-Term Economic Plan for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire in February 2015.

    David Evennett

    Over the last two financial years, Welcome to Yorkshire has received a total of ​£1,619,100 of Government funding to promote tourism and the success of cycling in Yorkshire, building on the Grand Depart.

    This Government is providing £1.5million funding for the Ferens gallery in Hull so it can host the 2017 Turner prize.

    And in 2014, the Canal River Trust won £450,000 from the Cycling Ambition in National Park programme for a range of cycling schemes, including the transformation of a 4km stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal centred on the market town of Skipton, which is also a key gateway to the Yorkshire Dales.

    On 24 May Government announced funding for both the Sustainable Travel Transition Year Fund 2016/17, and the North East Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire, with projects earmarked across the region but not in the specific Yorkshire Dales area.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what legal or other agreements the Government has with suppliers of contaminated blood products to provide for liability and compensatory efforts to support people who contracted illnesses as a result of the use of such products.

    Nicola Blackwood

    There are no legal or other agreements in place between the Government and suppliers of contaminated blood products to provide support for those who contracted illnesses as a result of the use of such products. No money has been received by the Government from suppliers of such products to fund ex-gratia support.