Category: Speeches

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers who were trained through the Troops to Teachers scheme are employed in state-funded schools.

    Nick Gibb

    As the Troops to Teachers programme is an employment-based Initial Teacher Training route, all trainees are employed in state-funded schools throughout their training. The first cohort of trainees completed the training programme in December 2015. 28 of the 29 trainees who completed the programme achieved Qualified Teacher Status with the remaining individual working towards it. A further two trainees plan to re-join their training in the coming months.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of people employed by the NHS who are from non-EU countries of the salary threshold increase for Tier 2 visa applications to £35,000.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in recognised shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.

    Data of the number of people employed in specific regions of the United Kingdom is not available. The Home Office holds individual records showing the working location of Tier 2 (General) migrants, but centralised records show the registered address of the Tier 2 Sponsor, which is normally that organisation’s Head Office.

    The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This includes the impact on the top ten occupations and is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29811, on further education, if she will publish the minutes of each of those meetings.

    Nick Boles

    Minutes of the steering group meetings are not published as they are a series of internal discussions during which local stakeholders review post-16 provision in their area and work towards a set of recommendations. As such, each local steering group has space and autonomy to develop their proposals and discuss local issues effectively.

    The Department is committed to making the outcomes transparent, and once each review reaches its conclusions, there will be a summary report published at the end of each Area Review process.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times have mines and improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of UK military bases caused (a) minor injuries and (b) serious or fatal injuries to service personnel in the last 10 years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Specific statistics regarding mines and IEDs either detected or causing injuries or fatalities in the vicinity of UK military bases are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Iranian counterpart on the protection of Iranian human rights activists in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We repeatedly call on the Iranian Government to guarantee the human rights of all Iranians and will continue to do so. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) most recently raised the issue with Foreign Minister Zarif when they met on 17 May.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-09-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to monitor and regulate the liquidity ratio on property funds.

    Simon Kirby

    The monitoring and regulation of property funds is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority. Action by the government and the Bank of England over the last six years has substantially strengthened the resilience of the financial system.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she estimates that the BCG vaccine will be available to resume the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme; and what plans her Department has in place to procure BCG for this purpose.

    George Eustice

    We have no firm date for resumption of supply of the authorised product from the manufacturer, with whom my officials and Public Health England (PHE) are in contact. PHE and Defra officials visited the production facility in September.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the recent attack on Camp Liberty, whether they have joined the United States and the UNHCR in condemning the attack, and calling for an independent investigation and prosecution of those responsible, and for the government of Iraq to take additional security measures to protect those who remain in Camp Liberty.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We strongly condemn the shameful attack against the civilian residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq on Thursday 29 October. Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad raised the attack with the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office on Friday 30 October and made clear the importance of an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the incident and ensuring that all those responsible are brought to justice.

    In all of our engagement with the Government of Iraq on this issue, including at Ministerial level and in our statements, we have emphasised the importance of the Iraqi government doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the residents of Camp Liberty. We support the UN calls for more to be done to protect the residents.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of freezing local housing allowance on working families in privately-rented accommodation.

    Justin Tomlinson

    As Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation levels are close to zero, the impact of freezing Local Housing Allowance rates will have no impact in 2016/17 when compared to the counterfactual of uprating by CPI. (In future years, 30 per cent of the savings from the ‘freeze’ will be used to create further Targeted Affordability Funding to help those areas where rent increases are causing a shortage of affordable accommodation.)

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the economic effect of delays to rail services into London Victoria from the Sussex coast in the last 12 months.

    Claire Perry

    No estimate has been made, though officials are considering how to do so.

    Customers on this part of the rail network haven’t always received the service they deserve. When we awarded the franchise through our robust competitive process we bought a plan to deliver a high quality service for passengers which will deliver more services, more capacity and three new fleets of trains on the Govia Thameslink Railway. None of this comes without short term challenges as a result of this significant four year programme of transformation. We believe that this plan alongside the Government’s investment in the Thameslink programme will deliver the improvements passengers deserve.

    I am concerned about ensuring passengers receive the best possible service during the present crucial works on this part of the rail network. Shortly after the election I set up the South East Quadrant Taskforce, which I continue to chair. This group, which includes Network Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway, is absolutely committed to making improvements and, crucially, to making sure that rail customers see the benefits of these improvements.