Category: Speeches

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her Department’s policies on badger culls of the findings of the research paper, Badgers prefer cattle pasture but avoid cattle: implications for bovine tuberculosis control, published in August 2016.

    George Eustice

    Our comprehensive strategy to eradicate bovine TB includes tighter cattle controls, good biosecurity and badger control in areas where the disease is widespread. This new research, which was funded by Defra, provides further evidence that badgers and cattle contribute to the spread of bovine TB in areas where the disease is rife. Previous research has concluded that TB spreads within and between populations of badgers and cattle and that spread from badgers to cattle is an important cause of herd breakdowns in areas where the disease is widespread. Our strategy does not presume that direct contact between badgers and cattle is the most important route of TB spread between the two species and the new research does not provide evidence against the effectiveness of badger control. Biosecurity guidance promoted by Defra addresses all forms of TB spread and focuses on indirect contact between badgers and cattle in particular, as this type of contact has previously been identified as significant. This new research confirms this.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase public awareness of the Community Trigger for reviewing anti-social behaviour complaints.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office does not collect or hold information on anti-social behaviour case reviews undertaken by local agencies using the Community Trigger process. The Government issued statutory guidance for frontline professionals in July 2014 on the use of powers to tackle anti-social behaviour introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

    This included information on the Community Trigger, including setting an appropriate threshold, publishing the procedure to be followed when making an application, and relevant data relating to use of the Trigger. We are currently reviewing the statutory guidance and we will publish revised guidance in due course if changes are required.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when Ofcom plans to publish its report on measuring frameworks for media plurality.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Ofcom published its report on a framework for media plurality on 5th November.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian C. Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the size of the Liverpool HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office will be at the end of the period of reorganisation of HMRC offices.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the planned locations of its future Regional Centres based on a number of key principles that will enable it to deliver more for less. In addition to cost, HMRC has taken account of the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, and the need to retain the staff and skills it requires to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

    HMRC estimates that Liverpool will be home to between 2,800 and 3,100 full time equivalent employees. Consolidation into the Regional Centre is expected to begin in 2019-20. HMRC plans to open the Regional Centre in Cardiff in 2019-20. It is likely that the office at Plas Gororau in Wrexham will close in 2020-21. HMRC will be holding one-to-one discussions with each of its people to discuss the next steps.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people of each gender work in her Department.

    Nick Gibb

    As at 31 December 2015, there were 1468 men and 2026 women working in the Department for Education.

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department plans to take in preparation for the European Commission’s review of the Artist’s Resale Right.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The European Commission has not yet set a date for a periodic review of ARR. When this happens, the Intellectual Property Office will draw on existing material and consult afresh with its stakeholders for the latest evidence to inform the review.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the five times increase in the annual upfront fee charges for private hire operator licences by local authorities on small and self-employed operators.

    Andrew Jones

    Local licensing authorities can charge fees for private hire vehicle operator licences that recover the cost of administering the licensing system.

    Renewing a licence every five years, rather than more frequently as may have been the case in the past, reduces a financial and administrative burden on many of the small and medium size enterprises that make up the private hire vehicle industry.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to respond rapidly to new requirements for linguistic skills across the armed forces.

    Earl Howe

    The Defence Centre for Language and Culture (DCLC) has an extremely agile training delivery model, comprising a core of military and specialist civilian lecturers supported by a commercial training contract supplying contracted tutors. The DCLC covers a number of languages. This enables the Ministry of Defence to respond rapidly to new requirements, at scale, and at short notice. A dedicated Contingency Wing has been established specifically to respond to and manage this type of short notice demand, particularly in operationally focused languages. Plans are regularly reviewed to ensure that we have already considered broad options for the delivery of new requirements.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with the BBC on the decision to move the Chinese language BBC World News Service to Hong Kong.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    I have not had any discussions with the BBC about the decision to move the Chinese language BBC World News Service to Hong Kong. Operational decisions of this nature are for the BBC themselves, and rightly independent of Government.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing a British field hospital for Kurdish Peshmerga; and if he will make a statement.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The UK keeps its contribution to the Global Counter-Daesh Coalition in Iraq (including the Kurdish region) under review with wider Coalition partners, but has no plans to deploy a field hospital to the region. Any such deployment would need to be carefully balanced against medical commitments to current and future planned operations.