Category: Speeches

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of Syrian nationals resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme since March 2014 were housed under the COMPASS accommodation contract agreements.

    Richard Harrington

    Syrian nationals resettled in the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme are not housed under the COMPASS accommodation contract agreements. These agreements are only for asylum seekers.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding his Department allocated in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2015-16 to reduce the number of people who were classified as not in education, employment or training.

    Nick Boles

    Further education funding is demand led. We do not allocate funding to specific groups but our entitlements are aimed at supporting disadvantaged groups, including the unemployed.

    168,900 benefit claimants aged 19-24 started further education training in 2013/14, compared to 132,000 in 2011/12.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 20 January 2016 to Questions 22933, 22934 and 22935, how many of the 15 Commonwealth realms recognise UK honours as a substantive rather than honorary award; when the policy or convention in the UK of not recognising all Commonwealth realm knighthoods substantively was established; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    Whether a Commonwealth realm recognises UK honours as substantive is a matter for that realm. The protocol of not recognising the titles associated with Commonwealth realm knighthoods awarded to British nationals follows the convention established in 1813, whereby no permission is given for the use of any title associated with a foreign award given to a British national.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 34525, if he will publish the (a) outcomes of his Department’s regular discussions with local enterprise partnerships on their progress with local growth programmes and (b) annual performance review with the Local Enterprise Partnership.

    James Wharton

    We are clear in the Local Enterprise Partnership Assurance Framework that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate transparently, giving people confidence that decisions made are proper, based on evidence, and capable of being independently scrutinised. How each Local Enterprise Partnership will achieve this is set out in their local assurance framework. In accordance with this approach, Government does not publish outcomes of regular discussions with Local Enterprise Partnerships or of annual reviews.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral contribution on 4 July 2016, Official Report, column 626, on what date he (a) decided not to introduce an emergency budget and (b) asked the OBR to assess the effect of the EU referendum result on the economy.

    Harriett Baldwin

    As the Chancellor has said, the referendum result will have an impact on the economy and public finances – and there will need to be action to address that. Given the delay in triggering Article 50 and the Prime Minister’s decision to hand over to a successor, it is sensible that decisions on what that action should consist of should wait until the Office of Budget Responsibility has made an economic forecast in the Autumn.

    The Chancellor will commission the OBR to provide an Autumn forecast in the usual way.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the development of smaller reactors and the use of fracking for gas in order to strengthen the UK’s self-sufficiency in energy.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government is committed to ensuring the UK has a secure and resilient energy system while meeting our climate change obligations and keeping bills as low as possible. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and shale gas have the potential to play a part in achieving this.

    The Government has committed to investing at least £250 million over the next five years in nuclear research and development, which will include support for SMRs. In March 2016, the Government launched the first phase of a competition to identify the best value SMR for the UK, as well as allocating up to £30m over the next 5 years for an SMR-enabling advanced manufacturing programme to develop skills capacity.

    The Government supports the exploration of our shale gas resources in a safe and sustainable way. The shale gas resources beneath Britain have the potential to bolster our energy security and lead to jobs and economic growth. UK geology is promising but we make no assumptions about production levels. We need exploration to determine the potential.

    The Government has been clear that shale development must be safe and environmentally sound.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of people in prison (a) as a result of and (b) with a gambling addiction.

    Ben Gummer

    This information is not available centrally.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to businesses of using daylight saving time all year.

    Nick Boles

    The Department has not made such an assessment.

    In 2012, the Government published a review of the available evidence concerning the likely effects of moving to single double summer time in the UK. This is available on the Government website at the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/34587/12-1036-review-evidence-putting-clocks-forward.pdf

    “

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the findings of his Department’s right to buy pilots; what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of providing discounts to tenants eligible for that scheme nationwide and the number of council homes which will need to be sold in the course of that scheme; and what recent assessment he has made of the ability of housing associations to provide a like-for-like replacement for homes sold in the area local to those homes.

    Brandon Lewis

    As set out in the voluntary agreement with the National Housing Federation, tenants of housing associations will be eligible for the equivalent discounts that are available under the Right to Buy (up to £77,900 and £103,900 within London). The Government has been clear that the sale of high value vacant council housing will pay for the cost of compensating housing associations for the discount, so the Right to Buy will be cost neutral. Ahead of full implementation, we have launched the Right to Buy pilot with 5 housing associations.

    Overall there will be an ongoing evaluation of the Right to Buy pilot with the pilot informing the design of the full scheme.

    We are engaging with local authorities and are in the process of updating data that will be used to help inform the high value threshold. Every home sold under the voluntary Right to Buy will result in a new additional home being built nationally.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage tourism in Calder Valley since the recent flooding and severe weather in that area.

    David Evennett

    The Calder Valley is a beautiful part of the UK and tourism is an essential part of the local economy. We want to ensure that our tourism businesses have as much support as possible as they recover from the recent floods. That is why a new £1m PR campaign was announced by the Prime Minister in Cumbria, on the 28th January, to support businesses ready to receive visitors, and this is part of a wider package of immediate measures to help the area.