UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many platform train interface incidents reported on the national rail network involved driver-only operated passenger services in each year since 2010.

    Paul Maynard

    This information is not held by the Department. Some information about platform-train interface incidents is held by the Rail Standards and Safety Board and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, but the Department understands that this is not recorded in a way that enables the requested breakdown to be provided.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent from the public purse on the payment of social security benefits to non-UK citizens in each European Economic Area country for each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.

    Priti Patel

    The full information requested is not held centrally.

    The Department for Work and Pensions checks the nationality and immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud. While this information is used, it is not recorded as part of the benefit payment administrative systems.

    Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables are published on Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/474453/expenditure-by-country-and-region-2014-15.xlsx

    Please note that these figures include a breakdown for UK regions and a combined figure for expenditure abroad or where the region is unknown. Expenditure is not broken down by nationality.

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  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve the system for reporting cybercrime.

    Mike Penning

    Action Fraud is the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, and takes reports on behalf of all police forces in England and Wales. In June, it was extended to cover Northern Ireland. Action Fraud was set up to improve reporting of what has traditionally been an under-reported crime type. Official figures support the decision to centralise reporting: in the year ending June 2015, recorded fraud offences more than trebled from 72,000 before the centralisation of reporting to over 230,000.

    Action Fraud works in conjunction with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB): as of April 2014 both are operated by the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, which means one organisation is responsible for the whole process of taking reports and analysing them. The NFIB analyses Action Fraud crime reports and attempts to match them with other crimes and identify viable lines of enquiry so that an intelligence package can be passed to the police force best able to launch an investigation (usually where the suspect is believed to be located).

    Not all crimes recorded by Action Fraud and analysed by the NFIB will have viable investigative leads: fraudsters and cyber criminals may be based overseas or use false details. Nevertheless, in 2014/15, the number of crimes sent to police forces was almost 62,000. This was an increase of over 50% on 2013/14. The City of London Police are working with local forces to share expertise on how to investigate these types of crimes. City of London Police will be introducing a new IT system in May 2016, comprising of a new and much easier to use online reporting tool and a new data analytics platform within the NFIB. It will improve the identification of viable crimes to be passed to police forces, and the ability to provide improved victim service and care.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the BBC Charter Renewal process.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Good progress is being made on the BBC Charter Review programme.

    The consultation launched in July received an incredible 192,000 responses. We are committed to reading and analysing all of the responses and reached 150,000 earlier this month.

    In addition, I have commissioned further reviews and research, including an independent review of governance and regulation led by Sir David Clementi.

    In the coming months my department will work towards publishing proposals for the future of the BBC.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many outstanding cases the Child Support Agency have relating to the tracing of a non-resident parent.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent estimate he has made of the level of inward investment to Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mundell

    On 29 February 2016, UK Trade & Investment published the number of Foreign Direct Investment projects by UK Region for the period 2010/11 to 2014/15. These figures show that Scotland attracted 531 projects during this period. These projects led to 26,184 new jobs, which is equal to 8.6 per cent of the total job creation for the UK as a whole.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2016 to Question 31409, on Trauma and the report of the work of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Taskforce, Future in Mind, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children and young people who have been sexually abused or exploited receive a comprehensive specialist initial assessment and referral to appropriate services providing evidence-based interventions according to their need.

    Alistair Burt

    Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are provided on the basis of clinical need in line with guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

    Following guidance published by NHS England in August 2015, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have produced Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health with their local partners, as proposed in Future in mind. These include plans for how CCGs will ensure that the needs of all children and young people are met locally. These plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues: from prevention and resilience building, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable. This includes those who have been exposed to sexual abuse or exploitation.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of funding the UK is due to receive in each year to 2030 of (a) regional development funds and (b) structural funds under future EU multi-annual financial frameworks.

    Mr David Gauke

    The amount allocated by year to each operational programme for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the 2014-2020 period is set out in table 1.6 of the United Kingdom’s Partnership Agreement with the European Commission, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-funds-uk-partnership-agreement.

    ERDF and ESF allocations beyond the 2014-2020 period will be agreed as part of future European Union Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-06-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the impact on Birmingham Airport of a reduction in train services to Birmingham International, including the impact on the percentage of passengers who access the airport by rail and by car respectively.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Rail services between London and the Midlands are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast in May. The outcomes of those consultations will be used to inform what we ask the operator of the new franchise to provide. This information, including the key challenges and opportunities that the Department has identified for those franchises, will be published in due course.

    Neither consultation proposed cutting train services. We expect potential bidders to plan their train services to meet the needs of passengers at the stations they serve considering how best to serve and link markets and improve service reliability. To make sure their plans best reflect the needs of the franchise we are seeking views from the public and stakeholders on the ICWC franchise on:

    • any direct journeys currently provided by ICWC that they would want to see protected at a minimum level; and
    • priorities for potential changes to train services, such as speeding up service for long-distance passengers, for example by changing stops at low-use stations or adjusting the level of service.
  • Lord Foulkes of Cumnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Foulkes of Cumnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock on 2016-09-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions have taken place with Comair, the preferred bidder for commercial air services to St Helena, and with what outcome.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The current contract for air services is between the St Helena Government and Comair. Comair remain engaged in discussions about flying to St Helena when the time is right.