Category: Speeches

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to provide additional financial support for Jordan for the provision of (a) aid and (b) jobs for refugees in that country.

    Justine Greening

    The UK with other members of the international community agreed at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference a comprehensive approach to tackling the impact of the Syria conflict. This included continued humanitarian support in Jordan and a ‘Jordan Compact’ aimed at improving the investment climate and creating jobs for both Jordanians and refugees from Syria. Funding and implementation arrangements are currently being finalised.

  • David Mowat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    David Mowat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mowat on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Attorney General, what steps the CPS is taking to improve the conviction rate for hate crimes involving disabled people.

    Robert Buckland

    The CPS treats all allegations of hate crime, including those involving disabled people, extremely seriously and continues to place priority on this work. Legal guidance on disability hate crime was refreshed in 2015 and a supporting training package was delivered to all CPS lawyers by January 2016. This equips prosecutors with up to date knowledge to inform their decision making and approach to building the strongest cases possible. In addition, a National Scrutiny Panel on disability is assisting with the development of further refinements to policy guidance on crimes against disabled people and the preparation of a joint CPS/Police/HMCTS statement concerning support to disabled victims of crime.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to prevent mobile telephone providers from imposing long notice periods on customers who are out of contract and wish to move to another provider.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Most mobile telephone providers include terms within contracts that require customers to serve up to 30 days’ minimum notice period in order to terminate a contract, regardless of whether the customer is within the minimum term of their contract or not. Ofcom’s view is that this may be longer than necessary and is currently consulting to make improvements with regards to mobile switching for consumers. In addition, the Government is committed to making it easier and quicker to switch services and fully supports Ofcom’s interim findings in the recent digital communications review.

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has discussed with the devolved administrations inserting the new anti-lobbying clause into their government grants.

    Matthew Hancock

    Officials in the Cabinet Office Grants Efficiency Programme team held preliminary discussions with the devolved administrations as part of the implementation of the grants clause. However, as announced on 27 April, the implementation of the clause has been paused pending a review of the representations made and we will take a decision on the form of the clause following this review. Revised guidance will be published in due course.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the evidence of the practice of forced organ harvesting in China set out in the report published in June by David Kilgour, David Matas and Ethan Gutmann, and in the film The Bleeding Edge.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As the former Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) stated to the House of Commons on the 12 July 2016, we have raised concerns about reports of organ harvesting, as well as about the torture and mistreatment of detainees, during the annual UK-China human rights dialogue. We will do so again at the next round which is scheduled to take place in October. My officials most recently raised the issue with the Chinese authorities on 1 September 2016.

    The Kilgour/Matas/Gutmann report is an important source of information about China’s organ transplant system, which we take seriously, but we are unable to substantiate all the evidence presented in the report. We have not assessed any evidence from ‘the Bleeding Edge’, as we understand it to be a semi-fictional feature film.We encourage the Chinese authorities to provide more information about the sources of organs for transplant, and about the implementation of existing Chinese regulations in this area.

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many recorded incidents of fraud on contactless cards have been recorded since that technology became available.

    Simon Kirby

    The Government does not hold any data on the recorded incidents of fraud on contactless cards. Industry statistics received from Financial Fraud Action UK indicate that in the first half of 2016 there were £2.9 million losses attributed to fraud on contactless cards compared to a spend of £9.27 billion. According to the industry, fraud on contactless cards accounts for less than 1% of card fraud losses.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for a disability benefit appeal to reach a tribunal in Birmingham.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    HMCTS is unable to provide the information requested as it is not held centrally.

    Information about the timeliness of SSCS appeals is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report (for the period April to June 2015, published on 10 September 2015) can be viewed at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015.

    “

  • Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects Orkambi to be appraised by NICE.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing technology appraisal guidance on the use of Orkambi (lumacaftor in combination with ivacaftor) for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in people who are homozygous for the F508del mutation. NICE’s anticipated publication date for this guidance is July 2016. Further information is available at:

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-tag530

  • Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jake Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many family-friendly tenancies have been taken up in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government does not hold this data.

    We are progressing longer tenancies by promoting a model tenancy with bodies representing landlords, tenants, letting agents, mortgage lenders, and local authorities. Recent figures in the English Housing Survey, Households 2013-14 show that tenancy lengths in the private rented sector have increased to an average of 3.5 years.

  • Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people of working age with mental health problems have been assisted into work through his Department’s work programme in each of the last two years.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available.