UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the proportion of people in the UK (a) who smoke and (b) from other EU member states who smoke.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department considers a range of published statistics relating to smoking prevalence in England. These are drawn together in the Health and Social Care Information Centre report Statistics on Smoking, England, which is available at the link below:

    http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB20781

    The Integrated Household Survey gives figures for the other United Kingdom countries and is available at the link below:

    http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_418136.pdf

    Information on smoking prevalence in European countries is available from the World Health Organization European Region Tobacco Control Database at the link below:

    http://data.euro.who.int/Tobacco/

    “

  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make additional funding available for battery and fuel cell research and development.

    Mr John Hayes

    The government allocated more than £600 million to support the uptake, development and manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles in the 2015 Spending Review. Our comprehensive package of support includes funding provision for research and development projects, and the scope of a new competition launched on 5 September 2016 includes battery and fuel cells.

    Further details are available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-competition-low-emission-vehicle-systems-idp13.

    The UK already provides one the most comprehensive support packages for ultra low emission vehicles anywhere in the world. We shall keep the funding requirements for the OLEV program under constant review.

    “

  • Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in the UK were victims of pension scams in (1) 2014, (2) 2015, and (3) 2016 to date.

    Lord Freud

    The Government takes the threat posed by scams very seriously and recognises that these can be complex and multifaceted, often spanning departmental and agency boundaries. It is for this reason that the Government established Project Bloom, a multi-department, multi-agency group of officials to help co-ordinate action to tackle scams, monitor trends and share intelligence on emerging threats. Members include the National Crime Agency, police forces, Pension Wise, regulators and key Government departments.

    Those scams which are reported, including Pension Liberation reports, are collected and collated by the National Fraud Reporting Centre (Action Fraud), within the City of London Police, which was established in 2013. However, the true extent of pension scams in the UK is unknown because many go un-reported.

    The data on the number of reported scams will include those which have been reported over the past three years by individuals, pension providers, the Pensions Regulator or other agencies but, on which, Action Fraud has not yet received any feedback from the investigating police force, for example, a report on whether suspects have been charged or summonsed. This delay is due to the complexity of pension fraud investigations which can take several years to investigate. Action Fraud would not know the outcome until the end of the court case. Frequently, numerous fraud reports will relate to a single suspect.

    The data on the number of reported scams also includes reports where organisations have taken action to prevent that fraud. Outcome feedback would only be received in respect of these reports if the Police became involved.

    We expect the number of charges and summons to increase as outcome feedback from investigating police forces for pre 2014 reports is received and collated. The available data is provided in the table below:

    Year

    No. of Action Fraud Reports

    Suspect charged / summonsed

    2014

    911

    1

    2015

    807

    6

    2016 (to date)

    290

    0

    Total:

    2,008

    7
  • Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking encourage the Prudential Regulation Authority to assist credit unions in expanding the services they offer to their members; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of credit unions. It has a general objective to promote the safety and soundness of the firms it regulates and a secondary objective to facilitate effective competition.

    The PRA is an independent non-governmental body and, although the Treasury sets the legal framework for all regulation, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the regulators. However, last year the Government asked the PRA to use the evidence gathered from the Government’s Call for Evidence on Credit Unions to inform their 2015 review of the Credit Union Sourcebook (CREDS).

    The PRA have confirmed that they have taken into account the feedback received by HM Treasury in response to the Call for Evidence when formulating suggested reforms to CREDS.

    The PRA’s reforms seek to establish a more risk-based and flexible framework for credit union regulation, which imposes higher expectations for more sophisticated activity. The PRA recognises the unique structure and important role credit unions play in their local communities and is proposing to reform the rules to better reflect their evolving but distinctive business model.

    The PRA are looking to adjust the regulation so that rules around investments, capital levels and reporting requirements will be determined by looking at the risk profile and business model of the credit union. Existing rigid restrictions will be removed, giving credit union boards more freedom to decide how their businesses are to be run.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what planning assumptions he has made of the Royal Navy’s frigate fleet size in each year from 2015 to 2040.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As explained in the White Paper National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161) we intend to maintain a fleet of 19 frigates and destroyers until the 2030s when the introduction of a new class of general purpose frigate will allow this size of the fleet to increase. The timetable for the general purpose frigate programme, and the number of ships we intend to buy, have yet to be determined and will be shaped by the Shipbuilding Strategy we will publish in 2016.

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will meet the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to discuss access to Welsh subtitling for learners and people with accessibility needs.

    Stephen Crabb

    I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, including on issues related to the Welsh language.

    Ofcom places a quota on S4C to subtitle 53% of its output. The Television Access Services report for the first six months of 2015 published on 22 October 2015 states that S4C provided subtitles on 78% of required programmes against its quota of 53%. The full report can be found here:

    http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/market-data/tv-sector-data/tv-access-services-reports/tv-access-services-2015

    The Ofcom code does not specify in which language the subtitles are provided and the number of programmes carrying subtitles in Welsh is a matter for S4C.

    “

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which prisons the 595 serious assaults on staff took place, set out in the Safety in Custody Summary Statistics, England and Wales, deaths to 12 months ending December 2015, assaults and self-harm to 12 months ending September 2015, published in January 2016.

    Andrew Selous

    Statistics for assaults on staff by prison are published on an annual basis by calendar year in the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin annual assaults tables (see table 3.15 at the link below). https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/495430/safety-in-custody-assaults-dec-2014.xls. Figures for 2015 are due for publication in April 2016.

    Statistics for serious assaults on staff by prison are due for release on in April 2016 as part of the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin annual assaults tables. This publication will include breakdowns of serious assaults on staff by prison in each calendar year.

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on replacement of Vector protected patrol vehicles.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Vector was finally removed from service in 2015 and is currently awaiting disposal. Protected mobility capability is currently provided by a range of vehicles from the existing core fleet, including former Urgent Operational Requirement platforms retained in service following their return from Afghanistan. In the longer term, the Multi Role Vehicle (Protected) series of platforms will provide a light to medium protected vehicle capability.

  • Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with her European counterparts on changes to the rules of the Dublin Regulation.

    James Brokenshire

    Home Office Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website:

    http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

    The Commission’s review of the Dublin Regulation started last autumn. The College of Commissioners set out its strategic vision of possible options to reform the Dublin Regulation on 6 April.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage car manufacturers to adopt green and hybrid technologies.

    Andrew Jones

    The UK offers one of the most comprehensive packages of support for ultra low emission vehicles in the world. This includes the plug-in car and van grants, support for infrastructure, investment in R&D, and the ground breaking government-industry communications campaign, ‘Go Ultra Low’.

    The government recently committed over £600m over the course of this parliament to support the take up and manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles, and has set itself the ambitious goal that by 2050 nearly all cars and vans should be zero emission.

    We are also active in the EU in pushing for ambitious regulation of the CO2 emissions of new cars, which will encourage the increasing deployment of new greener technologies.