Category: Speeches

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will increase her Department’s expenditure on water and sanitation.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK has increased its bilateral spend on water and sanitation year on year since 2004, from £31.2million (2004/05) to £180.8million (2014/15).

    The Department for International Development does not allocate a set proportion of the aid budget to water and sanitation. The UK Aid strategy commits the UK to helping at least 60million people get access to water and sanitation by 2020. We will allocate the resources required to achieve this to the relevant programmes.

  • Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the number of unaccompanied child refugees in Calais who have family in the UK; and when that assessment was carried out.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The management of asylum claims and the protection of unaccompanied children in Calais is primarily a matter for the French authorities. A French non-government organisation, France Terre D’Asile (FDTA) has been charged with identifying isolated children with UK links. Both Governments are clear that unaccompanied children in Calais in need of protection should claim asylum in France. The UK will consider requests to take responsibility of an asylum application made in France, when lodged by a minor with close family connections in the UK, and both Governments are committed to ensuring such cases are prioritised. There has been intense cooperation between the UK and French authorities to improve the operation of the Dublin process. We have established a permanent official level contact group and we will shortly be seconding another UK expert to the French Interior Ministry. We have already made significant progress in speeding up the Dublin process. Since the beginning of the year over 120 children have been accepted for transfer from Europe under the family reunion provisions of Dublin, over 70 of whom were from France.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many civil servants working in his Department have opted out of the EU Working Time Directive.

    Mr Robin Walker

    As a new department we are currently in the process of migrating a large number of civil servants onto our HR systems from across government. As a result we do not hold this information.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) independent domestic violence advisers and (b) independent sexual violence advisers operating in the criminal justice system in each year since 2010-11.

    Karen Bradley

    The previous Government ring-fenced nearly £40 million – £10 million per year – of stable funding up until 2015 for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services, rape crisis centres, the national domestic violence helplines and stalking helpline. This funding has been extended until April 2016 and includes part-funding for 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs).

    The Home Office supports these roles through training and awareness-raising, including for the majority of IDVAs and ISVAs who are employed by local authorities and third sector organisations.

    We recognise the importance of specialist support services and are working with voluntary sector partners and local commissioners to assess coverage and need for these specialist advisers.

  • Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Baroness Jolly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial remuneration the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst has received from the training of foreign nationals in each year between 2005 and 2016.

    Earl Howe

    Defence has a long and proud tradition of training overseas military and civilian personnel at its training establishments throughout the UK and this is an essential ingredient of Defence Engagement. Training establishments such as Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) offer international students prestigious courses which remain highly prized. Courses currently undertaken by foreign nationals are the Commissioning Course, the Army Reserve Commissioning Course, the Professionally Qualified Officer Course and the International Trainer Development Course.

    These courses expose international partners to UK policy, and promote concepts of accountability, human rights and transparency. They are important in building skills which enable other countries to deal appropriately with their own internal problems, thereby contributing to regional security. The courses are paid for by a combination of self and UK funding. Information on the number of foreign nations in receipt of training at RMAS is provided in the attached table.

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to monitor air pollution levels outside schools.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK national monitoring network follows strict criteria for the number and location of air quality monitoring sites as set out in Annex III of the ambient air quality Directive.

    These do not preclude siting monitoring outside or nearby to schools and some existing monitors are near to schools. To ensure the network meets the Directive requirements, monitoring is undertaken at a range of locations (e.g. urban background, roadside, industrial and rural locations).

    Practical factors such as health and safety, access, locality to services, planning, land ownership and cost of monitoring sites are also key in siting new monitoring stations.

    Many Local Authorities also conduct air quality monitoring and are free to determine their chosen approach in assessing air pollution based on local circumstances and priorities. Local Authorities are able to use monitoring methods not available to the national network due to the Directive’s requirements.

    This means that they are able to design monitoring more suited to the local circumstance. However, when a new national monitoring site is required, Local Authorities will be consulted and where possible, existing sites may be shared or a new site located to meet both national and local needs. This may often mean consideration is given to siting at a local school or at a Local Authority or public building.

  • The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Leeds on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of a decision by the UK to leave the EU for those UK nationals resident in other EU member states.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    There are approximately 2 million UK citizens living, working and travelling in the other 27 Member States of the EU. They all currently enjoy a range of specific rights to live, to work and access to pensions, health care and public services that are only guaranteed because of EU law. There would be no requirement under EU law for these rights to be maintained if the UK left the EU. Should an agreement be reached to maintain these rights, the expectation must be that this would have to be reciprocated for EU citizens in the UK.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many care leavers aged 18 to 25 have had sanctions overturned or reduced on reconsideration or appeal in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested in respect of care leavers is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions NHS England has had with Health Education England, the Nursing Midwifery Council and the Royal College of Obstetricians on delivery of multi-disciplinary training for maternity services.

    Ben Gummer

    The report of the National Maternity Review: Better Births, published earlier this year, set out wide-ranging proposals designed to make care safer and give women greater control and more choices. Multi-professional education and training were among a number of recommendations that the report made.

    Health Education England (HEE) has established a Maternity Safety Steering Group (MSSG) which first met in December 2015. The MSSG has representatives from the Department of Health, NHS Litigation Authority, NHS England, Public Health England, the Royal Colleges, Institute of Health Visitors, Perinatal Institute for Maternal and Child Health and British Association of Perinatal Medicine. The group works in collaboration to consider what training programmes are available and used in trusts, and to identify appropriate training packages to cover all aspects of maternity safety.

    NHS England is working closely, and will continue to have regular discussions, with partners across the system to discuss multi-professional and multi-disciplinary training, including the Royal Colleges, HEE and the Department. These discussions include the implementation of the recommendations of the National Maternity Review report.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what change there was in the amount the EU Commission proposed to make available in structural funds to Northern Ireland for the period 2014 to 2020 from the period 2007 to 2013; what steps her Department took to limit such change; and if she will estimate the level of such funding that Northern Ireland will be allocated after 2020.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The UK’s 2014-20 allocation for Structural Funds was 5 per cent less than for the 2007-13 period. The Government therefore allocated the UK’s nations an equivalent 5 per cent less for 2014-20 than in the previous period. Northern Ireland’s allocation for 2014-20 is €513.4m.

    The post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework has not been proposed.