Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the treatment of Muslims and Christians in India.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I discussed religious minority rights in India with the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, V K Singh, on 5 November. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) also discussed this issue with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the UK on 12-14 November. Mr Modi assured him that his government remained committed to diversity, and to protecting the fundamental freedoms of all India’s citizens. During their joint press conference, Prime Minister Modi was clear that he upheld the Gandhian traditions of diversity and that he would not accept any signs of intolerance.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of recipients of NHS bursaries in each of the last five years; how much has been so allocated; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    Information on the number of students who were in receipt of a bursary and the total cost of all bursaries made in each of the last five complete financial years is shown in the following table.

    Financial Year 1

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Number of NHS Bursary recipients2

    107,966

    100,906

    102,186

    102,791

    100,097

    Total expenditure (£000)3

    521,456

    509,422

    482,219

    452,134

    430,349

    Source: NHS Business Services Authority

    Notes:

    1Covers the period 1 April to 31 March

    2The figures relate to the number of students paid any bursary element in the period. As such figures exclude nil award holders (European Union) fees only students and students whose award was fully abated by means-testing. 3Covers all bursary award elements.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure parity between funding for physical health and mental health research following the 2014 Research Excellence Framework conducted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is allocated funding from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) Science and Research budget to distribute to higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. Most of HEFCE’s funding is allocated as an unhypothecated research block grant to institutions, ensuring university leaders have flexibility to support their own research priorities. While this block grant is calculated using research quality and volume information from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) at a subject level, it is a matter for individual HEIs to determine how it is ultimately distributed to particular activities/subjects.

    In developing the REF, the attribution of different disciplines to particular units of assessment was agreed with the relevant professional bodies. Research relevant to clinical mental health was assessed in a unit including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As this unit included a mix of research with higher costs (clinical psychology and psychiatry, and neuroscience) and lower costs (social psychology), the funding was allocated at an intermediate cost rate, reflecting the mix of disciplines.

    REF2014 demonstrated significantly improved research quality in all disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As a result, the funding allocated on the basis of performance to this group increased by 16.5 per cent.

    As announced in the Spending Review 2015, the Government is taking forward a review of the REF to ensure that future university research funding is allocated efficiently, offers greater rewards for excellent research and reduces the administrative burden on institutions. This review will be led by Lord Stern, and he is expected to deliver his review to the Government in summer 2016.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what evidence from independent bodies he has seen that Saudi Arabia is complying with international humanitarian law in the Yemen conflict.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Ministry of Defence monitors incidents of alleged International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations using available information which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. At this stage, looking at all the information available to us, we have not assessed that there has been a breach of IHL by the coalition, but continue to monitor the situation closely, seeking further information where appropriate. We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL to the Saudi Arabian government and other members of the military Coalition. Most recently I raised the issue of IHL compliance on 4 February with the Saudi Arabian Ambassador in London

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent changes the Government has made to the Basic Payment Scheme claims process; and what assessment the Government has made of the effect of those changes on the performance of that scheme.

    George Eustice

    The new Common Agricultural Policy has widely been acknowledged as being more complex and the Rural Payments Agency has had to implement new systems and processes. In the first year of the Basic Payment Scheme, as of 23 February, 70,880 farmers, just over 81% of all eligible claims, have received their 2015 payments, bringing the total paid out for the scheme to £1.11 billion.

    The Rural Payments Agency has already indicated that for 2016 there will be an online Basic Payment Scheme application process supported by online land and entitlement transfers. There will also be a paper application form for those that need it. The agency will work with farmers and agents to support them to submit their applications by the deadline of midnight on Monday 16 May.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what powers he has to intervene with under-performing housing associations.

    Brandon Lewis

    If the Housing Association is in England and registered with the Homes and Community Agency (HCA), they would have to ensure that they meet the regulatory Standards. However, the Secretary of State has no statutory power to intervene with under-performing Housing Associations.

    If the Social Housing Regulator finds that a registered provider has failed to comply with the Standards, it has enforcement powers to ensure compliance with the standards.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding has been awarded to the UK from the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme for the period 2014 to 2020; what action grants have been so awarded; and to which Departments and under what headings any such funding has been awarded.

    Dominic Raab

    The information requested which relates to projects which have secured funding can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/grants1/closed-calls/index_en.htm. Funding is provided to projects themselves as opposed to countries or government departments; projects may list UK based bodies as an applicant or as a partner in the project.

    “

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the US State Department on changes to the US visa waiver programme affecting people who have visited Iraq since 2011.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    While US immigration processes are a matter for the US authorities, we have raised with the US administration the importance of clearly communicating changes to their immigration policy. We remain in close contact with the US Embassy in order to avoid inconvenience to British nationals travelling to the US.

    The Secretary of State for Home Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) raised migration issues with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in Washington on 17 February.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many regular armed forces personnel have been involved in recruiting since the commencement of the Capita contract for recruitment; and what the cost to the public purse has been of that involvement.

    Mike Penning

    Information on the number of regular Armed Forces personnel involved in recruiting since the commencement of the Capita contract for recruitment and the cost to the public purse is in the table below. It should be noted that the Capita contract only covers recruitment to the Army.

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Manpower

    1,621

    849

    849

    Cost

    £62,923,193

    £39,643,712

    £38,651,408
  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans for 3D heart imaging to identify blocked arteries to be available on the NHS.

    Jane Ellison

    Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which provides three dimensional imaging, is currently available within the National Health Service in England.