Category: Speeches

  • 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 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Freud on 15 September (HL1460, HL1461 and HL1462), what assessment they have made of (1) the proportion of addresses held by the Department for Work and Pensions that are incorrect, and (2) the number of people who will not have received a letter informing them of the change in their state pension age.

    Lord Freud

    This information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect 16 and 17 year olds from child sexual exploitation.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

    Significant progress has been made since the launch of the “Tackling CSE” report in March 2015. We have delivered the vast majority of a £7 million funding programme to support non statutory organisations that have experienced a surge in demand on their services. This funding is to support the victims and survivors of sexual abuse, including children of all ages.

    Furthermore, £1.6 million has been provided over four years (April 2012 – March 2016) for 13 Young People’s Advocates providing direct and dedicated support to young people who have been victims, or are at risk of, sexual and domestic violence and/or sexual exploitation. Funding of £1.72 million per year has also been committed to part fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers posts until March 2016.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money has been spent on flood defences in each year from 2010.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The amount of capital investment on flood defences in each year from 2010 is shown below:

    Financial year

    Capital investment on flood defence excluding the exceptional funding provided as a result of the 2013/14 floods (£m)

    Exceptional funding provided as a result of the 2013/14 floods (£m)

    2010/11

    364.9

    2011/12

    260.7

    2012/13

    269.1

    2013/14

    295.3

    25.0

    2014/15

    353.3

    125.0
  • 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 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the importance of the (a) Merchant Navy and (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary to the security of the UK.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence together with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office and the Department for Transport, published the UK National Strategy for Maritime Security (NSMS) in May 2014. This cross-Government paper encompasses all aspects of the UK’s maritime domain, including the Merchant Navy whose cooperation, as part of the Red Ensign Group, is important to maintaining our national security and prosperity.

    The Royal Fleet Auxiliary plays a key role in maritime security either by directly supporting Royal Navy ships on operations or, occasionally, conducting operations in their own right. Her Majesty’s Government places great importance on all maritime capabilities, with the NSMS setting out the whole-of-Government approach required to secure the seas and oceans that Britain depends on.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received on the timescale for the completion of the area review process in further education.

    Nick Boles

    Government will produce an evaluation of the area review programme and its potential to impact on groups protected by the Equality Act 2010. The reviews do not however, mandate action, and colleges are independent corporations, so it will be for each college’s governing body to assess the potential impact on groups protected by the Act, as part of its decision to accept or reject any recommendation requiring a change to their provision.

    Each area review steering group will consider relevant data relating to current courses delivered within their area, assess the relevance of these courses to local learner and employer needs and determine how current and future demand can be best met through the recommendations of the area review.

    Individual area reviews are expected to take about four months, the timescale being dependent on the number of colleges and complexity of the local issues involved in each area. The overall review process has been divided into five waves of area reviews and is scheduled to be completed by March 2017

    We expect the costs of completing an area review to be met within existing budgets, with minimal additional costs to the colleges, local authorities or LEPs involved. The Departments and their agencies will undertake this work with no additional staffing. Additional costs will be minimal.

    The costs arising from the recommendations of each review will be explored as part of the process. We expect the colleges, alongside local authorities and LEPs with devolved skills budgets, to consider how these costs can be met locally. Where there are costs that cannot be met, but which are essential to the successful implementation of the review, we have announced a facility for transitional funding to support this. We will provide more detail in due course.

  • Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the potential size of any gap in adult social care funding in 2020.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The latest Spending Review sets out a sustainable basis for local authorities to discharge their functions. The Government outlined a £3.5 billion package of support to ensure councils are able to support some of their older and most vulnerable residents.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who owns the RMS St Helena, and what financial support they have provided to operate the service between Cape Town and St Helena over the last three years.

    Baroness Verma

    The RMS St Helena is owned by St Helena Line, which is itself wholly owned by the St Helena Government. Her Majesty’s Government provided £3,199,382 of support to operate the service in 2013/14; £2,272,726 in 2014/15; and £619,751in 2015/16.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase recruitment of teachers of priority subjects in secondary schools.

    Nick Gibb

    Teaching is a hugely popular career with more teachers in schools than ever before and record levels of top graduates entering the profession. To support recruitment in 2016/17 we have increased postgraduate bursaries, which put a premium on degree class, to attract top graduates in priority subjects such as physics, mathematics and modern foreign languages. Prestigious scholarships, worth £30,000 for physics and £25,000 for mathematics, chemistry or computing, are also available to talented graduates with a first or 2:1 degree who are passionate about their subject and have the potential to be inspirational teachers. We are also continuing to fund Teach First and their mission to get the best graduates into challenging schools.

    In addition, we are spending £67 million on a programme of measures to improve the knowledge of the existing mathematics and physics teaching workforce, and increase the number of new mathematics and physics specialists who enter the profession through initial teacher training every year. This package aims to recruit up to 2,500 new teachers and train up to 15,000 existing teachers over the next five years. It also includes programmes to encourage the brightest A level students and undergraduates into teaching; salaried part-time and abridged courses for career changers; a salaried route for post-doctoral mathematics and physics researchers; and support for qualified teachers wishing to return to the profession.

    Our marketing campaign, Your Future | Their Future, includes targeted subject specific advertising through a range of media. Those who wish to teach secondary priority subjects are eligible for our enhanced Premier Plus service, which provides support from a dedicated adviser to guide them through the application process. Those applicants who would benefit can also access funded courses to boost or refresh their subject knowledge to a level that will allow them to teach the subject. Officials from the Department also attend more than 35 graduate recruitment events each year.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what dates the Regional School Commissioners Strategy Forum has met.

    Edward Timpson

    The minutes and agendas of the Regional School Commissioners (RSC) Strategy Forum are for internal use and are not published.

    The RSCs meet monthly for the RSC Strategy Forum. The dates on which these meetings have taken place are as follows:

    RSC Strategy forum dates

    16/09/2014

    14/10/2014

    11/11/2014

    16/12/2014

    06/01/2015

    10/02/2015

    10/03/2015

    02/04/2015

    21/04/2015

    14/05/2015

    23/06/2015

    14/07/2015

    18/08/2015

    09/09/2015

    06/10/2015

    11/11/2015

    09/12/2015

    13/01/2016

    10/02/2016

    09/03/2016

    06/04/2016

    04/05/2016

    08/06/2016

    06/07/2016
  • 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 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2016 to Question 40016, on unmanned air vehicles, if he will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum of understanding between his Department, the Home Office, the Civil Aviation Authority and the police.

    Mr John Hayes

    A copy of the memorandum of understanding will be placed in the House library.