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Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to increase capacity at the Asylum and Immigration Chamber.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) is administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS). HMCTS have provided an additional 4,500 tribunal sitting days for this financial year compared to 2015/16. HMCTS keeps performance and resource levels under close review.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to provide better support for ex-servicemen and women and their families.

    Mark Lancaster

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 20 November 2015 to Questions 15830 and 15831.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations the National Crime Agency has launched into money laundering offences in each of the last three years; and how many of those investigations resulted (a) from a referral from the Financial Conduct Authority and (b) in a prosecution.

    Mike Penning

    The National Crime Agency (NCA) became operational on 7th October 2013. Since that date the NCA has launched over 80 investigations where money laundering has been identified as a threat. In addition, in some investigations money laundering may not be identified at the outset but instead becomes a focus later on in the course of the investigation.

    Between 7th October 2013 – 31st March 2015, NCA activity has led to 156 prosecutions for money laundering offences.

    The NCA receives its intelligence from multiple sources, including partner agencies, but does not routinely provide detailed information on its sources in order to protect its operations.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will meet with house builders to discuss increasing the provision of two-bedroom end bungalows in the housing market so that retirees can downsize from larger two-storey residential housing.

    Brandon Lewis

    I meet with housebuilders regularly and have had many meetings on the provision of older peoples’ housing. This Government is committed to provide older people with choice over the housing that best meets their needs.

    We have clear planning policy to support older peoples’ housing, and we strengthened guidance last year to reinforce our expectations – including to get local authorities to recognise the benefits of supporting applications to build homes for people wishing to downsize.

    We are clear that local councils and mainstream housing providers need to increase the quality, choice and provision of housing for older people. We hope this will enable many older people who wish to move to available properties that suit their needs to do so, while freeing up family sized homes.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) discussions he has had with and (b) representations he has received from (i) businesses, (ii) members of the public and (iii) other stakeholders on new double taxation treaties since 2010.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs officials receive representations from, and undertake discussions on an ongoing basis with a variety of stakeholders, including companies, representative bodies, other government departments and NGOs.

    These representations and discussions inform the programme of tax treaty negotiations that are approved by Ministers and published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/double-taxation-agreements-developments-and-planned-negotiations.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.144 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 and to paragraph 2.16 of the Budget 2016, for what reason only £12 million of the £15 million annual fund has been committed.

    Mr David Gauke

    As announced at Autumn Statement 2015, the Tampon Tax Fund is a £15 million annual fund to support women’s charities, equivalent to the amount of VAT raised on sanitary products. The Chancellor announced initial donations at Autumn Statement totalling £5m. Further grants totalling £12 million have been announced at this Budget.

    The Government has introduced legislation in the Finance Bill to enable the zero rate of VAT for women’s sanitary products.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason there was a shortage of the BCG vaccine in 2015; and what steps his Department is taking so that such shortages do not occur in the future.

    Jane Ellison

    The supply of United Kingdom licensed Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine continues to be subject to intermittent manufacturing problems, which have impacted deliveries of vaccine into the UK. This delay has resulted in the depletion of the UK buffer stock and impacted onward supply to the National Health Service in 2015. The NHS remains subject to periods of intermittent supply.

    This is in the context of a global shortage of BCG vaccine where Public Health England (PHE) and the Department are actively engaging alternative manufacturers of BCG vaccine to secure supply during this period of disruption as quickly as possible. PHE continues to provide prioritisation advice to healthcare professionals during the period of constrained supply.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the funding of Band 4 specialist study skills tutors will be a permissible use of the disabled student allowance under the Government’s proposed changes to that allowance.

    Joseph Johnson

    We do not hold information on the expenditure on individual types of non-medical help support that are available to disabled students through Disabled Students’ Allowances.

    The Government’s response to the consultation on reforms to Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs), published in December 2015, confirmed that from 2016/17 support roles from band 4 will continue to be primarily funded through DSAs, unless reasonable adjustments are in place that remove the need for such support.

    A full equality impact assessment on the proposed changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances was published in December 2015.

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

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many sightings of unidentified flying objects have been reported in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Defence does not maintain a central record of the number of unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings reported, following the closure of the UFO Desk in 2009.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving indefinite sentences in England are awaiting re-offending courses.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    On 11th October 2016 there were 215 indeterminate sentence prisoners on the referral list for the Healthy Sex Programme and 115 for the Extended Sexual Offending Treatment Programme in England and Wales. All other NOMS accredited offending behaviour programmes are managed locally, and data on waiting lists is not held centrally.