Category: Speeches

  • Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what amount of child maintenance arrears accrued on the 1993 and 2003 schemes has been transferred to the 2012 scheme for collection in relation to 1 April 2015 (a) cases with a current CMS liability order and (b) cases with not current CMS liability order.

    Priti Patel

    Information on whether cases with transferred arrears have a current liability on CMS is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    Information on transferred arrears is set out on Page 14 of the 1993 and 2003 Child Maintenance Schemes – Client Fund Accounts 2014/15 which can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/485960/HC687_Client_fund_1993_tagged.pdf

    “

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.228 of Budget 2016, on what date he plans to close the Money Advice Service.

    Harriett Baldwin

    At Budget 2016, the government published its response to the Public Financial Guidance Review and launched a consultation seeking views on the government’s plans to restructure the statutory financial guidance providers – the Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise. This paper, which closes on 8 June 2016, sets out a new delivery model for public financial guidance and seeks views on how, within this model, the proposed services could best be offered. The new delivery model is designed to better complement the financial guidance provided by the third sector and the industry and provide more targeted support for consumers.

    The government will consider the responses to this consultation over the summer, and in parallel, work closely with the affected organisations to finalise the delivery structure. A detailed timetable will be set out with the final response, which will be published in the autumn. The government has been clear that the three affected organisations will continue to provide guidance to consumers until at least 2018.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on how many occasions his Department has (a) not granted and (b) suspended an arms export licence having concluded that there was a risk of breaches of international humanitarian law by the purchasing company in each of the last 10 years.

    Anna Soubry

    Criterion 2c of the Government’s export licensing Criteria states that the Government will not grant a licence if there is a “clear risk” that the items might be used in the commission of a “serious violation” of international humanitarian law (IHL). Criterion 2c has been in force since the adoption by the EU of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP on 8 December 2008.

    Since that time 256 Standard Individual Export Licence applications have been refused under Criterion 2 which covers human rights as well as international humanitarian law.

    Unfortunately it is not possible to determine which, if any, licences were refused specifically under C2c without examining the case file for each individual application and this could only be done at disproportionate cost.

    No extant export licences have been suspended under Criterion C2c.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the proportion of UK energy consumption which will be supplied from other countries in each of the next five years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not produce projections of the proportion of UK total energy consumption which will be supplied from other countries.

    However, the Oil and Gas Authority publishes projections of UK oil and gas import dependency (defined as net oil and gas imports as a percentage of UK oil and gas demand).1

    These projections for 2016-2021 are given in the following table.

    Year

    Oil and Gas Import dependency (%)

    2016

    43%

    2017

    44%

    2018

    44%

    2019

    45%

    2020

    46%

    2021

    50%

    [1] Oil and Gas Authority (February 2016), Production Projections https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/503852/OGA_production_projections_-_February_2016.pdf

    “

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 15 July 2014 to Question 205172, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the weather in June 2014 on the storage of records in Diego Garcia.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    Since June 2014, all historic flight records dating from before January 2014 were brought to London where they were digitised and remain in storage. Remaining records in Diego Garcia are now held in a different location.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of profit made from the NHS by companies that own both a pharmaceutical wholesaler and a large multiple pharmacy chain in their (a) wholesale business and (b) pharmacies in each of the last five years; and what the permitted profit margins are in both parts of those businesses.

    David Mowat

    The Department has not made such an estimate.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which regulations her Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations her Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate she has made of the cost of such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise.

  • Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2734, what changes to phosphate pollution levels in Hertfordshire’s chalk rivers have been recorded over the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    Overall, the phosphate levels in Hertfordshire’s rivers have remained stable over the past 12 months. Phosphate can remain present in river sediments for a number of years, and it can take five to 10 years to show any signs of ecological recovery following phosphate reductions.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are employed (a) full-time and (b) part-time in the Extremism Analysis Unit; and at which grade each such member of staff is employed.

    Karen Bradley

    The Extremism Analysis Unit (EAU) has been established with a remit to analyse extremism in this country, and abroad where it has a direct impact on the UK and/or UK interests. The EAU is a cross-government resource, with government departments able to commission research and analysis.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to make translarna available to boys who could benefit from it.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that provides guidance for the National Health Service on whether to fund selected drugs and treatments. NICE is currently evaluating Translarna (ataluren) for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy through its highly specialised technology programme. The publication date for NICE’s final guidance is to be confirmed.

    The NHS in England is legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE highly specialised technology guidance within three months of its final guidance being issued. In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.