Category: Speeches

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that women refugees in Syria and Iraq have access to adequate sanitary protection; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The humanitarian crises in Syria and Iraq have placed many women and girls at risk of exploitation and insecurity. In both countries, DFID continues to work with the UN, NGOs and international community to ensure women’s rights are protected.

    The UK has pledged over £2.3 billion in response to the Syria crisis since 2011. Of this, DFID has provided £5 million to UNFPA inside Syria. As part of this assistance UNFPA distribute hygiene or “dignity” kits to preserve and promote the hygiene and dignity of displaced women and adolescent girls as well as men, and to allow their social integration while away from home. These include sanitary napkins, underwear, and a range of practical personal hygiene items. With UK support, UNFPA alone distributed 50,900 dignity kits inside Syria in 2015. UNFPA and other partners are also improving access to reproductive health services inside Syria.

    The UK has committed £79.5 million of humanitarian assistance to Iraq since summer 2014. This includes cash assistance for vulnerable displaced Iraqis, allowing them to prioritise what they need most. Through the UN- managed Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund, we fund a number of projects meeting the most urgent needs of displaced Iraqis including emergency healthcare, water and sanitation, and protection services for women and girls. Our partners consider gender related differences in needs in all DFID funded projects.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people are employed as specialists by the NHS to assist people with gambling addictions.

    Alistair Burt

    The Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust provides the only specialised national problem gambling clinic. However, specialised addiction services, which mainly deal with substance misuse, do tend to accept people with gambling problems referred to them. People can also access addiction services in primary care and secondary care, which may provide support for problem gambling.

    People may also access psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. Although problem gambling is not listed amongst the provisional diagnosis categories that IAPT treats, IAPT practitioners would be able to treat common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, which may be present in people with gambling addiction problems.

    Data is not collected centrally on the number of specialist National Health Service professionals which provide support and treatment for gambling addiction.

    Data is not collected on the funding of services to treat people with gambling problems. Funding to provide NHS mental health services is allocated to clinical commissioning groups which are best placed to commission local health services based on the needs of their local populations. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning local alcohol and drug treatment services which may also refer people to gambling support services where they identify people with gambling issues.

  • Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what aspects of the Hinckley Point project could not have been fully considered in advance of EDF agreeing to proceed with the contract.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The then DECC Secretary of State reviewed all aspects of the project in October 2015 and gave a minded to decision. The Government is now considering all component parts to make a final decision.

  • Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 12 October (HL Deb, col 1889), who has responsibility for (1) securing the answers to, and (2) restricting access to the information deriving from, Brighton and Hove Council’s questionnaires to (a) young teenagers, and (b) the parents of 4 to 6 year-old children, about those children’s self-perception of their sexual orientation.

    Lord Nash

    These questions refer to an answer given by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 12 October 2016, and also link to previous questions asked by Lord Macginnis, and answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford in April 2016.

    As Baroness Williams set out in her previous reply, the Department for Education provides guidance on the Equality Act 2010 to schools which contains advice on the Public Sector Equality Duty and on the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

    The Department is not responsible for the decision by Brighton and Hove Council to include gender identity information on the pupil registration form it issued in April 2016. The Council has the independence to make this decision. The Department has had no involvement and has not made any assessment of the questionnaire.

    The Department does not hold details of any additional information collected by local authorities outside of those required by the Department for our centrally specified, mandatory data collections. Brighton and Hove Council is responsible for securing answers and restricting access to information generated by any questionnaire it issues.

    The Department has not inquired into the gender identity of children in Brighton and Hove and has no correspondence on the matter.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that British veterans who develop cancer through exposure to asbestos are entitled to the same level of compensation as civilians.

    Mark Lancaster

    As the Prime Minister said during Prime Ministers’ Questions on 4 November 2015, the Ministry of Defence is looking into the matter.

    The Government has continuously made compensation available under the War Pensions Scheme for injuries, illness or disease caused by service before 6 April 2005, including mesothelioma. The War Pensions Scheme provides Veterans with mesothelioma with the maximum award paid on a weekly/monthly basis and additional supplementary allowances and, where appropriate, entitlement to dependent’s benefits.

    While there are currently no plans for separate compensation arrangements for veterans suffering with mesothelioma, consideration is being given to whether any flexibility can be provided for future claimants under the War Pensions Scheme. As this issue is a complex matter, officials have been undertaking a detailed review. I hope we will be able to present our conclusions soon.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 17682, what the cost per trainee is of the Eagle training scheme at (a) Force Development Training Centre (FDTC) Bavaria, (b) FDTC Grantown-on-Spey, (c) FDTC Danesford/Weston on the Green/Halton and (e) overseas Eagles; and what the location is of the overseas Eagles training.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The highest priority for UK based Force Development Training Centres (FDTC) is the delivery of Phase One and Phase Two formal training. The EAGLEs training scheme makes use of any irreducible spare capacity. Therefore, costs for EAGLEs training at UK based FDTCs cannot be separated out from overall training costs at those centres.

    For Financial Year 2015-16:

    EAGLEs training at FDTC Bavaria has a fixed cost per person estimated at £488.00.

    The current projection for the planned 600 places for overseas EAGLEs training is £587.00 per person.

    Overseas Eagles training is carried out in Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.

  • Eric Pickles – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Eric Pickles – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eric Pickles on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Iranian government on the effect on regional relations of the international competition for cartoons and caricatures on the Holocaust organised by the House of Cartoons, under the auspices of the municipality of Tehran.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Our officials in Tehran have raised our opposition to the proposed Holocaust cartoon competition with their counterparts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress he has made in reducing the rate of unemployment.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 26772, whether (a) legal costs and (b) compensatory payments resulting from investor state dispute settlement claims relating to the acts of local authorities would be passed onto those local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    If the UK were to lose a claim brought under the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism of a trade and investment treaty which relates to an act of a local authority, the Government would typically be responsible for legal costs incurred and compensatory payments awarded by the ISDS tribunal. However, the UK has a good record of creating the right environment for investors and treating them fairly – we have over 90 such agreements in place with other countries and there has never been a successful ISDS claim brought against the UK.

  • Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there was any prior consultation before the decision was taken to end the post transaction valuation check and PAYE health check currently provided by HMRC with effect from 31 March 2016 and, if not, why not.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been consulting representative bodies through the Valuation Fiscal Forum over the last 18 months.

    HMRC has not withdrawn valuation services that are most relevant to employee share ownership schemes.

    HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE as in most cases acceptable valuations were submitted, and therefore the service offered was not of sufficient value.