Category: Speeches

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 33531 and of 14 April 2016 to Question 33450, what further government activities are planned to promote the Government’s position on the EU Referendum prior to 23 June 2016.

    John Penrose

    The Government will comply fully with the statutory restrictions that will be in place from 27 May. The Government will continue to set out its position that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the new draft EU Resettlement Scheme to be made public; and what progress, if any, has been made in re-opening EU frontiers.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We understand the Commission are going to bring out a legislative proposal on resettlement with a Title V legal base shortly. We will consider the detail of the proposal once published.

    The Schengen States agreed on 12 May that certain Schengen internal border controls in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Norway can remain raised until November.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s press release of 13 August 2016, Chancellor Philip Hammond guarantees EU funding beyond date UK leaves the EU, how the future allocation of European Regional Development Fund funding will be assessed.

    Mr David Gauke

    The European Regional Development Fund is one of a number of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs). The relevant information on ESIFs can be found in my letter of 12 August to the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. This letter is attached and can be found on the Gov.uk website, alongside the Treasury press notice.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter of 20 September 2016 from the hon. Member for Christchurch on the involvement of his Department with the consultation document and questionnaire on possible Dorset local government reorganisation.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    A reply was sent to my hon Friend on 20 October.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of supply teacher recruitment in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    Schools, academies and local authorities (LAs) are responsible for the recruitment and management of their supply teachers. This allows them to manage their resources and staffing structures in a way that meets local needs and priorities without central prescription from government.

    Information published from the School Workforce Census does not identify supply teachers specifically.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans for the Dementia Research Institute to conduct research into Parkinson’s dementia.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Prime Minister announced up to £150 million for the UK’s first Dementia Research Institute on 24 November. The institute will cover the full spectrum of discovery science into age-related neurodegenerative diseases that progress to dementia, including Parkinson’s Disease.

    Development of the Dementia Research Institute will be led by the Medical Research Council (MRC). In 2016 the MRC will open a competitive process to identify a host for the institute and lead the search for its director.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 9 December 2015 (HL4410), whether any other Commonwealth countries prohibit the public observance of any religion other than Islam; and what discussions they have held with the Commonwealth authorities over freedom of religion.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Further to my previous answer there are no other Commonwealth countries where the public observance of any religion other than Islam is prohibited. We continue to believe that all Commonwealth members should abide by the Commonwealth Charter which emphasises the need to promote tolerance, respect, understanding, moderation and religious freedom as critical steps in promoting peace and prosperity.

    At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in November 2015, Heads reaffirmed the importance of human rights. They recognised that freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of religion or belief are cornerstones of democratic societies, and important for the enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to development, and are fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. They also emphasised the need to protect individuals from all forms of violence and discrimination.

    We will continue to raise individual cases and highlight practices and laws that discriminate against people on the basis of their religion or belief with those countries concerned. We will also continue to encourage Commonwealth partners to embrace the values set out in the Commonwealth Charter, including the freedom of religion or belief. We also look forward to discussing freedom of religion and other issues with the new Commonwealth Secretary General when she takes up office in April.

  • Liam Fox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Liam Fox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many deployments are family postings.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Overseas tours for military personnel can be broadly grouped into three categories: operational deployments, exercises and longer-term postings.

    Operational deployment roles are high readiness deployments anywhere in the world where there is an operational requirement and are not family accompanied. UK military personnel are currently performing these roles in parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the South Atlantic Islands.

    The standard tour length for operational deployments can vary greatly depending on the circumstances but is likely to be six months, with some Service personnel serving up to 12 months or longer.

    Large-scale exercises are conducted in Belize, Canada and Kenya to provide training for UK military operations. There are a small number of permanent UK military staff posted in each location, and these roles are family accompanied. UK military personnel sent to these locations on exercise are not accompanied by their families.

    Permanent or longer-term posted roles or assignments can be family accompanied. Permanent overseas postings which can be family accompanied include Bahrain, Qatar, the USA, Gibraltar, the South Atlantic Islands, the Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas and the United Nations Operation TOSCA, Singapore and European countries. Around 4,600 of these posts are family-accompanied.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 15 of the interim report of the Accelerated Access Review, published October 2014, what recent discussions he has had on the implementation of new models of pricing and reimbursing drugs; when he anticipates implementing such models; what discussions he has had with (a) his Department’s officials and (b) external organisations on the applicability of such models to drugs targeting the genetically validated target PCSK9; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include drugs that target genetically validated targets such as PCSK9 and BCL2.

  • Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 March (HL6926), on what date the Department of Health was informed that NHS England was going to introduce a sugar tax in NHS premises by 2020.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We have a range of conversations about key issues at Ministerial and official level with NHS England. NHS England is independent and the decision on a sugar levy on the National Health Service estate is a matter for them operationally. We are interested to see the results of their consultation on a sugar levy.

    The announcement of a soft drinks industry levy by the Chancellor in the Budget is the first step in our comprehensive Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, and gives companies strong incentives to reformulate their products.