Category: Speeches

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy that consumers who wish to switch energy providers only have to make contact with the new provider.

    Jesse Norman

    The process for switching supplier is set out in industry codes, in the formulation of which the Government has no role. The Energy Switching Guarantee was launched in June this year and can be reached via https://www.energyswitchguarantee.com/. This makes switching energy supplier easier for consumers and guarantees that it will be done within 21 days. The guarantee also ensures that the new supplier will handle the whole transfer process for the consumer.

    “

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on the implementation of the family test throughout the Government.

    Priti Patel

    Officials from different Government Departments have had discussions with a view to aid the implementation of The Family Test across Government. Activity resulting from these discussions has included holding a series of seminars with key stakeholders and officials to raise awareness of the issues to consider when applying the Test and developing and disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

  • Lord Shipley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Shipley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Shipley on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the net change in the number of homes in the UK between May 2015 and May 2020.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    My Department does not publish forecasts of net additions.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the implications for his policies of the Oxford Research Group’s recent report entitled, The Hostile use of Drones by Non-State Actors against British Targets; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    A cross government working group is maintaining a detailed analysis of the security threats posed by drones. This work includes an assessment of the risks of the use of drones for terrorism and criminal purposes. Further work is now proceeding to capture and evaluate potential mitigation measures and strategies. Initial guidance on tackling the risks has been provided to constabularies across the UK.

    The findings of the report align well with the ongoing work of this group. While the government recognises that this emerging technology creates exciting opportunities for the UK economy, the risks for security and safety and its response to them will be kept under constant review.

  • Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Carbon Airports Commission calculated that air fares would need to rise in order to comply with the capped model, and what estimate they have made of the increase in air passenger duty that would be necessary to achieve that increase.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Airports Commission included an estimate of the impact of air fares in the carbon capped case in Chapter 4 of their interim report, copies of which are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

    There are no such estimates alongside the updated forecasts in their final report, nor is there consideration of the interaction between carbon prices and air passenger duty.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his policy is on the future scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the hon Member to my Written Ministerial Statement of 1 March 2016 [Hansard reference HCWS566]

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to repeal any existing statutory animal welfare codes.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government intends to retain all existing statutory animal welfare codes and is working with interested parties to ensure our guidance continues to help farmers comply with our high welfare standards.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK has released all the information it has in its possession relating to the death of Dag Hammarskjold to the Independent Panel of Experts.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The vast majority of UK material relevant to the death of Dag Hammarskjold has already been released to The National Archives at Kew, where it is accessible to the public. In response to a request from the UN Independent Panel established in 2015 to examine the value of new information related to the death of former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) coordinated a search across all relevant UK Government departments. None of these departments identified any pertinent material. In addition, the FCO also reviewed again a small number of file extracts that had previously been withheld. The review concluded that, although these file extracts did not contain any substantive information likely to be of interest to the Panel, they should continue to be withheld under Section 3(4) of the UK Public Records Act, for security-related reasons. The FCO wrote to the Panel, assuring it that the redactions consist of short individual pieces of text and that the FCO had not retained whole documents or files. Our assessment continues to be that all the information of value to the Panel has already been released to The National Archives and that release of the redacted material would not provide anything of additional value for the Panel’s work.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2015 on the proportion of blood cancer patients that understood the explanation given to them at diagnosis; and if he will take steps to increase support for such patients at the point of diagnosis.

    Jane Ellison

    It is important that people with cancer have the best possible experience throughout their cancer pathway and are treated with dignity and respect.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes – A Strategy for England 2015-2020 in July 2015, and identified a key priority of establishing patient experience as being on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety. In May 2016 the National Cancer Transformation Board published Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the Strategy Forward outlining the detailed steps being taken to make this a reality.

    In September 2015, the Government announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016 NHS England published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively.

    In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015. The guideline includes new recommendations for haematological cancers. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold. Following publication of the updated guideline, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has worked in collaboration with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) on a programme of regional update events for GPs to promote the new guideline. RCGP and CRUK have also worked to develop three summary referral guidelines for GPs to enable them to adopt the guideline. These are available at:

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/learning-and-development-tools/nice-cancer-referral-guidelines

    “

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what humanitarian aid they are providing to injured and displaced persons in North Korea following the recent flooding in that country.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK supports organisations such as the UN through core contributions. UN agencies are delivering humanitarian assistance to people affected.