Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what mitigating actions they propose to take with regards to the new contract for doctors in training in the light of the equality analysis undertaken under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 showing that certain features of that contract will have an adverse impact on those who work part-time, who are predominantly women.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The contract published on 31 March is a huge step forward for achieving fairness for all trainee doctors. For the first time junior doctors will be paid and rewarded solely on the basis of their own hard work and achievement and pay progression will be linked to level of training rather than arbitrarily to time served.

    All junior doctors should have the same terms and conditions – a level playing field – which is ultimately what employers and the British Medical Association (BMA) want and everyone deserves.

    When the Secretary of State published the Equality Analysis on the new contract for doctors and dentists in training in the NHS (“Doctors”) on the 31 March 2016 on the GOV.UK website he made it clear that, as a result of considering the Equality Analysis, in accordance with his duties and obligations, he had asked for a number of changes to the draft contract to address specific issues for certain groups with protected characteristics. This has been done and the contract has been duly amended. These changes included changes that benefited staff who work part time. The new contract is not discriminatory it ensures that all junior doctors receive equal pay for work of equal value. The BMA’s own lawyers have advised that nothing in the new contract is discriminatory. Nevertheless the equality duty is an ongoing duty and it is intended that monitoring will continue after the introduction of the new contract in accordance with the public sector equality duty in the Equality Act 2010.

    A copy of the Equality Analysis is attached.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the £40 million that was allocated to the Supertram scheme for Leeds that was cancelled in 2005 was spent.

    Claire Perry

    The Department of Transport did not provide any funding for the Leeds Supertram or Leeds New Generation Trolleybus schemes. Any expenditure committed so far is the responsibility of the promoters – West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Council.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects a decision to be taken on London City Airport’s planning application.

    Brandon Lewis

    The published target date for issuing the decision is on or before 28 September. My Department does of course attempt to reach planning decisions in advance of target dates when this is practical.

  • Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures are in place for her Department to monitor and deport former students of (a) the Cambridge College of Learning and (b) similar institutions which also closed before collection of sponsorship data of non-EU nationals began.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office continues to take action at every opportunity to prevent immigration abuse, pursue immigration offenders and increase compliance with immigration law including arresting and returning illegal migrants to their country of origin.

    Information on former overseas students of the Cambridge College of Learning is not aggregated in national reporting systems. This information could only be obtained by a manual case by case review to collate the data, which would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to communicate to local authorities and developers of onshore wind renewables projects the effect of the time taken to upgrade air defence radars at RRH Benbecula and RRH Buchan.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    In respect of the upgrade of the Air Defence radar at Remote Radar Head (RRH) Buchan, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is in contact with the developers who proposed the upgrade as mitigation for their wind farm proposal.

    At RRH Benbecula, the MOD is in contact with the Western Isles Council and developers via the Council’s Working Group. In addition, the MOD provided an Air Defence update at the Aviation Management Board meeting on 5 November 2015 at which Scottish Government, the wind industry and RenewableUK representatives were present.

    The MOD continues to undertake full technical and operational assessments of all site specific Air Defence radar mitigation proposals, including those to the upgraded TPS-77 radar systems at RRH Benbecula and RRH Buchan. It remains the responsibility of developers to submit site specific mitigation proposals. The MOD will determine whether the impact upon the radar is of a permissible level.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of why representatives of the cantons of Rojava were not invited to the recent conference of Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh, and whether they will call for their inclusion in any future meetings.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Kurds will play an important role in a political settlement for Syria. Members of all major communities of Syrian society participated in the Riyadh Opposition Conference. This included minorities such as the Kurds in the major political parties. Opposition representatives agreed to form a “High Negotiating Committee” to negotiate with the Syrian regime, under the auspices of the UN. The International Syria Support Group has agreed that protecting the rights of all Syrians regardless of ethnicity or religious domination is fundamental. The UK will continue to advocate this, as the political discussions continue.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Burundian counterparts on its government (a) halting violence involving its security forces, (b) engaging in dialogue with opponents and (c) accepting the presence of 5,000 African Union peacekeepers within its borders; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    The UK is playing a lead role in building a single, consistent international response to the crisis in Burundi. In mid-December, I visited Burundi and urged the Burundian Government in the strongest terms to take steps to end the violence that has gripped the country. I stressed that only an inclusive dialogue would foster the conditions for the people of Burundi to be able to live their lives in safety and security. On 5 January I wrote to the Minister of External Relations and International Cooperation, Alain Nyamitwe, urging him to do everything in his power to ensure that his government attends, without preconditions, the next round of the Inter Burundi Dialogue in Arusha. At the African Union Summit this week I will urge the Burundian Government to accept the deployment of troops being offered by the African Union to protect civilians, re-establish security and create the conditions on the ground for reconciliation to take place. I also regularly raise the issue of Burundi with Foreign Ministers and Envoys in the region, to encourage a regional response to the crisis.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when and where they will establish application procedures for the new funds they are providing to assist the education of the children of refugees and displaced people from Iraq and Syria.

    Baroness Verma

    At the Supporting Syria and the Region conference, the UK committed to more than double our total pledge to the Syria crisis to over £2.3 billion. Within this allocation, we committed to double education funding for Lebanon to £40 million per year and increase funding in Jordan to £20 million a year to support the conference goal of getting all refugee children from Syria and vulnerable children in host communities in quality education by the end of the 2016/17 school year. We also committed to increasing access to learning for the 2.1 million children out of school in Syria itself.

    Implementation plans to deliver the Conference goals on education are currently being discussed with partner governments, UN agencies, NGOs and donors. New UK funding will be aligned with these plans, and will be implemented through partners who can deliver increases in access to quality education, quickly, efficiently and at scale. Implementing partners will be identified selected in accordance with normal DFID procedures.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with (a) disability charities and other third sector groups, (b) disabled people, their families and informal carers and (c) organisations led by disabled people on his Department’s planned white paper on improving support for disabled people and people with health conditions.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The department regularly engages with disability charities and organisations, as well as disabled people and their families and carers, at both Ministerial and official level. We proactively seek stakeholder views on current health, care and employment services to understand what works and where improvements can be made through roundtables, focus groups and face-to-face meetings. These discussions inform and provide the opportunity to test our thinking as we being to develop proposals for the forthcoming White Paper, and we will continue to engage at all levels over the coming months.

  • Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws on 2016-04-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Bangladesh Law Commission’s proposed new law, now entitled Bangladesh Liberation War (Denial, Distortion, Opposition) Crime Law, and its implications for freedom of expression in that country.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The proposed new Bangladesh Liberation War (Denial, Distortion, Opposition) Crime Law is in the initial consultation phase. We will continue to watch the development of its provisions closely, raising as appropriate any concerns that might arise.