Category: Speeches

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance is provided to jobcentre advisers on imposing sanctions on benefit claimants with diabetes.

    Damian Hinds

    There is no specific guidance available to Jobcentre Plus staff on imposing sanctions on benefit claimants with diabetes. There is guidance available to Jobcentre Plus staff on the application of sanctions imposed by a Decision Maker if a claimant fails to fulfil all of their responsibilities as a claimant.

    When Decision Makers make their decisions they do so using guidance for decision makers taking into account all the claimants individual circumstances including health conditions. These circumstances determine whether or not a claimant should be sanctioned.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the potential merits of making available on the NHS radioactive dye to diagnose cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no discussions with the Royal Colleges on this matter.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the effect of potential reforms of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the Good Friday Agreement; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Government was elected in May with a clear mandate to implement its manifesto commitment to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights.

    We believe that it is entirely possible to do that in ways that are consistent with the Belfast Agreement.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which builders have been contracted to build new homes at the direct commissioning site at (a) Daedelus Waterfront, (b) Lower Grayling Well, (c) Connaught Barracks, (d) Northstowe and (e) Old Oak Common.

    Brandon Lewis

    These will be detailed commercial arrangements that will be established through a competitive procurement process. Existing public procurement processes will apply.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to (a) raise awareness and (b) prevent the prevalence of prostate cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) ran a local pilot campaign from 20 October to 16 November 2014, specifically targeting prostate cancer within Black African-Caribbean men, because of their significantly increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The campaign was delivered in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK and was designed to support their awareness raising activity.

    The campaign ran in six London boroughs – Hackney, Haringey, Newham, Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham – and was delivered mainly through face to face activity, supported by posters in key outdoor locations and in salons and a programme of targeted public relations.

    The campaign was delivered in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK and was designed to support their awareness raising activity.

    PHE will shortly be re-running the national campaign on “Blood in Pee”. Although primarily aimed at bladder and kidney cancer, blood in the urine can also be a sign of prostate cancer.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Israel on the international delegation of Bishops which was recently refused access to the Cremisan Valley by Israeli security forces during a visit to the construction site of the Separation Barrier.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have raised the issue of the separation barrier through the Cremisan Valley with the Israeli authorities repeatedly, most recently on 1 September 2015.

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26471, whether the UK cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme plans to assess the potential link between oil and gas activities and related seismic testing and the movement of sperm whales to North Sea waters.

    George Eustice

    The UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme is currently working with experts from Germany and The Netherlands to carry out an assessment of all the potential factors, natural and/or human-induced, that may have contributed to the recent sperm whale strandings.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken through the UN to promote the human rights situation in (a) China and (b) Saudi Arabia.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    In respect of China, the UK made a national statement on 15 March under Item 4 of the UN Human Rights Council about the human rights situation there. We highlighted our concerns about the application of due process and transparency of justice, as well as the importance of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong. We also supported the EU’s Item 4 statement on China the same day. On 10 March, we signed up to a cross-regional Item 2 statement delivered at the Human Rights Council, alongside eleven other countries, on China’s deteriorating human rights record. In respect of Saudi Arabia, the British Government’s position on human rights is a matter of public record. We regularly make our views well known including through the UN Universal Periodic Review process and we supported the EU’s Item 4 statement on Saudi Arabia on 15 March at the UN Human Rights Council, which noted a range of human rights concerns. We will continue to raise our human rights concerns with the Saudi Arabian authorities at the highest level.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to publish a specific strategy for policy-influencing work relating to violence against women and girls and monitoring of that work.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK’s international policy relating to violence against women and girls is set out in the UK’s Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016 – 2020. In her position as Ministerial Champion for tackling VAWG Overseas my colleague Baroness Verma will have a key role to play in international influencing to deliver this policy agenda. We do not intend to publish a policy influencing strategy.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to re-examine the potential merits of establishing a materials catapult for manufacturing.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government recognises the importance of manufacturing to the UK economy and we have continued to invest significant funding through the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. This has led to the launch of two new programmes designed to offer additional cutting edge equipment and expertise and extend the Catapult’s services to more manufacturing sectors; and to enable UK SMEs to become more productive and to win more business. We have also provided funding for the Catapult to establish two new centres in the North East – the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre at Darlington and the National Formulation Centre at NETPark in Sedgefield.

    Innovate UK manages development of the Catapult network on behalf of Government.

    It has rigorously considered the potential merits of establishing a Materials Catapult for Manufacturing and has concluded that there is no robust case to establish a Materials Catapult at this time. This decision has been confirmed within the last month and my Department does not intend to re-examine this assessment.