Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on small and medium-sized businesses of the recent ruling of the European Court of Justice on time spent travelling to work.

    Nick Boles

    This Government wants to ensure that the Working Time Directive promotes long-term, sustainable growth and labour market flexibility, and does not impose significant burdens on business. The recent ruling of the European Court of Justice means that journeys made by workers without a fixed or habitual place of work between their homes and the first and last customer of the day constitute working time under the Working Time Directive.

    All employers, regardless of size, of workers without a fixed or habitual place of work need to ensure that this time is taken into account for the calculation of working hours. The ruling has no general consequences for pay.

  • Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible advantages and disadvantages of licensing bicyclists.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We consider that the costs of a formal testing and licensing system for cyclists would significantly outweigh the benefits cycling has to the country’s economy, health and environment. Evidence suggests that increased cycling could create significant savings for the NHS, less pollution and congestion, and a happier and healthier population. It is likely that a licensing system will discourage many existing and potential cyclists, leading to a dramatic fall in the numbers of people cycling.

    Around 80% of adult cyclists also hold driving licenses, meaning that the majority of cyclists on the road have already been tested on operating safely in different road and traffic conditions. Furthermore, the safety case for a testing/licensing system is not as strong as that for drivers since, by contrast with motorised vehicles, bicycles involved in collisions on the highway are highly unlikely to cause serious injury to other road users.

    Cyclists as well as all road users must obey the Highway Code, and the Government has provided funding for training schemes such as Bikeability which provides practical training and teaches the Highway Code to the next generation of cyclists. The Bikeability programme currently trains approximately 50% of primary schoolchildren in England and more than 1.5million children have received training since the programme’s inception.

    The recent Spending Review committed £300m to cycling investment between 2015-16 and 2020-21, this includes delivering in full the £114 million Cycle Ambition City scheme, with construction of segregated cycle lanes including 115 kilometres in Birmingham and 56 kilometres in Manchester.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 2.64 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how she plans to make £600 million savings from the Education Services Grant; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Savings of £600 million will be made by reducing the Education Services Grant (ESG), including phasing out the additional funding that goes to schools and local authorities. We will be making a small efficiency saving (around £80 million) from the ESG in 2016-17, and will be setting out our proposals for savings from 2017-18 in the New Year. This will include consulting on the details of the statutory duties that will be removed.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Dutch government ahead of the publication of the Programme of the Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    Reflecting the strength of the UK-Netherlands relationships, my Ministerial colleagues and I hold regular meetings with our Dutch counterparts to discuss a range of issues, including their current Presidency of the Council of the EU.

    I discussed their Presidency programme with Foreign Minister Bert Koenders and Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plassechaert during my visit to The Hague in November 2015, alongside a number of shared EU priorities.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24390, if he will list those clinical commissioning groups which had (a) planned and (b) actual overspends in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15 and (c) have such overspends in 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    Owing to the length of the data requested, quarterly information on Clinical Commissioning Spend, including planned and actual overspends, can be found here:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/publications/financial-performance-reports/

    “

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have been sentenced and imprisoned in the UK after having been returned to the UK under an European Arrest Warrant in the last five years.

    Dominic Raab

    This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on the operation of the European Arrest Warrant and these can be found here: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/european-arrest-warrant-statistics/wanted-by-the-uk-european-arrest-warrant-statistics/608-wanted-by-the-uk-european-arrest-warrant-statistics-2009-april-2015-1

    “

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.228 of Budget 2016, what the timetable is for the restructuring of the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise.

    Harriett Baldwin

    At Budget 2016, the government published its response to the Public Financial Guidance Review and launched a consultation seeking views on the government’s plans to restructure the statutory financial guidance providers – the Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise. This paper, which closes on 8 June 2016, sets out a new delivery model for public financial guidance and seeks views on how, within this model, the proposed services could best be offered. The new delivery model is designed to better complement the financial guidance provided by the third sector and the industry and provide more targeted support for consumers.

    The government will consider the responses to this consultation over the summer, and in parallel, work closely with the affected organisations to finalise the delivery structure. A detailed timetable will be set out with the final response, which will be published in the autumn. The government has been clear that the three affected organisations will continue to provide guidance to consumers until at least 2018.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has provided assistance to the Indonesian government on reforming discriminatory legislation against (a) religious minorities and (b) other minority groups.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have offered assistance and expertise to the Indonesian government on its Bill of Protection for Religious Communities. More broadly, our Ambassador in Jakarta has raised the issue of freedom of religion or belief with the Minister of Religious Affairs, Indonesian civil society, and religious leaders. Our Deputy Head of Mission in Jakarta has also raised these issues with the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many UK Government officials and from which departments attended the Bonn intersessional UN climate meeting in (a) May 2016, (b) October 2015 and (c) June 2015.

    Andrea Leadsom

    There were 25 Government officials in the UK delegation at Bonn in May 2016; 25 Government officials in the UK delegation at Bonn in October 2015 and 44 Government officials in the UK delegation at Bonn in June 2015. The UK delegation included officials from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and the Scottish Government at each of these sessions. Officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Met Office were present at the meeting in Bonn in June 2015.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Spanish counterparts on recent incursions by Spanish vessels into British Territorial Waters around Gibraltar.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) has made clear publicly that the UK will continue to protect and promote Gibraltar’s interests. This includes challenging and protesting against all incursions into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. The Foreign Secretary has also reaffirmed our sovereignty assurances to Gibraltar never to enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another State against their wishes, nor to enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.