Category: Speeches

Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 9 July 2015 (HL Deb, col 243), what action the City of London Police and Action Fraud have taken to enforce the ticket touting controls set out in the Consumer Rights Act 2015; and what action is being taken in cases where the law is being broken.

Lord Keen of Elie

The City of London Police is working closely with the Society of Ticketing Agents and Retailers and is actively part of a number of initiatives they are taking to raise standards within the ticketing industry. They are also engaging directly with organisers of major ticketing events in an attempt to stop ticketing touts obtaining tickets on a large scale and proactively search for new websites set up to sell tickets which are in high demand. The City of London Police is also actively engaged with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in their review of secondary ticketing platforms.

All ticketing fraud reports received through Action Fraud, where viable lines of enquiry can be identified and links between cases can be seen, are disseminated by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau to the local police force for investigation.

01/01/2023
Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to endorse the (a) commitment on explosive weapons at the World Humanitarian Summit and (b) other core commitments on protecting civilians in armed conflict.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK is working through the 32 Core Commitments proposed by the World Humanitarian Summit and will make a decision shortly on which we can align with.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England have long-term medical conditions.

Jane Ellison

It is estimated that over 15 million people in England live with at least one long term medical condition.

No estimate has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of people with long term conditions not taking their prescribed medication.

01/01/2023

Lord Colwyn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average cost to the public purse of providing a foundation training place for a dental graduate.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Information on the average cost to Health Education England (HEE) of providing Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) education and Dental Foundation Training (DFT) can be found in the tables A, B and C below.

Table A

Cost to HEE of BDS education

BDS	Average tariff	Fee Contribution	Maintenance	Total
Year 1	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 2	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 3	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 4	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 5	£32,600	£9,000	£3,000	£44,600
Total	£163,000	£9,000	£3,000	£175,000

Notes:

Average Tariff is the placement fee to cover the placement.
Fee contribution is the tuition fee payable in year 5.
Maintenance is the Bursary cost.
These figures represent the best estimate of average cost to HEE, there may be other costs to the public purse, for example to provide student loans that are not included in these estimates.

Table B

Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in secondary care

Placement support	£50,900
Salary/Maintenance	£34,100
Total	£85,000

Notes:

1. Training Placement Support cost is the cost of the dental practice providing training & facilities.

2. Trainee Salary/Maintenance cost is the contribution to the trainee salary and associated costs.

Table C

Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in primary care

Dental foundation training salary	£31,044
Dental foundation trainer grant	£9,324
Service costs	£64,164
Total	£104,532

Notes:

1. Training salary is the reimbursement of the salary paid to the dental trainee.

2. Trainer grant is the sum that represents the time spent in supervising a trainee.

3. Service costs is a sum that represents the service costs of employing a trainee.

01/01/2023

Lord Rennard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reported concerns about (1) the use of ordinary pencils for ballot papers as opposed to pens or pencils with indelible ink, and (2) ballot papers being changed, during the EU referendum ballot; and whether they are planning to ensure that polling stations are provided with special ballot pens or pencils using indelible ink.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

The Government has noted the Electoral Commission’s comments on this issue in its report on the EU Referendum. The rules governing the conduct of the referendum, which were based on the legislation in place for UK Parliamentary elections, did not specify the type of writing implement that electors must use to complete their ballot paper and voters were able to use the pencil provided or mark their ballot paper with a pen if they preferred. There were also specific safeguards in place to protect the integrity of the ballot.

We are not aware of any cases of ballot papers being changed at the referendum.

01/01/2023
Peter Dowd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, why school and academy sixth forms have not been included in recommendations arising out of reviews of post-16 education and training; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Boles

Area reviews of post-16 education and training institutions are predominantly focused on general further education and sixth form colleges in order to ensure that there are high quality, financially resilient colleges across the country. Schools with sixth forms can opt in to a review, if they wish to do so, and if they have the agreement of the review’s local steering group.

Each review will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current post-16 provision in the area which will include the offer made by schools with sixth forms. Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities will sit on local area review steering groups. These groups will identify issues with school sixth form provision, including provision by academy sixth forms, free school sixth forms, and University Technical Colleges, and feed these issues into the reviews. We expect Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities to take account of the analysis from area reviews in any decisions they make about future provision.

The reviews are aimed at delivering a skills system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity. Early evidence from the pilot reviews indicates that there is also potential for the reviews to secure efficiency savings.

01/01/2023
Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Michael Fallon

On nine occasions.

01/01/2023
John Howell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Howell on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority on reports of senior official Jibril Rajoub praising terror attacks against Israelis.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We absolutely condemn the glorification of terrorism and all incitement to commit violence, whichever side it comes from, and we will seek to raise this specific issue with the Palestinian Authority in the near future. Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, urging them to use their influence to de-escalate the tensions. We regularly raise incitement with the Palestinian Authority, and have urged key figures to encourage calm and condemn violence. We continue to support the reinstatement of the Tripartite Committee as the appropriate channel to deal with allegations of incitement from either side.

01/01/2023
John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the names of the successful bidders to become trusted partner pilots for the purposes of universal credit alternative payment arrangements.

Priti Patel

The intention is to deliver 26 Trusted Partner pilot sites. In total we received just over 200 valid applications; 16 landlords have already commenced the pilot and work is in train to confirm the final 10.

We plan to let key stakeholders know once all landlords have been confirmed.

Tenants in accommodation such as supported or sheltered housing are not subject to the Alternative Payment Arrangement process.

01/01/2023
David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps are being taken to encourage youth engagement in (a) national and (b) local elections.

John Penrose

The Government is committed to maximising electoral registration to help ensure that everyone who is eligible to vote in polls is able to do so. The introduction of online voter registration has made it easier, simpler and faster to register to vote. Since its launch in June 2014, 3.6 million people aged 16-24 have applied to register to vote, with 2.6 million applications online.

The Government has worked with youth organisations such NUS and UK Youth to deliver activities to engage people in the democratic process.

In addition, The Government has previously funded the British Youth Council to deliver Youth Voice activities including the UK Youth Parliament and the associated ‘Make Your Mark’ ballot.

The ballot led to nearly a million young people, aged 11 to 18, voting in this UK wide ballot; a record turnout. This decided the issues debated at UK Youth Parliament, including mental health, a living wage and tackling religious discrimination.

The Government has committed to support the Youth Parliament and associated activities for the remainder of the Parliament until 2020.

01/01/2023