Category: Speeches

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many settlement visas granted on appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) have been issued by UK Visas and Immigration (a) within one month, (b) between one to three months, (c) between three to six months, (d) between six to 12 months and (e) more than 12 months after that tribunal’s judgement in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    The information is not readily available or held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with officials of (a) NATO and (b) the EU on the recent ballistic missile launched by North Korea.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), strongly condemned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s satellite launch of 7 February, which used ballistic missile technology in clear violation of a number of UN Security Council Resolutions.

    The Government continues to work closely with partners in NATO and the EU to ensure significant and substantive measures are agreed in response to the DPRK’s repeated provocations. In addition, we continue to work with international partners to ensure existing Resolutions are implemented effectively.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses commenced training in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The following table shows the number of pre-registration nurses who commenced training each year since 2010. The 2015/16 actual data is not yet available; the figure given is for planned.

    Nursing

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Actual

    20,092

    17,741

    17,219

    17,568

    19,147

    20,033

    Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Commissioners have been appointed to run local authority children’s services since January 2015.

    Lord Nash

    Commissioners are appointed where Ofsted find persistent or systemic failure by a council to deliver children’s services to an acceptable quality.

    Persistent failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate more than once within a five year period. Systemic failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate across the board on all key Ofsted judgements.

    Commissioners are appointed to direct the improvement of children’s social care services; the Council’s leadership and management of them; and, increasingly, to review whether these services should be removed from council control in order to secure more rapid and sustainable improvement.

    Since January 2015 the Secretary of State has appointed five Children’s Services Commissioners.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he intends to answer the letter to him dated 23 March 2016 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regards to Mr C Costigan.

    Jane Ellison

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health responded to the Rt. hon. Member’s letter of 23 March 2016 on 22 April 2016.

  • 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 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing regulations on drones; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government’s primary responsibility is the safety and security of our citizens. That is why we apply one of the highest regulatory safety standards for commercial aviation in the world.

    There are existing regulations in place that require users of drones to maintain direct, unaided visual contact with their vehicle and to not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property. Guidance on tackling the risks of criminal drone use has been provided to constabularies across the UK.

    The Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) work with a wide range of industry partners across the aviation sector, (including manufacturers, airports, and airlines), to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircraft remains up-to-date and mitigations effective. Further work is underway to better understand the risk posed by flying drones close to commercial planes to ensure that regulations remain fit for purpose.

    Awareness and education on current restrictions are vitally important. The Civil Aviation Authority is undertaking activities to raise awareness of the basic safety requirements, including an ongoing ‘Dronecode’ safety awareness campaign, issuing safety leaflets at the point of sale, publishing an animated video on their website, and running ‘small UAS’ Risk and Hazard workshops with industry as part of the Mid Air Collision Programme.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to identify businesses that engage in labour exploitation.

    Margot James

    The Immigration Act 2016 creates a new Director of Labour Market Enforcement. They will be responsible for overseeing and setting priorities for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, National Minimum Wage enforcement and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority. This will strengthen efforts to identify businesses that engage in labour exploitation.

    To enable more effective enforcement, we are creating:

    • A new intelligence hub so that enforcement is targeted at areas of risk; and
    • A new regime of Labour Market Enforcement undertakings and orders, backed up by a criminal offence and custodial sentence, to allow us to tackle repeat labour market offenders and rogue businesses.

    We have already reformed the Gangmasters Licensing Authority into the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority with the ability to tackle labour exploitation.

  • Kwasi Kwarteng – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kwasi Kwarteng – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kwasi Kwarteng on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding the Government plans to provide for research on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma brain tumours.

    George Freeman

    The usual practice of the Department’s National Institute for Health Research and of the Medical Research Council is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. Both funders welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma and other brain tumours. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on bonuses for regular Army personnel who have been transferred to the staff and personnel support branch in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    Since 2010 the numbers of trained regular officers and soldiers transferring to the Adjutant General’s Corps Staff and Personnel Support Branch, AGC(SPS), each calendar year are as follows:

    2010 – 130

    2011 – 160

    2012 – 50

    2013 – 40

    2014 – 60

    2015 to 31 October – 150

    Where there is a shortage of key personnel, the Army offers a transfer bonus which is payable to soldiers upon successful completion of the transfer into the specified trade.

    From 2010 to 2013, transfer bonus payments of £1,500 each were made to 73 soldiers who transferred into the AGC(SPS) as Military Clerks or Combat Human Resource Specialists. No payments were made from 2014 onwards. The amount spent each calendar year since 2010 is as follows:

    2010 – £52,500

    2011 – £51,000

    2012 – £3,000

    2013 – £3,000

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy that employees in (a) his Department, (b) National Offender Management Service and (c) all relevant contractors are paid the living wage as determined by the Living Wage Foundation.

    Mike Penning

    In line with the Government’s commitment given in the budget, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will continue to ensure staff are paid at or above the National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour which will be introduced in April 2016. The MoJ’s third party suppliers are responsible for determining the pay of their employees and from April 2016 they will be legally obliged to conform to the National Living Wage.