Category: Speeches

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 16355, how his Department monitors the situation of detainees in Sri Lanka held under its Prevention of Terrorism Act 1978.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The British High Commission in Colombo is in regular contact with government officials, Tamil National Alliance MPs, and civil society representatives about the situation of detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. We also work on this issue with other diplomatic missions, the EU and UN bodies.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many responses to the Government’s consultation on devolving Sunday trading rules were opposed to any relaxation of Sunday trading rules.

    Anna Soubry

    The consultation was about a specific proposal to devolve a power to extend trading hours on Sunday to local areas. The consultation did not ask respondents whether they supported or were opposed to a general relaxation of Sunday trading rules. The Department does not, therefore, hold information on this issue.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25277, when he expects the memorandum of understanding to be agreed.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office, Civil Aviation Authority and the Police are currently engaged in discussions regarding the memorandum of understanding, a final document will be agreed and signed by all parties shortly.

  • Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the budget apportioned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is sufficient for the development of the knowledge, understanding and policy sophistication required in respect of the Islamic world.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is devoting considerable resource to strengthening the organisation’s expertise and skills, including geographical, language and other relevant expertise, such as understanding the Islamic world. The opening of the FCO’s Diplomatic Academy last year has given new impetus and structure to this work. There is a growing range of formal and informal learning in London and throughout the FCO network, including better sharing of knowledge internally and increased access to external expertise. We put time and effort into understanding political trends globally including the “Islamic” element of political Islam. Our online Foundation Level course includes a basic religious literacy module. Our diplomatic missions report regularly on trends in political Islam and our research analyst cadre provide in-depth expertise, analysis and links to academics and think tanks. The FCO’s Human Rights and Democracy Department run training courses on religion and foreign policy which serve as a practitioner level religion/foreign policy module for the Diplomatic Academy. We also offer training on contemporary Islam and its role within politics and society in various regional contexts.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National pupil projections statistics release, published on 22 July 2015, how many people were defined as (a) migrants and (b) children of migrants from (i) other EU member states and (ii) non-EU member states in the principal population projection in each year between 2015 and 2024.

    Nick Gibb

    The national pupil projections are only produced for the whole of England and do not break down projected pupil numbers by local education authority or region. They are derived from the 2012-based national population projections for England produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)[1] who used assumptions which were considered to best reflect demographic patterns at that time.

    The ONS uses assumptions on the levels of future fertility, net migration and life expectancy in the production of their population projections. They use central assumptions for the principal projections and alternative high and low assumptions to produce variant projections.

    New national pupil projections, based on the ONS’s mid-2014 national population projections[2], are scheduled to be published on 14 July 2016. The timing and content of National Statistics releases are a matter for the Head of Profession for statistics. The month of publication was pre-announced in 2015 and the specific date of publication was pre-announced on 26 February 2016.

    [1] Mid-2012 ONS national population projections available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2013-11-06

    [2] Mid-2014 ONS national population projections available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2015-10-29

    “

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what advice her Department provides to people living in Approved Premises who have (a) an addiction, (b) a mental health condition and (c) other health conditions.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Offenders required to reside in Approved Premises are entitled to the same health provision as ordinary members of the public.

    Approved Premises staff are not medically qualified and so cannot give clinical advice. They do have a general duty of care and Approved Premises staff are trained in identifying and working with people with addictions or mental health problems. All residents are obliged to be registered with a GP, and many Approved Premises have arranged provision such as on-site GP attendance and run healthy living programmes.

  • Baroness Eaton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Eaton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Eaton on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation in the recent report from the charity Sense, Realising Aspirations for All, to break the link between welfare benefits and access to employment by making support voluntary and available to all disabled people, regardless of the benefits they claim.

    Lord Freud

    We welcome the Sense report, Realising Aspirations for All and its findings. We want all disabled and people with a long term health condition to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations.

    We will soon publish a Green Paper on work and health and conduct a consultation to understand how every individual can have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will continue to engage with Sense and other key stakeholders as part of the Green Paper consultation.

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

    Lord Higgins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Higgins on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the effect on air pollution of the construction and use of bicycle lanes, particularly in London.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Department for Transport has not completed any estimates specifically on the effect of construction and use of bicycle lanes on air pollution. But we recognise that encouraging car users to switch to alternative, more sustainable, forms of transport like cycling can generally have both health and carbon reduction benefits as well as improving local air quality.

    When we appraise cycle schemes for funding, we apply WebTAG unit A5-1. This appraisal looks at outcomes only and does not consider impacts during the construction phase of a scheme. Where a scheme includes shifts away from mechanised modes and changes in congestion levels, we use marginal external costs, including air pollution. This is done at an individual scheme level and reported in the appraisal of each case; therefore no holistic study has been undertaken. This appraisal does not take account of potentially complex changes to motorists behaviour (such as speed and route choice) resulting from the introduction of cycle lanes.

    Transport for London state that during the construction phase some localised short-term slight impacts on local air quality can be expected from the use of plant and vehicles. However, contractors are required to minimise dust and emissions to air and comply with the Greater London Authority and London Councils’ Control of Dust and Emissions from Construction and Demolition Best Practice Guidance.

    Transport for London undertake air quality modelling to ascertain the impacts during operation. Schemes such as the East-West Cycle Superhighway show that the likely impact of the introduction of cycle lanes and changes to the road layout on air quality ranges from adverse to beneficial. The study shows that changes in traffic will redistribute emissions across the study area but will not increase overall emission levels.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for the future of the homelessness prevention grant.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Decisions around locally funded services will be set out in the provisional Local Government Settlement, which we intend to announce before recess.

  • Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what contingency planning the Civil Service is undertaking to prepare for the possibility of a leave vote in the forthcoming referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the United Kingdom – so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.