Category: Speeches

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18424, whether the Syrian-led negotiations under UN auspices have begun; what the status is of these talks; and which parties are involved in such talks.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    UN Security Council Resolution 2254 of 18 December has set out a timeline for the commencement of Syrian-led negotiations, for January 2016, under UN auspices, building on an agreement reached in the International Syria Support Group. The date for the commencement of negotiations will be proposed by the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. Representatives of all Syrian parties will be invited, with the exclusion of UN designated terrorist groups including Daesh and Al Qaeda affiliated groups.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax investigations by the HM Revenue and Customs Large Business Service resulted in no additional tax due at the time of their conclusion in each of the last three years; and for how long each such investigation lasted.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not publish this information. Since 2010, HMRC has brought in over £38 billion by effectively policing the tax rules as they apply to large businesses. This includes £7.3 billion from large businesses in 2014/15 alone.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children of service personnel are currently in mainstream education in England.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department does not publish data on numbers of service children currently receiving education.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2016 to Question 31790, what categories of information his Department holds on people that apply for employment and support allowance.

    Priti Patel

    No information other than overall volumes of claims and appeals are held centrally on applicants to Employment and Support Allowance.

    However the information we have in respect of the number of people in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance by main disabling condition is published and can be found at:

    https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

    Guidance for users can be found at:

    https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33699, what the duties of the board members of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be prior to the launch of that Institute in April 2017.

    Nick Boles

    The Institute for Apprenticeship’s Board will be appointed via a public appointments process later this year. In shadow form, the Board will be expected to oversee the finalisation of the organisation’s workplan and the transition to taking on the Institute’s statutory functions in April 2017. Further information about the roles and duties of the Board members will be provided when the public appointments process is complete.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

    Michael Fallon

    I have visited Scotland six times in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what change there has been in the number of incidents reported along the south coast from Plymouth to Selsey Bill in the last five years.

    Mr John Hayes

    The number of incidents reported along the south coast from Plymouth to Selsey Bill over the last five years is as follows:

    Year

    Total

    2011

    7,776

    2012

    7,427

    2013

    6,470

    2014

    7,624

    2015

    3,927

    Between September 2014 and December 2015, as part of Her Majesty’s Coastguard’s incremental transition of Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres into to its national network, its Incident Management System (IMS) was upgraded, centralised and improved. These new national network arrangements have removed the potential for incident duplication across the 18 individual IMSs and have led to more consistent classification of incidents.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking with local government to promote green infrastructure.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The government is committed to developing a 25 year plan to improve the environment and this will include the importance of green infrastructure as a key underpinning of both the economy and well being.

    The government is spending more than £600 million by 2020 to support the development, manufacture and uptake of electric ultra low emission vehicles in the UK. Part of this includes assisting local authorities by providing grant funding through the On Street Residential Scheme and Workplace Chargepoint Scheme to help meet the cost of installing electric vehicle chargepoints on streets in residential areas without access to off-street parking. Under the Go Ultra Low City Scheme the government is supporting a variety of infrastructure programmes for both public and domestic chargepoints across eight cities/regions of Bristol/West of England, London, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, York, Dundee, Oxford and the North East.

    The government has made £1.5 million available to communities to create ‘Pocket Parks’, turning unused spaces into sensory gardens, wildlife habitats and food growing areas. The government has also submitted written evidence to the Select Committee inquiry on the future of public parks and will respond to any recommendations made as a result of this inquiry in due course.

  • Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports about VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad, what discussions they have had in the last three months with (1) Amazon, and (2) eBay, about the extent of such tax evasion on their online marketplaces.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs is in regular contact with the largest businesses through its dedicated “Customer Relationship Manager” model.Details of discussions with individual taxpayers cannot be disclosed due to taxpayer confidentiality.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what preparations her Department has made for the increased level of aid required in Calais when winter sets in.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office is in regular discussions with French counterparts at ministerial and official level on all aspects of the migrant situation in Calais. The French Government is responsible for the care of migrants in Calais, including support over the winter. However, both governments are committed to finding a sustainable solution to the situation in Calais. One aspect of the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August, committed the UK to providing a £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help support a range of work to manage the migrant population in Calais, in particular to provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (€750,000) to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, to transfer them to places of safety; and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

    The UK and French Governments are unified in their response to the migratory phenomenon and both governments recognise the importance of close partnership and collaboration to reach a long-term solution. This is a global challenge, and we will also work together to ensure that other EU states, as well as source and transit countries outside Europe, are doing everything they ought to be to stop people making these dangerous journeys in the first place.