UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of the UK’s energy was generated from renewable sources in the last 12 months.

    Amber Rudd

    In 2014, the latest full year for which data is available, 7 per cent of the UK’s energy came from renewable sources, and 19 per cent of the UK’s electricity. This is a 15 per cent increase from the level of electricity generated from renewable sources in 2010.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has investigated the airstrikes of 3 June 2015 in al-‘Eram and Sa’da, Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate incidents of concern at a press conference on 31 January. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that civilians have been targeted.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to implement the National Screening Committee’s recommendations on introducing (a) the Faecal Immunochemical Test into the bowel screening programme and (b) HPV as the primary test in the cervical screening programme.

    Jane Ellison

    Ministers have accepted the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation on replacing the guaiac Faecal Occult Blood test with the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Following the change to FIT we expect that around 200,000 more people per year will take up the opportunity to be screened as part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England. This has the potential to save hundreds more lives by detecting bowel cancer earlier. Public Health England is responsible for the leadership of the NHS Screening Programmes and will oversee the change to the programme in partnership with NHS England.

    Ministers are currently considering the UK NSC’s recommendation that human papillomavirus testing should replace the currently used cytology test as primary screening for cervical disease.

  • James Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    James Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the level of fees charged by Heathrow Airport to airlines in the event of a third runway being built at that airport.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme. The Government is not providing a running commentary on this work and nor would it be appropriate to outline specific pieces of evidence before an announcement on its preference. Any work to inform an announcement will be set out in subsequent publications and associated consultation.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what definition of underperforming local authorities, or other measures of performance her Department will use in a decision to convert a school to academy status.

    Edward Timpson

    We have been clear that we want to see all schools, over time, become academies. But our focus is on schools where standards need to be raised. So we will continue to convert all schools that are judged inadequate by Ofsted, and work with those that are coasting or otherwise underperforming to identify the support they need to improve. We expect that in some cases this support will be through conversion to become a sponsored academy. No new legislation is required for these purposes.

  • Derek Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Derek Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is giving to strengthening water, sanitation and hygiene services in countries affected by Ebola.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Prior to, during and following the Ebola outbreak, DFID has provided funding and technical assistance to increase access to water, sanitation services and hygiene education (WASH) in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Between 2012-2016, DFID has committed through our country programmes up to £71.3m for WASH programmes in Sierra Leone and £4.75m for Liberia. We have no bilateral programme in Guinea.

    During the Ebola outbreak our existing WASH programmes were adapted to help Sierra Leone and Liberia respond to the crisis. The above figure includes DFID assistance to improve water and sanitation facilities in schools and health facilities as part of our support to the post-Ebola recovery.

    The President of Sierra Leone has identified water as one of his top six priorities for the post Ebola recovery period. DFID has committed to support delivery of this agenda and we are working with them to define high quality programmes that will increase access to clean water.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement of 4 January 2016, The Government will directly build affordable homes, what the components are of the significant holding costs for the direct commissioning site at Connaught Barracks, Dover.

    Brandon Lewis

    The holding costs for the site relate to the entirety of the site and are consistent with the legal and health and safety obligations of the Homes and Communities Agency as land owner.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential cost to the NHS of introducing a national prostate cancer screening programme.

    Jane Ellison

    The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recently examined and consulted upon the international peer reviewed evidence regarding prostate cancer screening. The UK NSC recommended against a systematic population screening programme for prostate cancer. This is because the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is not an accurate enough test for prostate cancer. Additionally, the UK NSC identified that there is still an incomplete understanding of which prostate cancers are aggressive and require treatment and which are safe to actively monitor. There is a significant amount of research activity underway, but currently the evidence suggests that a systematic screening programme would do more harm than good.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Indonesian counterpart on freedom of access by journalists to West Papua.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We welcome the Indonesian government’s commitment to improving the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. President Joko Widodo has visited 3 times since his election, most recently spending New Year in Papua. During his visit in May 2015, he granted clemency to a number of prisoners and announced the lifting of travel restrictions for foreign journalists and international organizations. Since then, a number of foreign journalists have successfully visited and reported from Papua and West Papua. Our Ambassador in Jakarta last visited Papua in January. As well as raising these issues, he also discussed ways to ensure the sustainable and equitable development of the provinces with members of the police, and religious and community leaders.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Nick Gibb

    Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires. The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

    The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.