UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether local authorities will be required to seek specific permission from Ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government if they wish to provide an exemption from the anti-advocacy clause in a grant agreement.

    Matthew Hancock

    The new clause applies to all central government grants. We expect that exemptions will be rare and these will need to be approved by the relevant Minister.

  • Lord Sharkey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Sharkey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Sharkey on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will be the lead UK representative at the International Civil Aviation Organisation Assembly in Montreal between 27 September and 7 October.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The UK has not yet nominated its delegation for the 39th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization, but will do so in the coming months. In the past the UK’s Chief Delegate has been the Director General of Civil Aviation.

  • 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 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance he has given to NHS England – South (South East) on consulting local authorities on housing growth and other demographic change when planning future demand for GP services.

    Alistair Burt

    If there is a successful planning application for a new housing estate then NHS England or the delegated clinical commissioning group will consider the availability and accessibility of services from nearby general practitioners’ practices and if it is deemed insufficient or inadequate then the commissioner would go out to tender for a new service.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of (a) religious and (b) hate crime were reported to the police in London in each of the last five years.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office has collected information from police forces in England and Wales on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police since 2011/12. Data for religious hate crime and total crime measured across the five monitored strands (religion, race, sexual orientation, disability and transgender) are given in the attached table.

    Data for 2015/16 are due to be published in October 2016.

    As stated by the Office for National Statistics, action taken by police forces to improve their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard has led to improved recording of crime over recent years, especially for violence against the person offences. Together with a greater awareness of hate crime, and improved willingness of victims to come forward, this is likely to be a factor in the increase in hate crimes recorded by the police shown in the table.

    This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the sufficiency of accident and emergency capacity in East Lancashire.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    No such assessments have been made. The provision of accident and emergency (A&E) services at the Royal Blackburn Hospital is a matter for the local National Health Service. The NHS in East Lancashire has established an A&E delivery board to oversee system performance and the effective delivery of urgent and emergency care locally.

    Ministers consult weekly with NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission about A&E performance.

  • Kelly Tolhurst – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kelly Tolhurst – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelly Tolhurst on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on changing the police funding formula.

    Mike Penning

    Current police funding arrangements are complex, opaque and out of date. This reflects views put forward by PCCs, police forces and Committees of this House. It is essential that we come to a new funding formula that is fair, transparent and matched to demand – but also one that is supported by policing as a whole. However, we have listened to the views of policing partners and are minded to delay the proposed changes to the formula for 2016/17.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment has been made of people’s attitudes towards public bodies using and sharing their data with other parts of the public sector as part of digitally transformed public services; and what plans the Government has to build trust and assurance among people on the Government’s use of their data as part of those public services.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is committed to improving the way in which data is used and shared between public bodies for the benefit of the citizen, including the use of digital technology to transform public services in a way that is efficient, cost-effective and safe. The Government Digital Service will continue to support public bodies in making the most appropriate use of data and in ensuring that robust safeguards are in place to protect the privacy of individuals. We will continue to encourage public bodies to make non-sensitive administrative and aggregate data available as Open Data, as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency. We have also developed a draft ethical framework(which can be accessed at: https://data.blog.gov.uk/2015/12/08/data-science-ethics/) for how the Government uses data and we are embarking on a public dialogue which will understand and explore public opinion on the opportunities presented by data science

    “

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidelines are in place on the amount of time that should be taken to process reimbursement claims from UK citizens for health treatment in other European countries; and what data his Department holds on the average amount of time taken to process such claims.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The EU regulations do not provide set timescales for the processing of reimbursement claims. The DWP Overseas Healthcare Team work proactively with colleagues in the other EEA states to progress reimbursement claims on behalf of UK citizens. When all the appropriate information is received from the relevant EEA state, such claims are normally cleared for reimbursement within 10 days.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with small and medium-sized enterprises on the proposed change to the dividend tax.

    Mr David Gauke

    Treasury Ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available on Gov.uk.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 22 September 2015 to Question 10382, which festival sites have now been assessed for business rates; and to which of those sites business rates will apply.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has been reviewing the rating of festival sites for business rates. Due to taxpayer confidentiality, we are unable to provide the names of both the sites which have been assessed and, of these, which are now liable for business rates.