Category: Speeches

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that ancillary services, including black start, are available to the national grid following the removal of coal-fired power stations from the system; and who will be responsible for providing those services.

    Andrea Leadsom

    National Grid ancillary services, including Black Start, are procured from generators that have the capability to meet the service requirements. National Grid assesses the suitability of different technologies from a Black Start perspective on an ongoing basis and any generator technology can be considered as a Black Start provider.

    As we drive forward our decarbonisation strategy, DECC is working with National Grid to ensure that the Black Start strategy remains resilient and cost effective. Part of this work includes National Grid assessing which new technologies may be suitable for Black Start in the future and engaging these providers to understand the feasibility of achieving this.

    National Grid is also investigating alternative approaches to the Black Start strategy and is taking forward the recommendations of two independent consultant reports commissioned in 2015. Both reports are available on the Energy Networks Associations’ website via the Smarter Networks Portal.

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  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Principles for maintaining continuity of care when moving across borders within the United Kingdom, published in March 2015, whether an adult with a care package who needs to raise a cross-border moving issue should raise that issue with the local authority they are leaving or the one they are moving to.

    Alistair Burt

    The “Principles for maintaining continuity of care when moving across borders within the United Kingdom” provide a framework for local authorities to support adults with care and support who move between countries in the United Kingdom without having their care interrupted.

    Adhering to the principles should reduce the potential for disagreement, however, where disagreements do arise, the Department and the Devolved Administrations would expect the parties to act reasonably and to make full efforts to resolve the dispute between themselves through constructive dialogue, cooperation and communication, including the timely sharing of information, and focussing on the well-being of the adult. The timely and effective resolution of disputes is in the interest of all parties, not least, the adult in question.

    It is not possible to be definitive about which authority a cross-border continuity of care matter should be pursued with because it will depend on the facts and the nature of the issue. The adult may wish to approach their own local authority in the first instance. However where an issue raised with an authority falls within the remit of the other, the principle that the authorities should work together and share information should apply.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the replenishment target of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is met at the Pledging Conference in Montreal on 16 September.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    My Right Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for International Development, announced an investment of £1.1billion in the Global Fund, including a commitment to double private sector contributions for tackling malaria, up to a maximum of £200million, and £90 million tied to successful delivery against a performance agreement.

    The UK’s investment will fund 40 million bednets to tackle malaria; provide enough lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy for 1.3 million people with HIV; and support the treatment of 800,000 people with tuberculosis.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what dates in the last 24 months the government of the Republic of Ireland attended in any capacity meetings held under section 1 of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.

    Lord Dunlop

    The Government has held regular meetings with the Irish Government over the last two years in accordance with the established three-stranded approach.

  • Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on jobs in Dundee of the policies outlined in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

    Greg Hands

    The government has made no assessment of the effect on jobs in Dundee as result of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015. A number of economic policies which affect jobs are devolved to the Scottish Government.

    The government has set out its commitment to have the highest employment rate in the G7 and the Autumn Statement set out further measures to support people into work, including extending Jobcentre Plus support to 1.3 million additional claimants on Universal Credit by 2020, and a real terms increase in funding to support people with disabilities and health conditions find, and remain in, work.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to issue a new Memorandum of Understanding under section 2(2) of the Justice and Security Act on the remit of the Intelligence and Security Committee in the current Parliament.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Ms West) on 21 January 2016, UIN 22720.

    By long-standing convention under successive Governments the Law Officers’ advice is not published. The legal basis for the airstrike against Reyaad Khan is set out in the Government’s Memorandum to the Joint Committee on Human Rights.

    The Government’s legal position in relation to UK airstrikes against Daesh in Syria is reflected in my response to the Foreign Affairs Committee Report on the extension of offensive British military operations to Syria.

    The current Memorandum of Understanding together with the Justice and Security Act 2013 provides the necessary scope for the ISC to conduct robust oversight of those matters that are within its statutory remit.

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  • Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Carbon Airports Commission calculated that air fares would need to rise in order to comply with the capped model, and what estimate they have made of the increase in air passenger duty that would be necessary to achieve that increase.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Airports Commission included an estimate of the impact of air fares in the carbon capped case in Chapter 4 of their interim report, copies of which are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

    There are no such estimates alongside the updated forecasts in their final report, nor is there consideration of the interaction between carbon prices and air passenger duty.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what expenses were claimed by members of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information.

    Matthew Hancock

    The total expenditure of the Commission will be published in due course.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the fact that donations to the Jewish National Fund are tax deductible, and that one of its primary activities has been the creation of forests over disputed Palestinian land, what action they are taking to rescind the charitable status of organisations that are for the benefit of one group at the expense of another.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Jewish National Fund is not a charity. The Jewish National Fund Charitable Trust is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales having exclusively charitable purposes. Under s34 of the Charities Act 2011, the Commission must remove a charity from the register if it no longer considers the organisation to be a charity or if it has ceased to exist or does not operate. None of these criteria apply to this charity. Any concern regarding the charitable status of an organisation is a matter for the Commission.

    Taxation is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs who do not comment on individual cases.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the health benefits and risks of male circumcision.

    George Freeman

    The Department has not conducted or commissioned any specific research on the health effects of male circumcision.