Category: Speeches

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government undertook of consumer needs before announcing its plan to introduce a 10Mbps universal broadband speed.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Prime Minister’s excellent announcement to give people a legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live through a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO)followed reports of consumers’ broadband needs from a range of sources, including Ofcom’s annual infrastructure reports.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what system of monitoring is in place to ensure that local authorities meet their duty to commission open access, confidential services for sexually transmitted infections and contraception.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s Framework for Sexual Health Promotion in England (2013) sets out our ambitions and objectives to improve sexual health for all people. It takes account of the commissioning arrangements from 2013 including the new role for local authorities (LAs) as commissioners of most sexual health services. Later this month Public Health England (PHE) will undertake a survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health. It has also produced sexual health and reproductive health profiles to help LAs and others monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their populations and the performance of local public health related systems.

    It is for LAs to decide on what research and evidence they need to inform their tenders for sexual health and reproductive health services in line with procurement requirements and good practice. In 2014 PHE published Making it Work, a guide to commissioning for sexual health across the whole system, to improve the sexual health of both individuals and the wider public.

    We have made no formal assessment of the effect on sexual health services of reductions in the Public Health Grant to LAs for 2015/16, although PHE continues to monitor relevant outcomes data for every LA in England. Decisions on local public health spending are a matter for LAs. They are mandated by legislation to commission open access sexual health services that meet the needs of their local population. Officials meet regularly with sexual health organisations who would raise any concerns if LAs were not meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services.

    The Framework for Sexual Health Improvement includes as a priority reducing unwanted pregnancies and highlights the need to increase access to long acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods and emergency contraception for women of all ages. We have no plans to evaluate the effect on general practitioner surgeries of LA commissioning of LARCs.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he raised the alleged breaches of international humanitarian law outlined in the final report of the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen with the Saudi Arabian government during his recent visit to Rome.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We regularly raise the importance of compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) with the Saudi government and other members of the military coalition. I raised the issue of IHL compliance on my recent trip to Rome where I had a bilateral meeting with my Saudi Arabian counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir. The Saudis have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate such incidents on 31 January.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what projects her Department sponsors in Kashmir; and how much her Department spent in Kashmir since May 2010.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Kashmir benefits from national programmes in Pakistan and India to promote economic growth and improve education and health services across each country.

    DFID does not routinely measure total expenditure directed to sub-national geographies outside our focal states or provinces. We focus our work on the states of India and provinces of Pakistan where we can have the largest impact and where the need is greatest. Currently, these areas do not include Kashmir.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure charities in receipt of public funds do not express a view on the forthcoming European Union Referendum.

    John Penrose

    The rules on campaigning at the referendum are set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. There is no general restriction on institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds expressing a corporate opinion on the European Union Referendum. However, there are restrictions on organisations whose expenses are met wholly or mainly from public funds publishing certain material relating to the referendum in the final 28 days.

    As the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission published guidance for charities on 7 March 2016 regarding the forthcoming EU referendum. This clearly sets out the threshold necessary to justify any charitable activity on this specific issue.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate of real world diesel emissions for Euro 6 vehicles, relative to the laboratory test limit, was used in the evidential basis supporting her Department’s conclusion that eight air quality zones would not comply with Nitrogen Dioxide limits by 2020 if no action is taken.

    Rory Stewart

    The modelling used for the air quality plan was based on the best available data and uses the latest COPERT (Computer Programme to Calculate Emissions from Road Transport) (4v11) factors to calculate emissions from diesel cars.

    These COPERT factors reflect that there is a difference between laboratory testing of vehicle emissions and real world emissions. They assume Euro 6 diesel cars are, on average, emitting 2.8 times the level of emissions allowed for the Euro 6 standard.

    In May, the Government will present the results of its vehicle testing programme (www.gov.uk/government/publications/vehicle-emissions-testing-programme-conclusions) to European Research for Mobile Emission Sources (ERMES), the body responsible for collating vehicle emission data, to inform its updated emissions factors later this year. This will ensure that EU-wide emission factors continue to focus on the latest data updated on the basis of real world testing.

  • 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 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many special needs schools offer (a) before-school care, (b) after-school care and (c) both before and after-school care in England; and what proportion of special needs schools each of those numbers represents.

    Edward Timpson

    This data was collected for the first time in the January 2016 school census. Later this year we will update the school performance tables and plan to publish alongside them information about all schools’ childcare provision including breakfast clubs. This will include information on all state funded and non-maintained special schools.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will estimate the proportion of Countryside Stewardship schemes that will be signed-off before the Autumn Statement.

    George Eustice

    The application deadline for Countryside Stewardship multi-annual agreements is 30 September. Natural England will be looking to make offers to all successful applicants before the Autumn Statement.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the NHS England moratorium on the commissioning of new specialised mental health services imposed in 2013 has been lifted; and if he will make a statement.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS England is reviewing the provision of specialised beds for adult secure mental health services, tier 4 child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and perinatal mental health services. NHS England is expected to start a procurement process soon to ensure that the provision of mental health beds across the country supports improved access and care close to home where possible.

    Since 2013 NHS England has continued to commission additional specialised mental health beds to provide further capacity in areas where it is required. This has included 56 tier 4 CAMHS beds, seven perinatal mental health beds and two medium secure mental health services beds.

    The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health made recommendations for improving the commissioning of inpatient specialised mental health services, including national commissioners working more closely with local commissioners to better meet the needs of local populations.

  • David Lammy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Lammy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will process as a matter of urgency the asylum applications of the 114 Syrian refugees currently being held at RAF Dhekelia in Cyprus.

    James Brokenshire

    Under an existing agreement with the Republic of Cyprus, those who claim asylum will be processed by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base.