argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Superfast Broadband — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Questions: It is good to be able to ask this question, so thank you for the opportunity, Mr Speaker. I welcome the steps the Secretary of State is taking to improve broadband services across the country and in communities across our borders—I am very grateful for that work. Will the Minister tell the House more about the full-fibre connection vouchers that were detailed in the Budget Red Book? How will they assist businesses in our rural communities?
Andrew George Stephenson (Conservative, Centre-right): Data from the House of Commons Library show that the rural Higham and Pendleside ward in my constituency suffers some of the worst levels of broadband, with a quarter of residents experiencing absolutely pathetic download speeds. Will my right hon. Friend get his Department to sit down with Superfast Lancashire and Openreach to find a way forward for that ward?
Superfast Broadband — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Questions: It is good to be able to ask this question, so thank you for the opportunity, Mr Speaker. I welcome the steps the Secretary of State is taking to improve broadband services across the country and in communities across our borders—I am very grateful for that work. Will the Minister tell the House more about the full-fibre connection vouchers that were detailed in the Budget Red Book? How will they assist businesses in our rural communities?
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, we are making some progress in Lancashire, but there is much more to do. I hope that my hon. Friend’s support for the Digital Economy Bill and the universal service obligation will help to make sure that we can connect everybody in Lancashire with a decent speed over the next couple of years.
Broadcasting: Diversity — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): We have made some progress with on-demand services, and the broadcasters do a very good job of making sure that subtitling is available. Technology has obviously changed the way people consume video, and a lot more of it is on-demand, so we are going to introduce rules to ensure that on-demand gets the same sort of subtitling.
Broadcasting: Diversity — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Julian Carlton Knight (Conservative, Centre-right): In October last year, the BBC "Look North" reporter Danny Carpenter was suspended for making vile comments about the Government, relating them to a Nazi regime. I have written several letters to the BBC to find out how its investigations are coming along, but it has not given me an answer. Does the Minister agree that although we agree with diversity of opinion and views in broadcasting, the BBC should take action regarding Mr Carpenter to prevent the recurrence of such ridiculous bias?
Broadcasting: Diversity — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): We rightly do not have direct Government regulation of the BBC regarding such matters, and I think that is appropriate. Nevertheless, through the new charter we are introducing Ofcom as the regulator. That will be the case once the Digital Economy Bill becomes law, after which it will be for Ofcom to regulate the BBC, and the BBC’s board will ultimately be responsible for making sure it gets these judgments right.
Broadcasting: Diversity — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Government Operations
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): No. On the Welsh appointment to Wales, it is a great pity that although the Welsh Government had a representative on the panel who signed off the appointability of the candidate, the Welsh Minister then decided not to appoint. Given that the Welsh Government agreed that the candidate in question was appointable, it would be far better for the appointment to be made.
Creative Industries: Skills — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Education
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very aware of those problems. Structural issues with the creative industries have prevented apprenticeships from being included in the past. As part of the work of the Creative Industries Council, we have a specific workstream on skills, and I am in discussions with the Department for Education about how we get those apprenticeship opportunities.
Charities and Voluntary Sector: Funding — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Robert Owen Biggs Wilson (Conservative, Centre-right): I have been reforming the charities sector and widening its strength and depth as part of a long-term plan. There are a number of sources of finance. Most recently, the Dormant Assets Commission has reported that there might be up to £2 billion of additional dormant assets, which could be transformational for the sector.
Charities and Voluntary Sector: Funding — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Peter James Guy Aldous (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the Minister for his reply. In Suffolk, the Community First Endowment Match Challenge was extremely successful in leveraging local donations for grassroots causes, with private giving matched to almost three times the initial donation. Will the Minister meet me and the Suffolk Community Foundation to discuss how such an endowment challenge might be reintroduced?
Charities and Voluntary Sector: Funding — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Robert Owen Biggs Wilson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very pleased to hear about the Suffolk foundation’s success. The Community First Endowment Match Challenge raised a permanent endowment of £130 million, which has provided £5.8 million in grants to local groups up to the end of 2015. It will continue to support local community groups and projects across England in the future. There are no plans to expand this programme in the current Parliament, but I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this further and, in due course, to see whether we can consider how dormant assets are spent.
Access to the Arts — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Labor
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for his work on the all-party group; I will look carefully at the points that he has made. This Government have done much to change the culture of unpaid internships. I for one have never taken on an unpaid intern; I have always made sure that there is fair recompense for people who make a valuable contribution to my office.
Youth Football Contracts — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Tracey Elizabeth Anne Crouch (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will be aware that this is a devolved issue, but I understand that the Scottish Government have emphasised strongly to the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Professional Football League that concerns must be taken seriously. We obviously take the duty of care to youngsters incredibly seriously and continue to look at this.
Broadband: Rural Communities — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): We are on track, as we mentioned, to deliver 95% access to superfast broadband for UK homes and businesses. By 2020, we will introduce a universal service obligation to bring high-speed broadband to all parts of our country, including the most far-flung.
Broadband: Rural Communities — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I would be delighted to. I am more familiar than I would ever have expected to be with Faroese Telecom’s policy because of how it has managed to roll out connectivity to the whole of those islands, and we should see whether we can do that for some of the islands in Scotland. Of course, the roll-out of superfast broadband in Scotland is done through the Scottish Government. They have been much, much slower than almost every other part of the UK—much slower than the Labour Welsh Government—but I am sure that, together, we can ensure that we bring the country together by delivering good connectivity.
Channel 4 — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman knows that in a fast-changing and challenging broadcasting environment, the Government want to ensure that Channel 4 has a strong and secure future, and that it can provide for audiences and support creative industries around the UK. I am looking at a broad range of options and, as I have said, I will report in due course.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): Since we last had oral questions to my Department, it has launched the Government’s digital strategy, which will ensure that we have the infrastructure, regulation and skills that we need to build a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone. The Dormant Assets Commission identified a potential £2 billion in such assets, which could open up new streams of funding for good causes, and we are considering the best way to proceed on that. I visited South Korea for the third Korea-UK Creative Industries Forum, launched the UK-Korea year of culture, and signed a joint statement on co-operating on the content industry. Finally, I am sure that at least most Members will join me in wishing the England team well this weekend in their attempt to break New Zealand’s record for the most consecutive wins in top-level rugby.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Technology
Questions: I know that you are a tennis fan, Mr Speaker, but women’s cricket is going from strength to strength. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Somerset county cricket ground on being selected as one of just four locations to host the international women’s world cup this year? The big match to get to is England v. Sri Lanka, which is on Sunday 2 July. I shall be there, and you are warmly invited, Mr Speaker, as are all the ministerial team.; Is the Minister aware that more than 300 local newspapers have closed in the past 10 years? While Members might enjoy reading about skateboarding ducks, such newspapers are also a critical part of our democracy. Will the Minister therefore join me in supporting the National Union of Journalists in its “Local News Matters” campaign and week, and will he meet the union to discuss this critical part of our democracy?; S4C is a much-loved Welsh language public service broadcaster that was hard fought for. I am sure that the Ministers on the Treasury Bench—and you, Mr Speaker—watch it whenever they are in Wales. What are the Government doing to safeguard the future prominence of public service broadcasters, especially with regard to nations’ services?; Many of my constituents have contacted me with concerns about children and young people accessing extreme internet pornography. Will the Minister tell me what the Government are doing to work with Ofcom and internet service providers to protect children and young people?
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): This is an important point. The Digital Economy Bill brings forward age verification processes so that all pornography cannot be accessed by those under the age of 18. ISPs will be required to block sites that do not put such age verification in place—that is incredibly important. The Bill is in the Lords at the moment but it will come back to this House shortly.
Great Repeal Bill — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the requirement for legislative consent motions for the proposed great repeal Bill.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues, including with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, on various issues of importance to the Government. The Government will publish the great repeal Bill in due course, and the content of the Bill will determine the process to take it forward.
Great Repeal Bill — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Government Operations
Questions: What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the requirement for legislative consent motions for the proposed great repeal Bill.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady tempts me to explore what will be in the great repeal Bill. I am not going to do that, but she knows, and I am sure her colleagues know, that if the Bill affects the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament or the executive competence of the Scottish Government, there will need to be a legislative consent motion.
Great Repeal Bill — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the requirement for legislative consent motions for the proposed great repeal Bill.
David Nuttall (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. and learned Friend share my concern that people might be slightly misled by our referring to the proposed Bill as the great repeal Bill? Although it will repeal the European Communities Act 1972, it is actually the great continuity Bill, because its other purpose is to transfer the body of EU law into UK law.
Great Repeal Bill — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the requirement for legislative consent motions for the proposed great repeal Bill.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a fair point. He is right to say that this Bill will repeal the 1972 Act, and that is a significant step in this country’s history, but it will also, as he says, make sure that we do not have huge amounts of disruptive change for business, industry and individuals, and we will try to make sure that there is as much continuity on the day after departure as there was on the day before departure, where that is feasible.
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): The Crown Prosecution Service anticipated increases in complex cases such as fraud ahead of the last spending review, and there was indeed a 14% increase in fraud and forgery cases last year, but, importantly, the conviction rate stayed stable at 86%.
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I assure the hon. Lady that the allocation of resources for the prosecution of fraud has increased within the CPS. There are now over 200 specialist fraud prosecutors, not just here in London but across the country in important regional centres, and that number is set to increase to 250 in the months ahead, so the CPS is really placing an important priority on this.
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Solicitor General agree that the work of the Crown Prosecution Service in this area is very much complemented in cases of really serious economic fraud by the work of the Serious Fraud Office, which has been transformed under the leadership of David Green, resulting in the recovery of over £500 million of ill-gotten gains? Does he agree that the model of the Serious Fraud Office does this country great credit and will be of increasing value to us in future?
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the Chairman of the Justice Committee. He is right to highlight the recent successes of the SFO in collecting millions of pounds for the taxpayer as a result of deferred prosecution agreements. I think the Roskill model, which brings together investigators and prosecutors in one unit, works very well.
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman knows that the Government are at all times under a duty to review the mechanism by which we tackle economic crime, because it is a question not just of criminality but of national security. The Government are therefore right to examine the situation. As I said, I think the Roskill model works extremely well.
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Education
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I am happy to indicate to the hon. Gentleman that I have regular conversations with ministerial colleagues about all these issues. I praise David Green for the work he has done in leading the SFO. I will continue to make the case for the Roskill model.
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): I suspect that those who have the necessary financial expertise to investigate, uncover, prosecute and prove complex financial fraud will probably get paid a lot more in the private sector working for business or the City. What can the Solicitor General do to ensure that the right people with the right skills are retained by the CPS and the SFO?
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend knows that the SFO operates a model of funding that means it can be quite flexible as regards particular investigations. The important point is that we get the right people with the right specific expertise in particular types of serious fraud. Flexibility is the most important principle.
Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle serious fraud and other economic crimes.
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I share my hon. Friend’s concern about this. He will be glad to know that the provisions in the Criminal Finances Bill, which I hope will become law very soon, will enhance the powers of prosecutors and investigators in going after ill-gotten gains with new measures such as unexplained wealth orders, which will help us to deal with the perpetrators of this type of fraud.
Domestic Violence — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister has recently restated her personal, and the Government’s collective, commitment to tackling domestic violence and abuse. My colleagues in Cabinet and I will work together to take that forward. That work will include considering how we can support the CPS in bringing prosecutions against perpetrators of domestic violence.
Domestic Violence — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): I do share the hon. Gentleman’s concern about that. He may be aware that there are often considerable evidential difficulties in proving these offences in court, but that does not mean that we should not bring appropriate cases before criminal courts and seek to gain convictions. The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to do that. In relation to domestic violence more broadly, he may know that the volume and conviction rate of prosecutions are rising, on the basis of the last year for which we have figures compared with the year before, but he is right to point out specific areas where we need to do better.
Domestic Violence — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): I will certainly explore the issue that the hon. Gentleman raises. I think he is indicating that there are a number of different things that we need to do to support those who are victims of domestic violence. This is not solely a criminal justice issue, but if people are to access the criminal justice system, we need to do as much as we can to make the process as easy it possibly can be for them. If victims of domestic violence are unwilling to give evidence, that should not necessarily be the end of a prosecution. We have seen recently with the use of body-worn video cameras that the police can sometimes give evidence that can secure a conviction, even if the victim is not prepared to give evidence.
Domestic Violence — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew George Stephenson (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the Attorney General work with the Justice Secretary to ensure that changes to the law on domestic abusers cross-examining their victims are fit for purpose, and that they adequately protect victims in our family courts?
Domestic Violence — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I agree with my hon. Friend. He will know that in a criminal context, courts already have the authority to stop alleged domestic violence perpetrators cross-examining their alleged victims directly. Family courts need to have such a power, too. He will know, I am sure, that the Government intend to make sure that they do have that power, and I understand that that will form part of a Bill that will come before the House very shortly.
Violence Against Women and Girls — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): The CPS is prosecuting and convicting more defendants of domestic abuse, rape, sexual offences and child sexual abuse than ever before. Under the cross-Government violence against women and girls strategy, the CPS has committed to a number of actions between now and 2020 to ensure the effective prosecution of these offences.
Violence Against Women and Girls — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that my hon. Friend has a great interest in and concern about these serious matters. I am happy to tell her that in the last year, 1,805 cases were charged by the CPS—a rise to 70.6% compared with the figure for the previous year—and 1,867 cases resulted in a conviction. The conviction rate in Derbyshire is running at 4.4% higher than the national average.
Violence Against Women and Girls — House of Commons, 2017-03-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): In Cambridgeshire in 2015-16 there was an increase in the number of convictions for violence against women and girls to 1,031. What is being done to use technology to improve the gathering of evidence for these crimes?