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  • 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 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to make Personal Health Budgets available for the provision of wheelchairs; what arrangements they plan to put in place for wheelchair users; and whether the funding stream will be managed centrally and independently from local wheelchair service budgets.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In May 2016, Simon Stevens announced that NHS England would be developing a personal health budgets model for the provision of wheelchairs. This work is in the early stages of development.

    The intention is to introduce personal wheelchair budgets from April 2017, to cover everyone who accesses the current wheelchair voucher scheme. This includes those with both low level and complex wheelchair requirements.

    Personal health budgets are not about new money but about using existing budgets differently. Therefore the budget will continue to be held at a local level.

    NHS England is working with a number of clinical commissioning group clusters to develop guidance on the delivery model. This work will cover care planning, information support and advice for wheelchair users, budget setting (using learning from the development of the Wheelchair Tariff where appropriate) and review. The guidance will be available in advance of the start of roll out in April 2017.

  • 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 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to ensure that NHS England works closely with the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance to produce a positive outcome for the future arrangements for wheelchair users through Wheelchair Services; and what resources will be made available for that process to be completed.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Minister for Community and Social Care (Alistair Burt), together with the Minister for Disabled People (Justin Tomlinson) recently met with Baroness Grey-Thompson, Chair of the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance, and NHS England to discuss what action could be taken to improve wheelchair services. This includes NHS England discussing the focus and content of a model service specification for wheelchairs with the Alliance.

    NHS England made available a further £10,000 to the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance for support during 2015/16.

  • 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 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial support has been offered to the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance in addition to the support given over the Right Chair, Right Time, Right Now campaign and charter.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Minister for Community and Social Care (Alistair Burt), together with the Minister for Disabled People (Justin Tomlinson) recently met with Baroness Grey-Thompson, Chair of the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance, and NHS England to discuss what action could be taken to improve wheelchair services. This includes NHS England discussing the focus and content of a model service specification for wheelchairs with the Alliance.

    NHS England made available a further £10,000 to the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance for support during 2015/16.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new developments and initiatives they are currently undertaking as part of their support for British candidates for senior positions in the UN and for the deployment of UK civilian staff with relevant expertise to key roles in the UN, both in its operations and at the UN Headquarters.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    It is in UK interests, and it is a Government priority, to encourage and support British candidates for senior positions in the UN and to promote the deployment of UK civilian staff with relevant expertise to key roles in the UN, both in its operations and at the UN Headquarters.

    To this end the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has strengthened and restructured its team of officials working in this area. In collaboration with other government departments it is;

    (i)

    Targeting a broader range of UN agencies.

    (ii)

    Expanding the talent pool of potential UK candidates for top jobs and in parallel further developing pipelines for UK nationals coming through the ranks.

    (iii)

    Encouraging British nationals interested in international jobs to register on a specifically developed International Opportunities Database.

    (iv)

    Providing targeted support to candidates applying for positions of strategic importance to the Government.

    (v)

    Ensuring that these opportunities are communicated as widely as possible to attract candidates from diverse backgrounds.
  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will seek assurances from the government of Iran that Nazanin Ratcliffe will be granted access to a lawyer and due process rights.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We regularly lobby the Iranian government on all of our consular cases; requesting consular access for our officials, and to ensure that they have access to lawyers and are receiving appropriate medical care. Most recently the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the issue with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 17 May, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), raised the subject with the Iranian Charge d’Affaires in London on 18 May. The Iranian government do not recognise dual nationals of any country, therefore we cannot gain direct access to dual nationals held in custody.

  • Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the review of electoral fraud being undertaken by Sir Eric Pickles will be completed and its recommendations published.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Sir Eric Pickles will issue his report to the Prime Minister in due course.

  • Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to require applicants for jobs in the public sector to state whether they went to an independent school.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Appointments should always be made on merit. Her Majesty’s Government do not have plans to require applicants for jobs to state whether they went to an independent school. We are engaging on proposals to develop a set of potential measures for employers to understand the socio-economic backgrounds of their workforces and applicant pools. Type of school attended (primary and secondary) make up two of twenty-six measures which employers and organisations have been asked to consider

    Over the past few years’ real effort has been put into broadening access to the Civil Service. It is important to be able to measure, overall, the success and impact of these policies. Any background measures would be collected on an entirely voluntary basis and used anonymously. They will not form the basis of any individual recruitment decision.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider linking the interest rate on student loans to the Consumer Price Index rather than the Retail Price Index.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government has no plans to link the interest rate on student loans to the Consumer Prices Index, rather than the Retail Prices Index. The Retail Prices Index has been used as the basis for calculating the interest rates applied to income-contingent student loans since they were introduced in 1998.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the specific criteria for selecting and deselecting target countries for the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has pursued or supported Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative activity in a wide range of countries over the last four years, including Burma, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Mali, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Syria. The criteria used for selecting and deselecting these target countries take into account a number of factors. These include the extent and impact of sexual violence in the country under consideration, the national and international response to date and the particular role the UK can play in reinforcing or complementing existing efforts.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 12 May (HL8031), what percentage of diplomatic missions in the UK issued with the annual letters on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office requesting staff lists with details of all locally engaged staff and private servants replied with full information in 2015.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Embassy team issued 279 letters to the various Embassies and their different sections requesting staff lists for the 2014-15 tax year in September 2015. The requests also ask for details of private addresses and Remuneration. As a result of that letter we received 24 responses. That is an 8% return.

    Article 10 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) outlines a mission’s responsibility to keep the host State informed of the arrival and departure of staff. Embassies therefore only have a legal obligation to notify HM Government of their leavers and new starters so we rely greatly on the goodwill of Embassies to supply us with this additional information.