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  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department is doing to help reduce the price of food for people on low incomes.

    George Eustice

    It is not the Government’s role to set retail food prices. The main drivers of food prices are commodity prices, exchange rates and oil prices. Anything that affects these will have an impact on food prices.

    Defra does monitor retail food prices through The Consumer Prices Index. Year on year food prices have continued to fall with an annual rate of inflation of minus 2.8 per cent in the year to May 2016. Following a period of higher food price inflation retail food prices have fallen by 7.0% since their peak in February 2014.

    We also monitor trends in household expenditure on food through the Family Food Survey. This includes monitoring the percentage of household expenditure which is spent on food, including for households with the lowest 20% income, which was 15.4% for 2014 compared with an average of 16.1% over the last 10 years.

  • Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to prevent increases in bovine TB herd-to-herd infection rates.

    George Eustice

    The most recent new measures to protect England from bovine TB were introduced on 6 April as part of the Government’s comprehensive strategy, which is on track to deliver TB-free status for over half of the country by 2019. These measures included:

    • New legislation to require farmers in the Low Risk Area of England to arrange for post-movement testing of cattle coming from the rest of England and from Wales.

    • Tighter movement restrictions, with all herds in the High Risk Area of England affected by a new TB breakdown needing to pass two strict tests before movement restrictions are lifted. This will increase the chances of finding all infected animals in those herds, helping to reduce recurrent breakdowns and to protect other herds.

    • Government-funded pre-sale testing, enabling sellers to provide additional assurance for buyers and mitigate the low risk of undetected TB spreading to new herds.

    • The opportunity for herd owners to arrange private Interferon Gamma blood tests to diagnose TB, subject to certain conditions.

  • Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress has been made on the UK’s bass management plan.

    George Eustice

    We continue to work closely with the recreational angling sector and others interested in the long term sustainability of bass stocks, to help inform the future policy of bass management measures.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions the Government has had with the Gibraltar authorities on the potential implications of the outcome of the EU referendum.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) met the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in London on 16 July. The then Minister for Europe, my Rt Hon Friend the member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) spoke to the Chief Minister twice by telephone on 24 June about the outcome of the referendum. He also met the Chief Minister on 28 June in London to discuss the potential implications, and again on 11 July alongside the then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Mr Letwin). In addition, officials continue to be in frequent contact with their Gibraltarian counterparts.

    In all of these discussions, the former Minister of State made clear the outcome of the referendum does not affect the United Kingdom’s steadfast and longstanding commitment to Gibraltar, and its guarantee to stand by the double-lock on sovereignty.

    The Government has also confirmed that, as it prepares for the process to leave the EU, we will fully involve Gibraltar to ensure that all of its interests are taken properly into account. In the meantime, the Government will continue to take whatever action is necessary to safeguard Gibraltar, its people and its economy, including maintaining a well-functioning Gibraltar-Spain border.

  • Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Farrelly on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Public Health of 17 December 2015, Official Report, column 638WH, when he plans to publish the Public Health Research Consortium report on the effect of e-cigarettes.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s Policy Research Programme funds the Public Health Research Consortium (PHRC). The PHRC is undertaking the project ‘E-Cigarettes: Development of Tools to Measure Norms Towards Ordinary Cigarettes and Nicotine Use’. This started in April 2015 and is currently in the write-up stage. It is due to go to peer review and publication plans will be developed subsequently.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of local sustainability and transformation plans on geographical variations in stroke care.

    George Freeman

    Health economies have come together to develop Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) for their footprints until 2020/21. As with the current arrangements for planning and delivery, there are layers of plans which can sit below STPs, with shared links and dependencies. STPs do not replace the existing system architecture or provide details on all individual clinical areas. Rather STPs act as an umbrella, holding underneath them a number of different specific plans to address key local issues. As such, for conditions such as Stroke, it is not expected that STPs will provide great levels of detail regarding all the Stroke related activity occurring across the Footprint.

    Visibility will be provided through other mechanisms such as audits. Stroke data is collected by the national audit from all trusts and reported at both trust and clinical commissioning group (CCG) level. The Royal College of Physicians which runs the audit has not done an analysis to compare services between rural and urban CCGs. However the data is available in the public domain for researchers should they wish to do so.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to renew or update the cardiovascular disease outcomes strategy.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England continues to support implementation of the action points listed in the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy: it has no plans to renew or update it. It is working closely with Public Health England (PHE) on a range of preventative issues which support implementation of the strategy and promote wider improvement in outcomes.

    In addition to CVD work undertaken by Right Care and as part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Review, NHS England also hosts a collaborative group which brings together the relevant National Clinical Directors, the main relevant national charities, the National CVD Intelligence Network, PHE and the Department. This collaborative group continues to work together to reduce premature mortality in both primary and secondary care settings in relation to people with, or at risk of having, CVD.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what facilities are available for (a) lactating mothers and (b) the changing of babies in her Department.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office provides suitable facilities for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers (where they can also change babies if required), in line with Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2016 to Question 41433, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the Common Travel Area with a hard border between the UK and the EU after the UK has left the EU.

    James Brokenshire

    The Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangement pre-dates the EU and we re-main committed to it. The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach have reiterated their intention for both countries to work together to maintain the CTA.

    At present the UK remains in the EU and there will be no immediate changes. A meeting between UK and Ireland senior officials has already taken place underlining our desire to work together, when the UK begins to negotiate its exit from the EU, to maintain the benefits of the CTA.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what facilities are available for (a) lactating mothers and (b) the changing of babies in her Department.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    DFID has 2 HQ buildings in the UK, 22 Whitehall and Abercrombie House, East Kilbride. Both offices have a nursing mothers room and are equipped with baby changing facilities and fridges to allow the storage of baby milk.