Author: admin

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to provide more information to people potentially affected by floods to enable them to access grant schemes from local authorities.

    James Wharton

    Our immediate priority remains doing everything we can to help local communities repair and recover from floods. This means ensuring all those affected can benefit from the £200 million grant schemes offered by the Government and know that they can do so.

    We have provided information on the Gov.uk website and have worked with local authorities to ensure their websites are up to date. We have also developed a simple fact sheet for individual property owners explaining the Property Level Resilience grant scheme and how to apply for it.

    We are in regular contact with local areas and are continuing to look at ways to help support their residents and businesses take full advantage of the grants available.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have registered for free flood warnings provided by the Environment Agency; and what steps she has taken to ensure that more people so register.

    Rory Stewart

    As of 1 March 2016 there were a total of 1,146,146 properties registered to receive flood warnings in England.

    Environment Agency staff work with communities to prepare them for flooding. They encourage people to fully register for the service by knocking on the doors of residents and businesses who are not registered to receive flood warnings, running local events and attending appropriate shows and seminars to encourage sign-up. Callers to the Floodline call centre are encouraged to register if they are not already on the system.

    Alongside work to encourage people to ‘opt-in’ to the service, the Environment Agency has automatically added 400,000 mobile phone numbers registered to locations at high risk of flooding provided by the company ‘EE’. They are currently working with 3 other major mobile phone companies to access their numbers too. This approach increases the number of people that the Environment Agency can automatically add to their warning system.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government the possibility of changing building regulations in flood-prone areas to enable buildings to be constructed in such a way as to mitigate some of the effects of flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    The current building regulations already enable the incorporation of flood resilience measures into building work. Under building regulations Approved Document C (site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture) the use of flood resilience measures, such as adequate sub-soil drainage, sewer non-return valves, anti-flooding devices and water resistant construction material is encouraged. We continue to promote better resilience and remain very open to hearing of any innovations in this field.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to increase public awareness of potential flood risk for home-buyers.

    Rory Stewart

    Maps showing flood risk are available on the Gov.uk website, allowing home buyers to check whether a property they are considering purchasing is at risk of flooding. Individuals can search by postcode and later this year the Environment Agency (EA) is introducing the ability to search by a specific address.

    The EA also share this flood risk data with companies that produce home buyers reports, and approximately 400,000 property reports are produced annually that include this data.

    Much of this data is already available as Open Data and several third party applications have already been developed that encourage public awareness. The EA is releasing more information by the end of June 2016, to encourage further growth and development of similar public awareness raising applications.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will take steps to protect and improve the security of women human rights defenders in Honduras to take account of the implications of the recent murder of Berta Cáceres.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I am deeply concerned by the murder on 3 March of Honduran human rights and environmental activist Berta Cáceres. As one of the most prominent activists in Honduras, Berta Cáceres worked tirelessly over many years to promote the rights of indigenous communities. Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness of Anelay of St John’s, condemned the murder in the clearest terms on 4 March and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. These points, and a wider call for a commitment to human rights and those who defend them, were also set out in an EU statement which the UK has strongly supported. The Honduran authorities are now taking forward an investigation into what happened. We welcome their swift action to initiate an investigation.

    Cáceres’ death – and the injuries sustained by Gustavo Castro Soto, a human rights defender who was also a victim in the attack – are clear evidence of the risks activists face in Honduras every day. We continue to call on the Honduran Government to take steps to improve the security situation, and we discuss our human rights concerns with them regularly – as I did during a visit to the UK by a Honduran parliamentary delegation in September 2015. Our Ambassador to Honduras regularly discusses human rights issues with the Honduran authorities. We seek to improve the situation on the ground through a range of Embassy-sponsored projects, for example with Oxfam and the Tribunal for Women against Femicide. We also maintain a close dialogue with non-government organisations and others with an interest in Honduras.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 15 of the Government’s publication, The Process of withdrawing from the European Union, CM 9216, for what reason the rights and obligations which the UK currently has with other non-EU WTO members would not subsist when the UK leaves the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    As set out in Cm 9216, in the event that we leave the EU, we would need to update the terms of our WTO membership where the commitments taken have previously applied to the EU as a whole. This would not be a straightforward process as, if we leave the EU, then we would need all other WTO Members to agree how the UK will take on the rights and obligations which we have formerly taken as part of the EU. This would mean submitting UK schedules and, until this process was completed, there could be questions surrounding our rights to access WTO members’ markets, and our ability to enforce those rights. These issues are also addressed in the Government publication, Alternatives to Membership: possible models for the United Kingdom outside the European Union.

  • 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 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are able to access mental health services.

    Alistair Burt

    No estimate has been made of the proportion of refugees and asylum seekers who require mental health treatment as this data is not routinely collected.

    Both refugees and asylum seekers are offered health assessments which include consideration of mental health issues, however we do not hold data on the outcome of these.

    NHS England and clinical commissioning groups are committed to ensuring fair and equitable mental health care services for all, which includes all Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, including vulnerable migrants, in particular, refugees and those seeking asylum.

    NHS England recently launched the Five Year Forward View Mental Health Task Force Report which clearly outlines action to be taken nationally, regionally, and locally to help improve mental health services for BME communities in England.

    The full report is available via the following link:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mental-Health-Taskforce-FYFV-final.pdf

    NHS England supported MIND to co-produce the Guidance for commissioners – ‘Commissioning mental health services for vulnerable adult migrants’ September 2015 launched February 2016. The Guidance aims to ensure National Health Service commissioners and providers provide timely and good quality mental health services for vulnerable migrants in particular refugees and those seeking asylum. The full report is available at:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/gov/equality-hub/migrants/

    “

  • 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 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of refugees and asylum seekers who require mental health treatment.

    Alistair Burt

    No estimate has been made of the proportion of refugees and asylum seekers who require mental health treatment as this data is not routinely collected.

    Both refugees and asylum seekers are offered health assessments which include consideration of mental health issues, however we do not hold data on the outcome of these.

    NHS England and clinical commissioning groups are committed to ensuring fair and equitable mental health care services for all, which includes all Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, including vulnerable migrants, in particular, refugees and those seeking asylum.

    NHS England recently launched the Five Year Forward View Mental Health Task Force Report which clearly outlines action to be taken nationally, regionally, and locally to help improve mental health services for BME communities in England.

    The full report is available via the following link:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mental-Health-Taskforce-FYFV-final.pdf

    NHS England supported MIND to co-produce the Guidance for commissioners – ‘Commissioning mental health services for vulnerable adult migrants’ September 2015 launched February 2016. The Guidance aims to ensure National Health Service commissioners and providers provide timely and good quality mental health services for vulnerable migrants in particular refugees and those seeking asylum. The full report is available at:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/gov/equality-hub/migrants/

    “

  • 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 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 29571, on prescriptions: learning disability, if he will make it his policy to collect that information.

    Alistair Burt

    A prescription does not record whether someone has a learning disability so a collection of the requested information would require a change in the prescribing process.

    As part of the Government’s commitment to improve care for people with learning disabilities NHS England is planning a programme of work to reduce inappropriate prescribing.

  • 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 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of NHS consultant psychiatrist posts were vacant in each year since 2010.

    Ben Gummer

    This information is not collected.