The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on its proposals to open up BT fibre for business lines in Wales.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Ofcom has proposed that competitors be granted access to BT’s fibre network in Wales and across the UK. It has consulted on this proposal and expects to publish its decision in early 2016. This is a matter on which the regulator must decide.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on (a) tackling isolation of women living in rural areas and (b) providing more opportunities for women to participate in political and public life.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
I have had no discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on tackling isolation of women living in rural areas.
I have general discussions with Ministers in the Executive on a range of issues and this has included providing more opportunities for women to participate in political and public life. During the recent cross party talks, I also highlighted the importance of engaging women in community initiatives to combat the influence of paramilitary groupings. This is reflected in the Fresh Start Agreement.
The Government recognises the lack of female representation in politics and public life and further recognises the positive outcomes that result in tackling this inequality. As the 2015 Conservative Manifesto said: “We also want to increase the proportion of public appointments going to women in the next Parliament, as well as the number of female MPs.”
I have attended a number of events meeting women’s groups from across Northern Ireland and discussed the role of women in civic society and politics. This includes speaking at the Women’s Engagement Roadshow event in Belfast which highlighted the work Government is doing to improve the lives of women, and also provided women with a forum to voice their concerns about the issues that are important to them.
I welcome the fact that on 11 January Arlene Foster became Northern Ireland’s first woman First Minister.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-29.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department’s discussions with Capgemini and Fujitsu began on the replacement of the HM Revenue and Customs IT Aspire contract.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs’ discussions with its IT partners have taken place on a regular basis since the Aspire contract began in 2004. The Department created the Aspire Replacement Programme in 2013 to manage discussions with its partners, following the Memorandum of Understanding in 2012 which led to the adaption of the Aspire contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 3 on page 5 of the Five Year Forward View Mental Health Task Force report, published on 15 February 2016, if he will make it his policy to provide equal funding for mental health services.
Alistair Burt
We are committed to achieving parity of esteem between mental health and physical health. The Mental Health Taskforce estimates that the priority recommendations for the National Health Service set out in their report will cost an additional £1 billion annually by the year 2020/21. By the end of this Parliament we will make the Taskforce’s recommendations a reality.
This builds on the £1.4 billion over this Parliament that has been previously announced for transforming children and young people’s mental health and improving support for eating disorders.
All of the Taskforce report recommendations are funded from within the overall envelope agreed in the Spending Review. All of the £1 billion announced with the Taskforce report represents additional investment over and above what was allocated to the NHS in 2015/16.
We are already spending more money on mental health than ever before – an estimated £11.7 billion last year. This shows our commitment to achieving an equal status between mental and physical health services. We have been clear that commissioners must continue to increase investment in mental health services each year at a level which at least matches their overall expenditure increase.
We will monitor this closely to ensure this happens and know that clinical commissioning group spend is on track to increase as expected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of incorporating flood rescue into the statutory duties of the fire and rescue services.
Mike Penning
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 already set out clearly the roles and powers of fire and rescue authorities in respect of emergency response and rescue in a wide range of situations, including flooding.
Fire and rescue authorities are required to produce Integrated Risk Management Plans which identify the full range of risks to which an authority’s service is expected to respond, and these plans are subject to consultation with local communities. This approach is enshrined in the National Fire Framework which was given statutory effect in August 2012.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children died of a stroke in England in each of the last 10 years.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has access to North Korean refugees in China; and what steps they have taken to address the specific matter of China’s responsibilities to aid North Korean refugees fleeing North Korea.
Baroness Verma
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees does not have access to the North Koreans at the border area in China.
We raise our concerns around refoulement – the forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution – regularly through our Embassy in Beijing and at the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to his Department was of its communications team in each year since 2007; and what the projected cost is of that team in 2016.
Caroline Nokes
The table below shows the details of actual and forecast expenditure for the staff cost of the Department’s Strategic Communications Directorate.
The staff costs include the costs of salaries, employer national insurance contribution, employer pension contribution, performance related awards, overtime, travelling time, temporary duty allowance, secondments, contractors and staff substitutions. Also, associated IT costs and communications directorate external contracts are included.
|
Financial Year |
Staff Costs £m |
|
2013-14 |
17.543 |
|
2014/15 |
15.277 |
|
2015/16 |
15.109 |
|
2016/17* |
15.134 |
*forecast as at July 2016
Following a significant organisational design review (ODR) which resulted in fundamental structural changes within the Corporate Centre of DWP, expenditure prior to 2013/14 is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what responsibilities the Government has for delivering services to teenagers and young adults with cancer.
David Mowat
Cancer services for teenagers and young adults are delivered by a network of Principle Treatment Centres and Designated Hospitals, commissioned centrally by NHS England. Services include:
– All cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy;
– Specialist palliative care services;
– Survivorship;
– Long-term follow up; and
– Specialist therapies and rehabilitation.
Cancer services for teenagers and young adults reflect the unique needs of this age group. The delivery of care is arranged similarly to adult services, but there are important differences including the delivery of care in an age-appropriate environment and multi-disciplinary teams include social workers, youth workers, and activity coordinators.
Services also support teenagers and young adults with the late effects of cancer treatment which particularly affect this age group. Because cancer is a rare condition in this age range, teenage and young adult services work very closely with other agencies to deliver emotional, psychosocial and specialist therapies to support each teenager and young adult to maximise their physical, emotional, cognitive, social and functional potential.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Typhoon aircraft are unable to fly because parts of them have been removed for use in other aircraft.
Mr Philip Dunne
It is routine practice to move parts between aircraft within the RAF Typhoon fleet to ensure optimum aircraft availability. Four Typhoon aircraft held in the sustainment fleet are currently being used as donor aircraft and consequently are unable to fly.