Category: Speeches

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries have received funding from his Department to provide workplace training for their staff since 2010.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Public libraries are funded and run by local authorities. My Department has through Arts Council England’s Library Development Funding, which supports the development of public libraries in England including workforce training, provided £680,000 in 2012/13; £683,000 in 2013/14; £595,000 in 2014/15; and £744,000 in 2015/16. Workforce development is also one of the priorities of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce, established in 2015 by my Department and the Local Government Association.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to make a final decision on take charge requests under each article of the Dublin regulations for decisions made each month since April 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Whilst all asylum claims, including those accepted under Dublin III, are registered on the main immigration database the specifics of each case are not currently available in the form requested as the data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department does not set a budget for food served in its offices. Catering is available to the department but this is not managed by DCMS. Figures are not available for food purchased by staff for their own use.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to ensure that (a) clinicians and (b) patients participate in the decision making process for the routine commissioning of procedures under the Commissioning through Evaluation Programme.

    David Mowat

    The policy development process for specialised commissioning is subject to both informal stakeholder testing and formal public consultation, including the opportunity for patients, clinicians and industry representatives to review and comment on the evidence base considered and the assessed impact on patients, existing services and cost.

    In addition, clinical commissioning policies are already primarily developed through Clinical Reference Groups which comprise of a range of stakeholders including patients, carers and clinicians.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the rate of road traffic accidents.

    Andrew Jones

    The Road Safety Statement, published in December last year, sets out the Government’s priorities for improving road safety over this Parliament.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of Christians who have left Iraq in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK Government continues to condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by ISIL in Iraq against all communities, including Christians, throughout the areas under its control. The human rights situation for many living in ISIL-held areas remains of grave concern.

    We do not currently have estimates for the number of Christians who have fled Iraq due to the atrocities carried out by ISIL. We do, however, continue to encourage Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi to ensure all minorities are represented in Baghdad and their rights protected. We welcome the commitments he has made to inclusivity, to protecting Iraqi citizens, addressing human rights abuses and holding those responsible to account. We continue to engage with minority leaders in Iraq. On Monday 10 November, the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns met with Father Pios, a Catholic priest sheltering Internally Displaced Persons in Iraq, and she discussed the situation of Christians in the country.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons his Department has not included a trans woman as an advisor to its review on trans prisoners.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The terms of reference for the review of the care and management of transgender offenders were published on 8 December. The review is in its early stages. We are in the process of identifying a wide range of stakeholders with whom to engage and are keen to hear from all those with an interest. A copy of the terms of reference are available at:

    (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/review-into-the-care-and-management-of-transgender-offenders).

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Bill on reducing the length of time it takes to bring a new drug to market.

    George Freeman

    The purpose of the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Bill is to promote access to innovative medical treatments. It is not specifically designed to reduce the length of time it takes to bring a new drug to market. To which end work is being done in parallel, notably through the Accelerated Access Review, which explores options to speed up access to innovative drugs, devices and diagnostics for National Health Service patients. Sir Hugh Taylor, the independent chair of the review will make his recommendations in the spring.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, who was involved in designing the Sellafield Workforce Reform initiative.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has a responsibility to UK tax payers to ensure that Sellafield Ltd has maximum opportunity for improved performance: accelerating hazard reduction and delivering value for money. A new model, part of a suite of changes designed to increase efficiency in the business, is being put in place to help achieve that. The Sellafield Change Programme is driven by Sellafield Ltd and is managed by its CEO and Executive. From April this year, Sellafield Ltd will report to the NDA Board on progress.

    Full details of the change programme are available at http://www.nda.gov.uk/contracts-and-competition/sellafield-model-change-programme/

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupil referral units have employed trainees on an employment-based teacher-training basis in each of the last four years.

    Nick Gibb

    Of those Pupil Referral Units that provided information to the School Workforce Census, there were 11 in 2014 and 11 in 2013 that reported having trainees on an employment-based teacher-training basis in service. The employment based training routes covered include the Graduate Teacher Programme, Overseas Trained Teacher Programme, Registered Teacher Programme, School Direct (Salaried) and Teach First Programme. In both years there were 11.3 full-time equivalent trainees employed by the 11 Pupil Referral Units.

    Information for previous years is not available.