Category: Speeches

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the increase in council tax on living standards in each income decile.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Council tax schemes are set by local councils who are also responsible for local council tax support schemes. Local councils know the local demographics, and have designed their own council tax support schemes to reflect these. Between 1997-98 and 2010-11, the average Band D council tax in England more than doubled. However, since 2010, council tax in England has fallen by 11% in real terms, and electors can hold councils accountable at the ballot box for any excessive council tax rises. The Department has not made any assessment of the effect of any increase on living standards.

  • Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes to the Disabled Students’ Allowance on the number of university applications in the forthcoming academic year.

    Joseph Johnson

    The reform of Disabled Students’ Allowances is intended to ensure higher education institutions are consistently meeting their duties to disabled students under the Equality Act, and is not expected to impact on application rates.

    The Government carried out an Equality Analysis as part of the recent consultation on reforms to Disabled Students’ Allowances. This is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481527/bis-15-658-disabled-students-allowances-equality-analysis.pdf

    “

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a public statement of support for (a) survivors of stalking and (b) National Stalking Awareness Week.

    Karen Bradley

    Stalking is a deeply disturbing crime which can leave its victims living in fear for years. That is why we introduced new legislation in 2012 which made stalking an offence in its own right.

    The latest published figures on stalking show that this legislation is taking effect. In 2014-15, over 1,100 prosecutions were commenced under the new offences, a rise of nearly 50% from the previous year. The number of referrals by the police to the CPS, the number of convictions and the number of custodial sentences have also risen. However, legislation is not always enough and we are determined to provide all victims of stalking with the protection and support that they need.

    The Home Office is currently considering the results of a public consultation on the possible introduction of a Stalking Protection Order aimed at providing immediate and earlier protection for victims.

    We welcome National Stalking Awareness Week and the opportunity to bring attention to these crimes. As part of the dedicated funding to tackle violence against women and girls we provide support to the Suzy Lamplugh Trust for its National Stalking Helpline.

  • 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 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Health Education England’s demand-led approach to the assessment of the number of consultant posts needed in highly specialist fields such as clinical pharmacology.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is Health Education England’s responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient future supply of staff, including those needed in specialist fields, to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system.

    The Workforce Plan is built upon the needs of local employers, providers, commissioners and other stakeholders who, as members of its Local Education Training Boards (LETBs), shape the thirteen local plans.

    The Workforce Plan is predominately an aggregate of the local LETB plans, but the final national plan is only agreed with the advice and input of its clinical advisory groups and Patients’ Advisory Forum, as well as the Royal Colleges and other stakeholders.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what targets her Department has in place to ensure criminal records check disclosures are processed efficiently.

    Sarah Newton

    The Disclosure and Barring service works directly with each police force to agree a budget annually based on the expected numbers of local checks and considers any requests for additional resources as part of these discussions.

    In 2015/16 the Disclosure and Barring Service had a target of processing 85% of all applications within 21 days. Some of the over four million applications received each year need to be referred to one or more police forces for further checks and the Disclosure and Barring Service funds Police disclosure units.

  • Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doctors from (a) EU countries and (b) countries outside the EU have applied to practice medicine in the UK in each year since 2000.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Information on doctors applying to practice medicine in the United Kingdom is not held centrally; this is collected by the General Medical Council.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what weighting has been applied (a) to the sparsity indicator within the children’s 0 to 5 services component relative to that for other components and (b) to address complex need within that component.

    Jane Ellison

    In the publication Public health grant: proposed target allocation formula for 2016/17, an engagement of behalf of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA), ACRA proposed that there should be a sparsity adjustment to take account of the longer travel times to home visits by health visitors.

    The proposed sparsity adjustment is an index ranging between the values of 1.05 and 0.98 across local authorities, with an England average value of 1.00. The need weighted population for the 0-5 services component for each local authority is multiplied by this index to give the need and sparsity weighted populations.

    ACRA proposed in the engagement that the relative need weight per head for 0-5 children’s services should be based on the proportion of children in low income households. ACRA proposed that the weight per head should be four times higher for children in low income households than for other children. No further adjustment is prosed by ACRA.

    The engagement closed on 6 November and ACRA is currently considering the responses before providing its final advice to Ministers.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of meningococcal disease there have been in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) England since 2010.

    Jane Ellison

    National and regional data on the number of cases of invasive meningococcal disease in England are published by Public Health England based on the number of laboratory confirmed cases. There are no published figures by constituency, data are not reported against these boundaries because of the risk of deductive disclosure.

    Number of laboratory confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease, Yorkshire and Humber and England: 2009/10 to 2014/15

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    Yorkshire and Humber

    82

    105

    69

    95

    67

    England

    858

    1009

    730

    769

    636

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has received on the interpretation and implementation of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide in relation to the killings by Daesh of Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq; what response he has made to such representations; what steps he is taking to establish an international consensus on that issue; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Adama Dieng was appointed UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on 17 July 2012. His role is to: raise awareness of the causes and dynamics of genocide; to alert relevant actors where there is a risk of genocide; and to advocate and mobilise for appropriate action. The Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect has made a number of statements in relation to the situation in Iraq and Syria. These statements can be found on the UN website, and cover a range of issues including: incitement to violence in Syria on religious grounds; expressing concern about the on-going threat to the safety of minority groups in Syria; and expressing alarm at reports of the abduction of 1,500 Yezidi, Christian and Shabak women and girls.

    Any judgement on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to inform the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham of progress made on matters relating to the future of the Victory 1744 discussed in that hon. Member’s meeting with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence in September 2015.

    Mark Lancaster

    Discussions between officials in the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Media, Culture and Sport will continue and an announcement with regard to the future of Victory 1744 will be made once these deliberations are complete.