Category: Speeches

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to publish post-occupancy evaluations of primary and secondary schools built under wave 1 of the Priority Schools Building Programme.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education is collecting a range of post-occupancy data on schools built under wave 1 of the Priority Schools Building Programme. This data considers all potential benefits realised including user satisfaction and building performance. The results of this exercise will be published once it is complete.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the Government has for the delivery of the General Practice Forward View.

    David Mowat

    The General Practice Forward View was published by NHS England on 21 April 2016 and is a package of measures to stabilise and support general practice.

    NHS England has established an external Oversight Group to oversee implementation of the General Practice Forward View. Its membership includes the British Medical Association (BMA), Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS Clinical Commissioners. The BMA has also established a reference group of local medical committees from across England to gain further input from general practitioners (GPs) and make sure the changes set out in the General Practice Forward View are realised.

    At its Board meeting on 28 July 2016, NHS England set out progress to date, including on delivery of a new practice resilience programme to help struggling practices, and a new Indemnity Support Scheme to alleviate the immediate pressure of rising costs for GPs from indemnity. Further details are available on NHS England’s website:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/item5-28-07-16.pdf

    “

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Working Links in Wales plan probation staff redundancies.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    All Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are contractually required to maintain a professional and appropriately skilled workforce to deliver the services set out in their contracts. We robustly contract manage each CRC to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitment to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and deliver value for money for taxpayers.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what average time her Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

    “

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to change the payment of annual increments to military staff between 2015-16 and 2020-21.

    Penny Mordaunt

    This Government has no plans to remove incremental pay or annual pay increases for serving members of the Armed Forces.

  • 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 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many psychiatric nurses were in post in each financial year since 2010-11.

    Ben Gummer

    Psychiatric nurses are not identified separately in the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s (HSCIC) workforce statistics. Area of Work, which is identified, is purely the area, function or specialty where the work activity takes place. The attached table shows the number of nurses within the psychiatry area of work from September 2010 to September 2015, the midpoint of the financial year. The data is sourced from the HSCIC’s monthly workforce statistics.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what reports she has received from (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) other police forces of delays in processing Disclosure and Barring Service applications; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides a formal monthly performance report to the Home Office and Home Office Ministers. This includes updates on the performance of police forces in meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) standards for the time taken to complete local disclosure checks.

    The DBS monitors the performance of all police disclosure units and works closely with any force, including the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), not meeting its targets. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan in place at the MPS and Home Office officials maintain a close oversight of the progress being made by assessing weekly reports and through regular attendance at the Group.

    It is a priority of the MPS, DBS and the Home Office to see improvements as quickly as possible and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2016 to Question 25199, what steps his Department is taking to consult on proposed legislative changes on HGV sideguards; and what the timeframe is for that consultation.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department is currently preparing the regulatory impact assessment in preparation for the consultation on amendments to the Construction and Use Regulations in the second half of 2016.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what defence technology research and development programmes the Government is cooperating with other EU member states.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    As stated in National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161), as part of being international by design, we will participate in future international collaborative programmes in both the defence and security sectors where we have the right technology, skills and industrial capabilities, and where we can reduce our costs and share technology to mutual benefit, strengthening our defence relationships.

    We will work closely with, learn from and invest in joint research programmes with our allies and partners, many of whom are pursuing similar innovation initiatives. France has important technology programmes, especially in aerospace, maritime and space capabilities. We will also build on our important security relationships with partners, and with multilateral forums, including NATO.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will assess the merits of introducing a deposit return system for single-use drinks containers in England.

    Rory Stewart

    I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Birmingham Hall Green, Roger Godsiff, on 11 April 2016, PQ UIN32607.

    Defra analysed the costs and benefits of implementing a deposit return system (DRS) for single use drink containers as part of the 2011 Review of Waste Policy in England, and sought views in the 2012 consultation on higher packaging recycling targets.

    This work showed that introducing a DRS may increase recycling and reduce litter but might impose additional costs on businesses, consumers and local authorities (which would lose revenue from recycling). However, we lack evidence to quantify these benefits and costs appropriately. The current approach has driven a significant increase in packaging waste recycling rates, from less than 47% in 2003 to nearly 65% in 2013.

    Last year, the Scottish Government published a feasibility study and a call for evidence investigating the implementation of a DRS for single use drink containers in Scotland. This valuable work highlighted significant uncertainties regarding the impacts and benefits that a DRS would have, notably regarding costs, environmental quality and littering, and existing waste collection systems. The Scottish Government is doing further work on the topic and we will review any new evidence arising from this in due course. However, in the meantime, we will continue to focus on improving existing waste collection and recycling systems, and developing a new National Litter Strategy for England to help coordinate and maximise the impact of anti-litter activity by local government, industry and others.