Category: Speeches

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to fit airborne collision avoidance systems to Lynx helicopters.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I can confirm that Traffic Advisory Systems are currently being installed in all Lynx Mk 9A aircraft. This is due to be completed across the entire fleet by the end of September 2016. Royal Navy Lynx Mk 8 aircraft are not being modified as they are due to leave service by 31 March 2017.

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage clinical commissioning groups to develop a commissioning policy for requests for cough assist machines for patients with muscle-wasting conditions.

    Ben Gummer

    The provision of cough assist machines is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Clinically led CCGs have independence and autonomy to make commissioning decisions for local populations, taking into account the available evidence and individual circumstances, as appropriate.

    The evidence base to demonstrate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the use of cough assist machines in muscle-wasting conditions is not well established. In order to improve the evidence base, the National Institute for Health Research, which is funded through the Department, is seeking to commission research on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of mechanical cough assist devices compared to other methods of sputum clearance. The deadline for outline proposals was 21 January 2016 with full proposals expected for consideration in July.

    NHS England has been working with Muscular Dystrophy UK through the Bridging the Gap project to address areas of concern raised by patients and their representatives, one of which is the provision of cough assist machines. The establishment of Bridging the Gap was supported with just under £600,000 awarded by the Department through its Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development Fund. Through this work, a number of CCGs have now developed commissioning policies which set out the circumstances in which to consider these devices based on one developed by Walsall CCG, which has been shared nationally as an example of good practice by Muscular Dystrophy UK.

    On 26 April 2016, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, met with Muscular Dystrophy UK and a number of patient representatives specifically to hear their concerns about the provision of cough assist machines.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that those non-UK citizens who are not eligible to vote are not able to vote in the EU referendum.

    John Penrose

    The EU referendum will be overseen by the Chief Counting Officer, chair of the Electoral Commission, who is responsible for making sure the referendum is held in accordance with the legislation governing the conduct of the poll. The Electoral Commission has issued a statement setting out the actions that have been taken to address an issue with elections software used by a number of local authorities in England and Wales that meant that some non-eligible EU citizens had mistakenly received poll cards and, in some instances, postal votes. The Commission explains that the software provider has resolved the issue and none of the affected electors will be shown as eligible on the electoral registers to be used at polling stations on the 23 June. Any incorrectly issued postal votes will be cancelled.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of whether the Government’s Go Ultra Low scheme to deliver 750 more charging points in UK towns and cities by 2020 will reach its target.

    Mr John Hayes

    As well as delivering over 750 chargepoints, the Go Ultra Low City Scheme will establish exemplar cities, see local authorities use local powers to encourage uptake, and test new technological solutions. Since the winners were announced in January 2016, the Government has agreed robust delivery plans with all winning cities to deliver the agreed outputs by 2020. Oxford City Council, Milton Keynes, the North East Combined Authority and Nottingham City Council have already begun the process of public chargepoint procurements.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what average time her Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.

    George Eustice

    The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness.

    The published figures can be found at the following link:

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

    “

  • Baroness Corston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Corston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Corston on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many owners of Community Rehabilitation Companies have hired public relations companies or consultants since February.

    Lord Faulks

    The MoJ robustly manages and monitors the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), in line with Government standards, to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. CRCs are contracted to deliver services for a fixed fee. We are aware that some of the CRCs have contracted with Public Relations Agencies. However, we would not normally monitor information on how many owners hire PR companies or consultants.

  • Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Northbourne on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the role of secondary schools in building self-confidence and social and emotional skills in their pupils.

    Lord Nash

    All schools should equip young people with the necessary skills to leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education has a vital role to play in this and we want all schools to put it at the heart of their curriculum.

    This includes developing character traits like self-confidence, motivation and resilience. These traits support academic attainment, are valued by employers, and encourage young people to make a positive contribution to British society. Many schools are already doing this. The 27 schools and organisations that were winners of character awards in 2015 demonstrated excellence in the area. We will continue to support schools in developing these traits in pupils without prescribing compulsory measures. In order to do this, we are investing £5 million in character education, including £3.5m of grants for 14 projects and £1m to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to build evidence and expand research into the most effective character education.

    Last September, Ofsted introduced a common assessment framework for the inspection of schools, early years and further education and skills remits. There is an overall effectiveness judgement underpinned by four graded judgements, one of which is a new judgement on personal development, behaviour and welfare. This aspect, therefore, will be graded and reported on in all school inspections.

    Additionally, before making the final judgement on the overall effectiveness of all schools, Ofsted inspectors must evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This means that when judging the effectiveness of leadership and management, inspectors will consider the design, implementation and evaluation of the curriculum, ensuring breadth and balance and its impact on pupils’ outcomes and their personal development, behaviour and welfare.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the state aid approval in relation to BDUK requires BT to provide Wholesale Open Access to other communication providers for ducts and poles built with BDUK funding which are (i) over one km in length and cost more than £50,000 to build and (ii) less than one km in length and cost less than £50,000 to build.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The UK 2012 state aid Decision applied different wholesale access conditions to new and existing infrastructure. On new infrastructure over one km in length and costing more than £50,000 to build, BT must provide access for any purpose, while on existing infrastructure and on new infrastructure less than one km in length or costing less than £50,000 to build, the primary use must be retail services (with business services only permitted where it supports the primary objective.) Both cases exceed what is required by Ofcom under regulation.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on A&E attendance, performance and emergency admission statistics for the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in each of the last three years.

    Jane Ellison

    Accident and emergency (A&E) attendances and emergency admissions data, including performance against the A&E waiting time standard (for 95% of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival at A&E) are collected by NHS England and published on their website at the links below. Until June 2015, data were collected on a weekly basis; from June 2015 they are available on a monthly basis.

    Data for 2013-14 are available at the following link:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/weekly-ae-sitreps-2013-14/

    Data for 2014-15 are available at the following link:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/weekly-ae-sitreps-2014-15/

    Data for April and May 2015 are available at the following link:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/statistical-work-areasae-waiting-times-and-activityweekly-ae-sitreps-2015-16/

    Data for June 2015 to December 2015 are available at the following link:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/statistical-work-areasae-waiting-times-and-activityae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2015-16-monthly-3/

    “

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she is taking to ensure that farmers receive fair pricing for their dairy produce.

    George Eustice

    The £26.2 million aid package we secured from the European Commission has helped to provide some immediate relief. A number of supermarkets have also pledged to pay a premium over and above the current market price.

    Longer term, we are working to develop futures markets in the dairy sector to help farmers manage risk.

    At the most recent council meeting in the EU, the UK supported a package of new measures to try to help the dairy sector recover.