Category: Speeches

Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that there are sufficient specialist consultants in post to support all children living with neuromuscular conditions in the West Midlands.

Jane Ellison

NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services. In July 2013 it published Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult), which is the service specification describing the service commissioned by NHS England for patients, including children, with a neuromuscular disorder within the neurology service. It is for service providers to put in place the clinical posts and infrastructure to deliver the requirements set out in the specification for their local population.

The service specification has been implemented since 1 October 2013. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they comply with the service description and standards.

01/01/2023
Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in local government spending on future votes turnout for elections in respect of staff capacity (a) for registration and (b) at polling stations; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such changes on (i) the provision of vote registration campaign materials and (ii) the number of people likely to vote by post.

Mr Marcus Jones

It is for individual councils to decide how best to meet their statutory duties, including the organisation of elections, having regard to the resources available to them, which for elections includes £148 million that the Government has specifically set aside for Individual Electoral Registration (IER), the General Election and the Boundary Review in 2015/16, and additionally, over £29 million to fund IER related activities in 2016/17.

01/01/2023
Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress her Department has made on working with major energy suppliers on the smart meter roll-out to ensure that it provides maximum benefit to consumers.

Andrea Leadsom

We are working closely with all energy suppliers on the roll-out to ensure that the consumer benefits are delivered.

Good progress has been made to date, with over 3 million meters having been installed. There is evidence that consumers are already saving energy. Recent British Gas research shows that smart meter customers have reduced energy consumption by around 3%, on average, for both gas and electricity.

01/01/2023
Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he plans to consult Parliament on the triggering of Article 50.

Mr Robin Walker

The British people have voted to leave the European Union and their will must be respected and delivered. While legally there is no obligation to consult Parliament on triggering Article 50, it will clearly have an important role in making sure that we find the best way forward.

01/01/2023
Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to maintain or enhance the UK’s environmental protection standards following an exit from the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

We remain fully committed to delivering our manifesto commitment to be the first generation to leave the natural environment of England in a better state than we found it. We are developing a 25 Year Environment Plan to deliver this.

Earlier this month, the Prime Minister announced our plans for a Repeal Bill that will convert current EU law into domestic British law. This will give consumers, workers and businesses as much certainty as possible by maintaining the existing laws wherever practicable and desirable. Any future changes in the law will be subject to full scrutiny and proper Parliamentary debate. The decision to leave the EU means we now have a unique opportunity, in future, to design a set of policies tailored to the needs of the UK, its species and habitats.

01/01/2023
Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to comments made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport at a meeting about rail services between London and the Sussex coast on 27 May 2015, whether his Department’s target of six months to stability for commuters between London and the Sussex coast has been met; whether rail services between Brighton and London are still flashing red at his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

Performance of rail services between London and the Sussex coast is being closely monitored as it has not yet reached an acceptable level. Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail have developed a Joint Improvement Plan to improve services. My officials and I are meeting with both companies on a regular basis in order to monitor and support improvements. Performance has stabilised through London Bridge following timetable adjustments made in the spring and the timetable to be implemented in December is expected to further improve performance.

01/01/2023
Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 14 December (HL4086), whether their next Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report in April 2016 will contain an assessment of the effectiveness and outputs of project funding on human rights and democracy in their priority countries in the most recent full year; and if so, whether it will be subject to independent audit.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The 2015 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report will include references to project funding on human rights and democracy in priority countries where appropriate. All Foreign and Commonwealth Office funding, including human rights and democracy project funding, is subject to robust monitoring and evaluation, and like all government spending is subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made any revisions to (a) the amount his Department forecasts will be required for the diffuse mesothelioma payments scheme and (b) the number of people his Department forecasts will apply to receive payments from the scheme in the first 10 years of its operation since it last published those figures.

Justin Tomlinson

The Department makes revisions to the DMPS financial forecast annually for the purposes of calculating the levy. A Ministerial written statement (HCWS460) was tabled in the House of Commons on 12 January 2016 and provides details of the DMPS levy for 2015/16.

Similarly, the Department forecasts the number of applicants annually. In 2014/15, there were 410 applicants to the DMPS. The next set of official DMPS statistics will be released 28 January 2015 and will contain six months’ worth of data on applications for 2015/16. Assumptions could be derived from those figures for the remainder of the year.

No revisions have been made to longer term forecasts since the DMPS Impact Assessment was published 6 March 2014. This can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/286525/mesothelioma-payment-scheme-ia-mar-2014.pdf

“

01/01/2023
Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s policy is on junior doctors who whistleblow about safety concerns in the NHS.

Ben Gummer

The Department supports National Health Service staff who wish to raise concerns and is implementing a range of measures to support the development of a culture in which staff are able to raise concerns without fear of repercussion or reprisal. The Department has made clear to NHS organisations that they should have policies and procedures to support and encourage staff to raise concerns, and that those concerns should be acted upon.

Junior doctors are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, as they are employees of the NHS trusts at which they are based.

Junior doctors along with other NHS staff will benefit from a national network of Freedom to Speak Up ‘local guardians,’ led by the National Guardian Dame Eileen Sills, who was appointed on 7 January 2016.

The National Guardian will lead, advise, and support the ‘local guardians’ in carrying out investigations on how concerns are being handled, share good practice, report on national or common themes, and identify any barriers that are preventing the NHS from having a truly safe and open culture.

In addition we are also introducing a new Guardian of safe working appointed jointly with junior doctors.

01/01/2023

Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many organ transplants there have been in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

The information on the number of successful and unsuccessful organ transplants performed in each of the last five years is shown in the following table. This includes single and multi-organ transplants containing kidney, pancreas, liver, heart, lung and/or intestinal from both deceased and living donors.

Although deceased donor rates were lower in 2014/15, data show that deceased donor rates for 2015/16 have exceeded 2014/15 rates. The official data are due to published in summer 2016.

Organ Transplants in the United Kingdom, 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2015

Financial year	Total number of organ transplants	Number of unsuccessful¹ transplants	% unsuccessful
2010/2011	3,751	127	3.4%
2011/2012	3,971	131	3.3%
2012/2013	4,221	127	3.0%
2013/2014	4,656	143	3.1%
2014/2015	4,433	122	2.8%

Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

Notes:

¹Unsuccessful has been defined as failed within the first two weeks after transplantation. This figure is based on 98% of transplant recipients where the two week post-transplant outcome is known.

01/01/2023