Category: Speeches

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve the identification and treatment of perinatal mental health issues; and how this will be monitored.

    Alistair Burt

    This Government is committed to improving access to perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year. In January 2016 the Government set out that an additional £290 million will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21, over and above the money identified in the Spring Budget, to invest in perinatal mental health services. This is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement and means that in total from 2015/16 to 2020/21 £365 million will be invested in perinatal mental health services.

    We are aware that there is unacceptable variation in the levels of access to high quality, NICE-recommended specialist perinatal mental health care for women across England. A 2014 census identified that 40% of women in England have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services and that is why we have confirmed this additional investment. The funding should enable significant progress towards closing this gap and will help to enable women across the country to access evidence-based specialist support, in the community or through inpatient mother and baby services, closer to their home, when they need it. It is anticipated that, by 2020/21, around 30,000 more women should be able to access appropriate specialist support.

    This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to work with partners to design a longer-term transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services over the next five years. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21 and setting clear outcome measures and metrics to monitor the impact of the funding on perinatal mental health provision.

    In 2015/16 work is already underway to lay the foundations for this longer-term work programme through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include the provision of national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and work to develop clinical leadership capacity. Work will also continue to support the development of specialist mother and baby units in the regions identified as most in need of new services.

    To ensure the workforce are available and appropriately trained, NHS England is working closely with Health Education England and key stakeholders to better understand the future workforce commissioning requirements and how it is best to meet multi professional education and training needs.

  • David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the (a) time taken to introduce and (b) cost of introduction of a system of in-work benefits for newly-arrived EU nationals as envisaged in Section D of the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016.

    Priti Patel

    These are issues to be answered as part of the implementation process.

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital trusts employ 1.5 full time equivalent inflammatory bowel disease nurses per 250,000 population.

    Ben Gummer

    Information on the number of hospital trusts that employ inflammatory bowel disease nurses, at 1.5 full-time equivalent or otherwise, is not collected by the Department.

    It is for local National Health Service organisations with their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local populations to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she has signed the Investor Agreement with EDF to proceed with Hinkley Point C as set out in the departmental minute of 21 October 2015.

    Andrea Leadsom

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is minded to proceed with the Contract for Difference and associated agreements for Hinkley Point C, including the Investor Agreement, subject to EDF taking a final investment decision. EDF and the French Government have said that EDF are working towards a Final Investment Decision ‘in the near future, with the full support of the French Government’.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his latest assessment is of the effectiveness of the foreign lorry user charge; whether he has been in discussion with any representatives of the EU concerning the compliance of that charge with EU law; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    Since the levy started in April 2014, 4 million levies had been purchased for foreign-registered vehicles, raising £96.22 million in receipts, by the end of March 2016. Compliance rates continue to run at about 95 per cent in Great Britain. My Department has been engaged in discussions with the European Commission since the early stages of development of the levy. British drivers regularly pay when they use the roads in other countries, and the Government policy is that it is fair that foreign HGV drivers should do the same here.

  • Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to replace programme partnership arrangements.

    Priti Patel

    I am currently considering the outcomes of my Department’s Civil Society Partnership Review, and will aim to publish it shortly.

    In July 2015, the then Secretary of State for International Development announced a 9 month extension of all PPA financing, providing 18 months-notice that all current PPA financing would come to an end in December 2016.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce an interim threshold in the VAT rules on digital supplies for micro-businesses.

    Jane Ellison

    While we remain in the EU our rights and obligations as a Member State apply and as such we cannot introduce laws that conflict with existing EU law.

    The UK government has pushed for change and the European Commission has confirmed proposals expected by the end of this year will include a VAT threshold in order to help small start-up e-commerce businesses.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding on attainment levels of children whose parents participated in or were eligible for ESOL courses.

    Nick Boles

    Although there is a correlation between parental education levels and the attainment of children, many other factors are also relevant. Isolating the specific impact of this particular funding on children’s levels of attainment would be extremely difficult.

    The decision to withdraw the 2015/16 English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding was taken in the knowledge that providers could use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and therefore mitigate any adverse impact. Our data showed that the numbers of claimants being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much in horserace betting levy payments were received in (a) statutory and (b) voluntary payments from each betting operator in each of the last three years.

    Tracey Crouch

    Details of Levy payments are held by the Horserace Betting Levy Board. Section 28 (10) of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 bars the Levy Board from disclosing the statutory contribution of individual bookmakers. The Levy Board has adopted a similar approach to contributions made by voluntary means, providing information about collective totals only. The table below sets out collective totals for each year for both statutory and voluntary payments.

    (£m)

    Statutory payments

    Voluntary payments

    Total

    2012/13

    66.751

    7.572

    74.323

    2013/14

    70.115

    7.904

    78.019

    2014/15

    60.090

    11.593

    71.683

    Source: Horserace Betting Levy Board

  • 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 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what lessons have been learned from the implementation of recommendations contained in NHS England’s report, entitled Innovation, Health and Wealth, published in December 2011; and how his Department is implementing those lessons in the Accelerated Access Review.

    George Freeman

    Innovation Health and Wealth rightly emphasised how crucial innovation is to our better care for patients and improving the health and care system. The Accelerated Access Review was established to build on this, recognising the fundamental contribution that the United Kingdom’s world class medical innovators make to our economy. The evaluation of the Innovation, Health and Wealth has formed part of the review evidence base.

    The independent Accelerated Access Review will report at the end of April with recommendations on how to increase the uptake of innovation in the National Health Service.