Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health support available to British nationals affected by the terrorist attacks in (a) Tunis on 18 March 2015, (b) Sousse on 26 June 2015, (c) Paris on 13 November 2015 and (d) Nice on 14 July 2016; and what estimate he has made of the average waiting time to receive such services.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Following the terrorist attacks in Tunisia, Paris and Brussels a programme was put in place to support those affected by the incidents. It will be evaluated over the next five months. The findings will be available in March/April 2017 and will help to inform future policy direction. In addition the programme has been under internal review and ongoing improvements have been made as a result.

    For those people affected by the terrorist attacks in Nice, the Department will make every effort to contact individuals to inform them of the possible symptoms of trauma related ill-health and advice about treatment. This is in line with evidence-based recommendations made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has plans for an opt-out system for organ donation across the UK.

    Nicola Blackwood

    There are currently no plans for an opt-out system for organ donation in England. Since 2008 donation in the United Kingdom has increased by 68% and transplants by 47%, by increasing the number of specialist nurses and strengthening the donation infrastructure. 2015/16 saw the highest ever deceased donor rate in the UK with 1,364 deceased donors resulting in 3,529 transplants.

    We continue to support work to further increase donation and transplantation rates, particularly promoting collaborative working amongst organisations and raising awareness of donation in the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to become donors.

    NHS Blood and Transplant launched a new UK–wide organ donation and transplantation strategy in July 2013. Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020 identifies the action being taken to increase organ donation and transplantation.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s policy is on the maximum travelling time for applicants to personal independence payment assessments; and what proportion of such assessments have complied with that maximum time in the last 12 months.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The requirement placed on the providers delivering Personal Independence Payment assessments is that claimants are not expected to travel more than 90 minutes by public transport to attend assessments. We expect them to minimise travel times wherever possible but, in scheduling appointments, they need to balance both keeping journey times down and ensuring claimants are assessed in a reasonable time period. To increase capacity and reduce journey times the providers have been opening new assessment centres across the country.

    The information requested about the proportion of such assessments having complied with the maximum time in the last 12 months is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2015 to Question 6809, what progress his Department has made on allocating funding for investment into ultra low emission vehicles and the infrastructure to support such vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    The government allocated more than £600 million to support the uptake and manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles in the 2015 Spending Review. This represents an increase of over £100 million on the Government’s previous commitment and means the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) will continue to provide one of the most comprehensive packages of support for ultra low emission vehicles in the world.

    On 17 December the Government announced it has allocated £400 million so that the Plug-in Car Grant will continue to at least 2018, well beyond the previous guarantee of February 2016, and which will mean more than 100,000 people will benefit over the coming years – double the number who have already claimed the grant since 2011. The Government also announced the continuation of the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, which will provide £500 towards the cost of installing a domestic chargepoint.

    We will provide further details about the wider OLEV programme during the first part of 2016.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether any of the UK’s fellow members of NATO are currently using military force against their own citizens.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government has not made any such assessment. Through signature of the Washington Treaty, all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) have reaffirmed their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the UN, and their commitment to the principles of security, democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. The UK expects all our NATO Allies to live up to these commitments.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the cost to the NHS of opening hospitals seven days a week.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Spending Review provided the National Health Service in England with £10 billion in real terms additional funding by 2020-21. This fully funds the NHS’s Five Year Forward View, including delivering urgent and emergency hospital services which are of the same high quality at the weekend as during the week.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proposals the UK plans to take to the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC in March and April 2016; and whether he plans to attend that summit.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) will lead the UK delegation to the Nuclear Security Summit on 31 March – 1 April. The UK National Statement and Progress Report will be published on the Summit website at the time of the Summit.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients with a diagnosis of autism have been held on mental health wards in each of the last three years because they could not get a suitable living placement; and how many of those patients were (a) children and (b) adults.

    Alistair Burt

    The total number of adults with a diagnosis of autism who have been held on mental health wards was five in 2014 and 10 in 2015.

    The table below provides average and longest length for adults with a diagnosis of autism who were held on mental health wards in each of the last two years because they could not get a suitable living placement.

    Longest length of stay (days)

    Average length of stay (days)

    2014 Adults (aged 18 and over)

    435

    236

    2015 Adults (aged 18 and over)

    249

    71

    Data for children for this same period cannot be provided as the total is fewer than five in each given year and cannot be made available in order to minimise disclosure risks associated with small numbers.

  • 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 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the equality impact assessment on the proposed HPV vaccination programme for men who have sex with men.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England is starting a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination pilot for men who have sex with men in June 2016. Information gathered during the pilot will help inform an equality impact assessment for a national programme if the pilot is successful.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to invoke Article 50 of the TEU immediately; and whether they will negotiate to withdraw from the EU within months, and not later than March 2017.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has no such plans.