Category: Speeches

  • Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of NHS England on spending on mental health services during 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    In total, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure in excess of their increase in allocation for the year. NHS England is tracking actual expenditure against those plans and it will report to the Secretary of State at the end of the year on whether those plans have been met.

    Departmental Ministers meet the Chief Executives of NHS England and Monitor regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including funding for mental health services.

    NHS England was formally established on 1 April 2013.Expenditure by NHS England on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2013/14 was £1.780 billion and £1.795 billion in 2014/15. NHS England’s planned expenditure on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2015/16 is £1.859 billion.

    NHS England has published CCG level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15. Estimates for 2015/16 are not available.

  • Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many government employees are in receipt of in-work benefits.

    Greg Hands

    The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on the Hunting Act 2004.

    Rory Stewart

    The Secretary of State regularly discusses all relevant polices with her ministerial colleagues as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether UK personnel were involved in checking the target selections for any (a) deliberate and (b) unintended breaches of international humanitarian law during the recent Saudi Arabian military action in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK is not a member of the Saudi Arabia-led military Coalition. British personnel are not involved in carrying out strikes, directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets, and are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process. We have deployed a small number of military personnel serving as liaison officers in Saudi Arabia’s headquarters to provide insight into Saudi operations. They remain under UK command and control.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 16115, if he will make it his policy to collect centrally data on Flexible Support Funding spent on childcare support.

    Priti Patel

    The Flexible Support Fund is used at the discretion of Jobcentre Plus District Managers and Work Coaches to support people back into work. Given this is a localised, discretionary fund we do not, and do not have plans to, create additional bureaucratic reporting on how the fund is spent.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department owed in late payments to small and medium-sized enterprises in each year for which data is available.

    Anna Soubry

    When making payments, the core Department does not differentiate between small, medium and large enterprises as many small and medium sized businesses can be found at various tiers of the procurement chain.

    The Department takes prompt payment very seriously and records show that in the current financial year to the end of February 2016, 96.4% of all valid invoices (by volume) were paid within 5 working days. When looking at the overall value, this equates to 99.8% paid within 5 working days and 99.99% of invoices were paid within the 30 day standard contractual terms.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Annual Report 2015 of the Service Complaints Ombudsmen for the Armed Forces, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that (a) some complaints first processed by the Service Complaints Commissioner in 2008 remain open and (b) other referrals by the Service Complaints Commissioner have been outstanding for over a year.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Service Complaints Ombudsman acknowledges in the Annual Report 2015 that the Services’ commitment during 2015 to resolve complaints that were raised before 2014, resulted in a reduction in their number of around 50%. The Ombudsman acknowledges that in some cases there is just cause for delay, but where her investigations under her new powers find that delay was unjustified and avoidable the Ministry of Defence will learn the lessons as part of its commitment to achieving a service complaints process that is fair, effective and efficient.

  • Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s future requirement for (a) officer cadets and (b) ratings.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Under current planning assumptions the Royal Fleet Auxiliary expects to recruit the following number of Officer Cadets and Apprentice Ratings in each of the next five years:

    2016-17

    2017-18

    2018-19

    2019-20

    2020-21

    Cadet

    32

    32

    32

    32

    32

    Apprentice

    128

    128

    117

    117

    93
  • Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will conduct an investigation into the ethical basis for the move of Southern Health Chief Executive Katrina Percy to another post at the same salary level; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mowat

    The decision referred to by the hon. Member was taken by Southern Health, as is appropriate, and is a matter for them and the relevant regulatory bodies.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on the future of St Helena airport.

    Rory Stewart

    DFID officials, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State and DFID Ministers, are in regular contact with FCO officials about the future of St Helena Airport.