Category: Speeches

Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on mortality rates arising from changes to journey times for patients if the proposed closure of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary’s Accident & Emergency department goes ahead.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The reconfiguration of front line health services is a matter for the local National Health Service. Services should be tailored to meet the needs of the local population, and proposals for substantial service change must meet the four tests of reconfiguration which are: (i) support from GP commissioners; (ii) strengthened public and patient engagement; (iii) clarity on the clinical evidence base; and (iv) support for patient choice.

All commissioners proposing reconfiguration must include an analysis of travelling times and distances in their Pre-Consultation Business Case.

All service changes should be based on clear evidence that they will deliver better outcomes for patients. We expect the local NHS to undertake robust analysis of the impact of any proposed significant changes to services as part of the case for change.

01/01/2023
– 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of Detective Superintendent McDonald’s description of child abuse allegations against Sir Edward Heath, Lord Bramall and Lord Brittan as credible and true”

Lord Bates

The Government is clear that allegations of child abuse should be thoroughly and properly investigated. However decisions about arrest and charge are an operational matter for the police and Crown Prosecution Service and it would be inappropriate for the Home Office to comment further.

01/01/2023
Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on increasing the amount of funding available to GP practices.

Alistair Burt

The Department has regular discussions with NHS England on various measures to support general practice, including funding.

NHS England has confirmed that it will increase funding for general practice by an average of 4.5% each year to 2020/21.

01/01/2023

Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Attorney General, (a) how much funding he has allocated to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the (i) Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and (ii) SFO’s Proceeds of Crime Division in each year since 2009.

Jeremy Wright

The information requested is contained in the following tables.

	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
SFO gross budget	£44.6m	£41.3m	£40.1m	£43.7m	£54m	£59.4m	£62.2m
SFO Proceeds of Crime Division ²	£0.920m	£1.021m	£1.571m	£1.683m	£1.931m	£2.304m	£2.674m

Full time equivalent staff ³	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
SFO	307	305	306	292	305	401⁴	393
SFO Proceeds of Crime Division	13	17	21	20	23.43	32.71	31.43

The figures includes any blockbuster funding received in each year. They exclude capital expenditure, annually managed expenditure.
The Proceeds of Crime figures include the budget for the current year and outturn for the previous years. They do not include £110k funding received from the Department for International Development in the financial years 2014-15 & 2015-16.
This data covers FTE staff in post as at 31^st March each year including fixed term contractors, but not agency staff. Complete records for staff in post in the Proceeds of Crime division before 2011-12 are not held centrally and the figures provided for these years are based on available data.
This is a revised figure which corrects the number previously published in the SFO Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15.

01/01/2023

Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects part-time season tickets to be available to all rail passengers.

Claire Perry

Progress is being made on the delivery of more flexible tickets. We are challenging operators to introduce products which give passengers more flexibility. This month c2c launched their flexi-day season on their smartcard. Passengers who commute three times a week to London from Southend can save over £135 a year with the new ticket. Other operators such as Govia Thameslink Railway and Arriva Trains Wales already offer flexible products on selected routes that can provide passengers who work or commute part-time a better deal.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraphs 5.36 to 5.38 of the Cabinet Manual, what the Government’s policy is on whether the convention that a debate in Parliament should be held before troops are committed in military action applies if troops are deployed in a non-combat role but then subsequently become involved in sustained and proactive combat activities as a result of a change in circumstances or a change in mission.

Michael Fallon

The Government has been clear that before troops are committed, the House of Commons should have an opportunity to debate the matter except when there was an emergency and such action would not be appropriate. We will continue to ensure that Parliament is kept informed of significant major operations and deployments of the Armed Forces. In observing the convention, we must ensure that the ability of our Armed Forces to act quickly and decisively, and to maintain the security of their operations, is not compromised.

01/01/2023
Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total amount of capital spending per capita by Highways England was in (a) Birmingham, (b) the West Midlands Metropolitan County and (c) each region of England from 2009-10 to the most recent financial year for which information is available.

Mr John Hayes

The majority of the capital investment made by Highways England (and the Highways Agency prior to April 2015) is in large schemes that cross city, county and regional boundaries. Data cannot be meaningfully collected on this basis.

However, for the purpose of national transport statistics, spend is apportioned between regions using an established estimation process and is published up to the financial year 2013/14 at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/transport-statistics-great-britain in the series of tables TSGB0717 / RDE0101.

“

01/01/2023
Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the local economy of the closure of the HM Revenue and Customs office in Shipley; and if he will place a copy of that assessment in the Library.

Mr David Gauke

On 12 November, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the next stage of its ten-year modernisation programme. As part of that, the department demonstrated its long-term commitment to Yorkshire and the Humber by setting out that it would establish a Regional Centre in Leeds.

A number of factors were considered by HMRC when deciding where to locate its new Regional Centres. In addition to cost, it considered local and national transport links, the local labour market, supply of future workforce and the retention of current staff and skills.

HMRC modelled the impact of locating the Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in both Bradford and Leeds. For both scenarios, it took into account the potential loss of jobs for staff expected to be outside of reasonable daily travel (defined as approximately 1 hour from home to work, though dependent on individual circumstances).

HMRC first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, setting out how and why it is changing. The department is committed to continuing to support all of its employees who are affected by these changes.

Staff in Yorkshire attended a number of face-to-face events, providing feedback on the potential location of the regional centre. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

This transformation programme will ultimately enable HMRC to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer. It will generate estate savings of £100 million a year by 2025.

01/01/2023
Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of classroom teachers earning £65,000 or more per year are women.

Nick Gibb

The data provided to the Department for Education by schools in the School Workforce Census, November 2014, shows that 72 per cent of classroom teachers earning £65,000 or more were women.

01/01/2023
Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contingency arrangements her Department has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

Nick Gibb

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to question 21952 by my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister on 14 January.

01/01/2023