Category: Speeches

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representations to the Iranian government on the continued detention of seven Bahá’í leaders.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK regularly raises our concerns at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran. We call on Iran to cease harassment of all religious minorities and to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of religion to all Iranians.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) LEAP Academy Trust, (b) teaching trade unions, (c) staff and (d) students and parents on the future viability of Baverstock Academy; and what steps she is taking to ensure that that school remains open.

    Edward Timpson

    Leap Academy Trust has formally requested that the Secretary of State agree to terminate their funding agreement. No decision has yet been made. The Secretary of State will need to be confident that a robust plan is in place to ensure pupils’ education continues without disruption. In the meantime, our priority is to stabilise the academy in terms of school improvement and outcomes for pupils and the future of the staff.

  • Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to stop cold-callers who try to lure people into pension scams.

    Baroness Shields

    The Government takes the threat of pension scams very seriously. We are committed to protecting consumers from such scams, by raising awareness and pursuing scammers when these crimes occur.

    The Government has established Project Bloom, a multi-department, multi-agency forum for officials to monitor trends, share intelligence on emerging threats, and help co-ordinate action to tackle scams. Members include the National Crime Agency, police forces, Pension Wise, regulators and key Government departments.

    We are also taking forward a range of legislative measures to tackle nuisance calls, which will increase consumer protection and choice by strengthening the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law. Recent actions include a measure in the Digital Economy Bill that will strengthen the ICO’s direct marketing guidance by giving it statutory status. We are also exploring proposals to extend the ICO’s powers of compulsory audit to more of the organisations that generate nuisance calls; and the options for enabling the ICO to hold company directors to account for breaches of the direct marketing rules.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what evaluation she made of the potential effect on delivering sustainable development (a) on the Government Estate and (b) in the UK of the planned reduction in her Department’s expenditure.

    George Eustice

    While the Spending Review has been driven by the need to contribute to the Government’s overall aim of eliminating the deficit, our settlement also reflects the vital importance of work done in all parts of Defra.

    We are confident that the settlement will allow us to deliver our ambitions over the course of this parliament to safeguard our natural assets, support our food and farming industry and sustain a thriving rural economy.

    In relation to the government estate, we are currently considering the future Greening Government Commitment arrangements. The current Greening Government Commitments, which were aimed at reducing government’s environmental impacts, have also led to financial savings (for example, the estimated savings from reducing energy, water and waste costs across government were approximately £94 million in 2013/14 compared to 2009/10).

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of clinical commissioning group transformation plans do not mention services for (a) children who have experienced abuse and (b) looked after children; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    As part of improving transparency, all Local Transformation Plans must be published locally and made widely available.

    NHS England’s guidance Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing – Guidance and support for local areas is explicit about the need to promote equality and address health inequalities, and states that plans should ‘address the full spectrum of need including children and young people who have particular vulnerability to mental health problems for e.g. those with learning disabilities, looked after children and care leavers, those at risk or in contact with the Youth Justice System, or who have been sexually abused and/or exploited’.

    The assurance process requires local areas to evidence how they are meeting the needs of vulnerable groups including looked after children and children who have experienced abuse.

    An analysis of Local Transformation Plans has been commissioned and will include a thematic review of how the mental health needs of children and young people in vulnerable groups have been addressed.

    As set out in the guidance for Local Transformation Plans an integral part of the locally developed Children and Young People’s Mental Health Transformation Plans includes a tracking template that sets out local progress milestones and financial spend. This tracker will be used as the basis for assurance assessment in 2015/16 and from 2016/17 onwards progress on local transformation will become part of the mainstream planning assurance process.

    Local Transformation Plansrequire all key partners in a local area to agree how best to meet the mental health needs of children and young people in their local populations. 122 Local Transformation Planshave been developed that cover all 209 clinical commissioning groups.

    The assurance process for Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing was undertaken by NHS England regional teams and included assurance against each plan of standard self-assessment and tracker templates to enable a comparison of plans against objective success criteria.

    NHS England have commissioned a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Local Transformation Plans, in order to support policy makers, local commissioners and services to understand and use the data that is contained within the plans to drive further improvements. Local Transformation Plans will be reviewed from a narrative, analytical and financial perspective, with thematic reviews carried out in key focus areas that align with Future in mind principles.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) sexual harm prevention orders and (b) sexual risk orders have been made by courts in England.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office does not collate central figures on the number of Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders issued in England. Figures collated by the police for management purposes, and provided to the Home Office, on the overall number of orders show that in the period between 8 March and 29 September, 2,425 full and 40 interim Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and 32 full and 13 interim Sexual Risk Orders were issued in England and Wales. This data is not broken down by age.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    There are no staff employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) who are in receipt of (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance. This is also the case for FCO Services, the British Council, Wilton Park Executive Agency, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the Great Britain China Centre.

    To obtain information for local staff employed directly by our overseas embassies and missions would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will implement a treatment pathway for people who suffer from lipoedema to allow such people to receive liposuction on the NHS.

    Jane Ellison

    There are several different treatments available for the management of lipoedema such as compression therapy, exercise and massage. There is limited evidence on the efficacy of liposuction for the treatment of lipoedema, and it is not routinely available on the National Health Service.

  • Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to respond to the recommendations set out in What’s important to me: A review of choice in end of life care, also known as the Choice Review.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are committed to ensuring that everyone at, or nearing, the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care, tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

    The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care, which will be published shortly, will set out our vision for high quality, personalised care and the steps we will take to achieve this. The response will also address each of the Review recommendations, including on care coordination; improving the quality, availability and responsiveness of care; improving the quality and use of data; care planning and the use of digital care records; and the involvement of family members and carers in discussions about care.

  • Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Ministers of his Department have raised human rights issues in an official capacity, and with whom, in the last four weeks.

    Mr David Lidington

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers raise a broad range of human rights issues on every appropriate occasion with representatives of foreign governments. However, information on each and every occasion on which human rights have been raised during the period in question is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.