Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase levels of blood donation.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) provide blood donation services to the National Health Service, supplying a reliable, efficient supply of blood in England and North Wales. To secure a consistent donor base, NHSBT runs donor recruitment campaigns throughout the year to attract new donors, for example last year’s Missing Types Programme which featured the removal of the letters of A O B from famous locations and high street brands. NHSBT also ran the #BleedForEngland campaign around the World Cup using rugby celebrities which led to 100,000 new donor registrations. The recently completed New Year 2016 recruitment campaign also saw more than 30,000 people register to give blood.

    On 1 February 2016 NHSBT confirmed that more than one million people are now registered to book blood donation appointments online.

    NHSBT is also taking specific action to increase the number of blood donors from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community, particularly from Black African, Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian communities.

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the terms of reference for the blood donations review will be approved by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs.

    Jane Ellison

    The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) is carrying out a review of blood donor selection criteria. Currently a working group is being formed. The process will fully involve stakeholders, similar to the previous 2011 SaBTO review, and contacting stakeholders inviting their contribution to the review will begin imminently. The terms of reference will include input from stakeholders and be published once approved by SaBTO which will be at their next meeting. The review will be holistic and evidence relating to the risks of blood-borne infections in people who have previously injected drugs or received money or drugs for sex will be included. The review will be incremental, with published progress reports and any intermediate advice.

    It is anticipated that the group will publish its final report in 2017.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make it a condition of energy firms’ licences that the staff of those firms’ entire retail operation are directly employed in the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The management of energy companies’ retail operations, including the location of its staff, is a commercial matter for the individual companies.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Tyrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on demand for justice services of future growth in the population of Chichester.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The demand for justice services may change in future due to many factors including, but not limited to, demographic changes. The decision to close the courts in Chichester was made on the basis that the receiving courts have capacity to accommodate current and future projected workloads. The improvements which will be delivered by the reform of HM Courts & Tribunals Service will enable court services to be delivered flexibly and provide greater resilience to changes in demand.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-06-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what links firms bidding to run the Land Registry have to offshore tax havens.

    Anna Soubry

    A government consultation seeking views on options to move operations of Land Registry to the private sector closed on 26 May. Government is currently analysing the responses but no final decisions have been made. We have not received any bids.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of domestic violence refuges that will be potentially close as a result of changes to housing benefit.

    Caroline Nokes

    The Secretary of State has confirmed that the Government expects to make an announcement on the way forward for supported housing in early autumn. Full impact and equality impact assessments will be undertaken in due course.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of slow medicine reimbursement decisions on the level of commercial investment in UK clinical research by companies specialising in rare and ultra-rare conditions.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Independent evidence suggests that the most important attraction for companies to invest in research in the United Kingdom is the availability of world-class scientific expertise, which is the focus of the Government’s effort to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global Research and Development. It also suggests that there is no obvious reason why National Health Service reimbursement policy for pharmaceuticals, or the time taken to make decisions on reimbursement, should significantly affect decisions to invest in Research and Development in the UK.

    The independently chaired Accelerated Access Review makes recommendations to the Government on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to innovative medicines, medical technologies, diagnostics and digital products.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what action can be taken within state aid rules to secure assets of national strategic significance to the British economy.

    Anna Soubry

    A Member State may purchase or invest in an asset on purely commercial terms, as commercial investment is not subject to state aid rules. However, any subsequent injection of funds would be subject to the rules, unless it too was on commercial terms. It should be noted that the state aid rules apply equally to nationalised and privatised companies. With losses of over £600 million in just over three years and hundreds of millions in debts, commercial terms for SSI UK would have been impossible to meet.

    More generally, it is possible to give a variety of types of aid under the rules including aid for research and development, and environmental protection. Restructuring and rescue of steel however is prohibited.

  • Lord Fearn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Fearn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Fearn on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the annual value of tourism to the UK economy.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Office for National Statistics has estimated that tourism was worth £59.6 billion Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2014.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 11.10 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the figure of £55.7 billion for High Speed 2 is exclusive of the cost of rolling stock for that project.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The £55.7bn long-term funding envelope for delivering HS2 includes funding provision for rolling stock.