Category: Speeches

  • David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to increase mental health support to UK students in the last 12 months.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Department has responsibility for the health and wellbeing of people in England.

    Over the last 12 months progress has been made on many of the key ambitions set out in Future in Mind, which sets out the five-year vision of major system-wide transformation to improve access to high-quality mental health support across England for all children and young people. Future in Mind acknowledged that in particular university students may experience difficulty in transitioning between adolescent and adult mental health services due to geographical relocation and transience of residence.

    The core delivery mechanism in making this ambitious programme of transformation happen is the system-wide publicly available Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) that should cover the full spectrum of need for children and young people who have existing or emerging mental health problems. In developing the LTPs, local areas were asked to work with their key partners – including education – to agree locally how best to meet the mental health needs of children and young people in their local populations and this included effective transitions between services.

    To support this transformation, an additional £1.4 billion funding has been made available over the course of this Parliament that will enable the expansion and extension of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme so that high quality and evidence-based interventions can be accessed wherever they live.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she plans to take to raise awareness of the prejudice against transgender people.

    Caroline Dinenage

    M​any transgender people face discrimination in the workplace, as well as in their day-to-day lives. That is why I will publish guidance for employers and service providers on 26 November 2015, to improve knowledge and understanding.

    I want to continue to raise awareness of the issues and discrimination facing many transgender and non-binary people.

    On Transgender Day of Remembrance, 20 November 2015, my department became the first to fly the transgender flag, remembering all those who have lost their lives and faced discrimination.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the latest date is on which he could announce his decision on airport expansion in the south east consistent with meeting the timetable for delivering capacity set out by the Airports Commission.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    On 10 December, the Government accepted the Airports Commission’s case for expansion in the South East. We agree with the Commission’s shortlist of three options, all of which it concluded were viable. The Government will now conclude a package of further work by the summer, and will ensure that the timetable for delivering additional capacity set out by the Commission does not alter.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in implementing the reforms to the National Referral Mechanism; and whether they will publish the names of the independent chairs of the multi-disciplinary panels.

    Lord Bates

    The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) pilot commenced in August 2015 and in the period up to 40 cases have been considered by the multi-disciplinary panels. 33 of these cases were from potential victims identified in West Yorkshire, and 7 from potential victims identified in the South West.

    We anticipate the pilot will run for 12 months following which decisions will be made about the future of the NRM to better identify and support all victims of modern slavery. In reaching these decisions we will consult with key partners including the police, local authorities and the NHS.

    The names of the independent chairs of the multi-disciplinary panels have been published and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-national-referral-mechanism-for-victims-of-human-trafficking/pilot-evaluating-the-proposed-reforms-to-the-national-referral-mechanism

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many Daesh fighters have moved from Iraq and Syria to Libya; and what implications this has had on UK defence and security policies.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware that Daesh has called for Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF) to travel to Libya and that there is a significant FTF contingent among the Daesh forces there, including individuals from Syria and Iraq.

    We are monitoring the situation closely and working closely with international partners to develop a comprehensive approach to defeat Daesh in Libya. This will be a priority for our discussions with the new Libyan government.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of total sick leave that leave was in each such year.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The number and proportion of staff (percentage of the FCO’s workforce for the relevant year) who took stress related absence for each of the last five years (1st January 2011 to 31st December 2015) is as follows:

    2011

    46 (0.79%)

    2012

    43 (0.89%)

    2013

    47 (0.99%)

    2014

    27 (0.59%)

    2015

    42 (0.97%)

    The proportion of stress related absence episodes against the total sick absence episodes for each of the last five years is as follows:

    2011

    1.96%

    2012

    2.12%

    2013

    2.41%

    2014

    1.51%

    2015

    2.15%
  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with international partners on aid access to Madaya in Syria.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK is part of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). The ISSG Humanitarian Task Force meets on a weekly basis to push for increased access across Syria, in line with relevant Security Council Resolutions. We have been pushing hard through these discussions for humanitarian access to be granted to all besieged and hard to reach places in Syria, including Madaya. As a result, humanitarian convoys have reached 11 besieged areas, including Madaya – several inter-agency convoys have reached a total of 150,000 people in besieged areas. This is out of a total of 487,000 people in besieged areas.

    However, progress is too slow. More needs to be done to provide for all those in need in Syria. We are also deeply concerned by reports of civilian deaths in Madaya because their medical evacuations were blocked. We are pressing for an end to the removal of medical equipment from convoys by the regime, the evacuation of critical medical cases and regular access to healthcare for besieged populations.

  • 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, whether his Department holds information on the number of boys receiving HPV vaccinations through private provision.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department does not hold information on the number of boys receiving human papillomavirus vaccinations through private provision.

  • Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Featherstone on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether in negotiating the UK’s exit from the EU they plan to seek for the UK to be included in any EU regulations on the security of gas supply in times of crisis, as set out in the European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply and repealing Regulation (EU) No 994/2010.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    While the UK remains a member of the EU the existing rules apply and new legislation that applies to the UK will be implemented.

    It will be for the new Prime Minister to decide on our future relationship with the EU, including on matters of energy.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to police forces on initiatives to stop the illegal trading of ivory.

    Brandon Lewis

    We have not issued specific guidance to the police on tackling the illegal trading of ivory. With the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, we fund the National Wildlife Crime Unit which provides intelligence and specialist assistance to assist all police forces in the United Kingdom to deal effectively with wildlife crime investigation, including cases that involve the illegal trading of ivory.