Category: Speeches

  • Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-05-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the cross-department ministerial group to tackle illicit trade in tobacco has met since it was announced in the budget of March 2015; and whether they will set out the membership of that group, the issues that were discussed at each meeting and the intended outcomes.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The cross-department ministerial group to tackle illicit tobacco will meet for the first time later this month. This follows a number of productive meetings between officials in HMRC and other departments to identify the challenges and opportunities in the UK and internationally and determine a clear agenda for ministerial action. Further details on the group will be issued in due course.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations officials, advisers and Ministers in her Department made to the Competition and Markets Authority on the date of publication of its final report on the energy market.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are an independent body and the date of publication of their reports is their decision. Officials, Advisors and Ministers in the Department have not made any representations to the CMA, and the CMA have not consulted Ministers or advisors, on the date of the publication of this report. Officials in my Department have discussed with the CMA their intended date of publication for final report on the energy market to inform the Department’s own planning.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on reducing required variations in the care provided to people with diabetes.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This Government is working hard to improve outcomes and quality of life for those already living with diabetes and those who will develop it in the coming years. One of our key goals in the mandate to the National Health Service is a measurable reduction in variation in the management and care of people with the condition within the lifetime of this Parliament. Funding has been secured through the spending review to help achieve this and NHS England is developing a programme to ensure that those clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which need extra investment in this area, accompanied by sound plans for delivery, receive it.

    In addition, the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework will play a key role in delivering this as it contains two recognised evidence based measures of whether patients with diabetes are being supported to successfully manage their condition (achievement of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence treatment targets and participation in structured education programmes).

    Using data from the NHS Atlas of Variation, NHS Right Care is also working with CCGs and other local partners to make improvements in diabetes care and reduce variation by providing hands on practical support.

    Since 2009/10, there has been an almost 70% increase in the proportion of people newly diagnosed with diabetes recorded as being referred to structured education courses, designed to help them manage their condition in the long term. However, whilst we know that the data on take up needs improving, there is still much further to go in enabling people with diabetes to access these programmes.

    The Department, NHS England and Diabetes UK are working on ways to improve the take up of structured education including exploring how more diversity of provision might be delivered through digital and web based approaches. The Department recently held a seminar with key stakeholders to identify actions that would facilitate improved access.

    CCGs are primarily responsible for commissioning diabetes services to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population, are based on the available evidence, taking into account national guidelines. This should include consideration of access to continuous glucose monitoring for people with Type 1 diabetes who might benefit from it.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authority staff report bullying and intimidation each year.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Bullying and intimidation are serious matters and all employers, including local authorities, should have in place arrangements to ensure employees can safely report this behaviour, including by those in a senior position.

    My Department does not collect information about incidents of bullying or intimidation of local authority staff, nor have we made any assessment of council codes of conduct to protect officers from such behaviour.

  • Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses trained abroad were recruited by the NHS in each year since 2010.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold information on the numbers of National Health Service nurses that have received training outside of the United Kingdom.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to respond to the letter of 27 October 2015 from the hon. Member for Leeds North West about the It’s Personal campaign.

    Jane Ellison

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State responded to the hon. Member’s letter of 27 October 2015 on 24 November 2015.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that local fire authorities install deaf awareness alternative smoke alarms in homes which make use of warning lights rather than sound as a warning system when requested.

    Mike Penning

    We expect local fire and rescue authorities to determine how to allocate their resources to best protect their communities from the risks from fire. Although each authority delivers a range of community fire safety interventions designed to prevent and reduce the risk from accidental dwelling fires, all also carry out a programme of home fire safety visits. In some cases, these visits, which offered tailored fire safety advice in the home, are focussed specifically on those who may be particularly vulnerable, including older people and those with disabilities. Fire and rescue authorities will, in certain circumstances, offer to provide and install free smoke alarms to households without them. This will include alarms designed specifically for those who may be deaf or have other hearing difficulties. How fire and rescue authorities decide where best to target their home fire safety visits and what fire safety equipment, if any, would reduce most effectively the risk to the household is a local matter based on a local assessment of risk.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is providing to the Lebanese government to prevent recruitment to terrorist groups from the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    As part of the UK’s global work countering terrorism and extremism, the UK is supporting Lebanon to prevent the recruitment of individuals to violent extremist groups. This support includes supporting moderate Sunni religious voices in Lebanon, training young Muslim leaders on countering extremist narratives, and supporting the reform of the Lebanese school curriculum to educate young people on tolerance and citizenship values. This financial year we are spending £1.15 million within the camps to support Palestinian youth networks to bolster community stability and build resilience against extremism. This includes supporting young people in the development of solutions to community-level problems, increasing civic participation, developing alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and the production of youth-led counter extremist narratives.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Government officials engaged in matters relating to policies from the EU; and what the staff cost of such engagement is.

    Mr David Lidington

    Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe. The staff costs of engagement on EU business cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Health Education England over any action required to stem the loss of consultant clinical pharmacologist posts in the NHS.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Figures published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that there has not been a reduction in the number of consultant clinical pharmacologists employed in the National Health Service in England.

    As part of its workforce planning, Health Education England (HEE) take account of a range of factors including forecast rates of retirement. HEE has recently undertaken a review of the clinical pharmacology and therapeutics workforce, the findings of which will contribute to future workforce planning for this specialty in England.

    It is for the respective Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to consider workforce planning for their health system.