Category: Speeches

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Caroline Nokes

    The Government introduced the National Living Wage on 1 April 2016. This will put over £900 more a year in the pockets of full-time workers compared to the current National Minimum Wage.

    The Department ensures that all direct employees are paid at least the mandatory National Living Wage set by the Government, regardless of age. Similarly all agency staff and those on outsourced contracts are paid at least this rate. The Department reviews pay annually, setting pay at rates that will attract and motivate appropriate numbers and sufficient talent to fulfil its duties to some 22 million customers.

    None of our employees nor those working for our contractors are on zero hours contracts.

  • 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 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of epithalial suspension for people with ulcers.

    Nicola Blackwood

    It is for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to provide national clinical guidance and advice to improve health and social care based on the latest research and evidence base for use of technology and devices.

    NICE has not made any specific assessment on the use of epithelial suspension for the treatment of ulcers. However, in November 2014 it published medical technologies guidance on The ReCell Spray On Skin system for treating skin loss, scarring and depigmentation after burn injury. This recommended that further research should be carried out before wider adoption could be considered. NICE is due to review this guidance in 2017.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID does not maintain records of stationery lost or stolen. Therefore, it is not possible to estimate what the replacement cost would be.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, by how much the Government plans to increase the funding per place for apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    At the Autumn Statement, my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Government will establish a new employer-led body to set apprenticeship standards and ensure quality. The body will be independent of Government and will also advise on the level of levy funding each apprenticeship should receive. Our expectation is that funding caps will be significantly higher for programmes which have high costs and are of high quality.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to recover costs from overseas patients and their insurers for NHS treatment.

    Alistair Burt

    National Health Service hospitals have a legal duty to make representations and recover funds from those overseas visitors who are not exempt from charge for their hospital treatment; this should be from the patient directly or via their insurance company.

    The Department’s Visitor and Migrant National Health Service Cost Recovery Programme aims to ensure that the NHS receives a fair contribution for the cost of healthcare it provides to non-United Kingdom residents and improve the amount of costs recovered from them or their home countries, to ensure the NHS is sustainable.

    Since the launch of its implementation plan in July 2014 the Cost Recovery Programme has achieved much progress including:

    – the launch of the European Health Insurance Card reporting incentive scheme in October 2014 to improve the reporting of EHIC details of visitors and students from the European Economic Area (EEA) who access NHS care, for which the UK is entitled to reimbursement;

    – updated Charging Regulations from April 2015, reducing the number of exemption from charge categories for non-residents and realigning the Regulations to the principle that the NHS is a residency-based healthcare system;

    – requiring chargeable patients from outside the EEA to be charged at 150% of national tariff, in tandem with the launch of a risk sharing arrangement with commissioners, thereby encouraging providers to both identify and recover costs from these patients to access the extra funding available; and

    – the introduction of the health surcharge in April 2015 which now means nearly all individuals who require a visa to remain in the UK for more than six month’s pay an annual surcharge as a contribution towards their healthcare costs.

    Furthermore, those with outstanding debts to the NHS of £1,000 or more and who are subject to immigration control can, since 2011, have applications for new visas or extensions of stay refused because of that debt, to encourage them to pay it.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what financial assistance is available to UK businesses in the oil industry supply chain who face financial difficulties resulting from the reduction in the price of oil.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government has taken steps to help reinvigorate the supply chain by stimulating more investment opportunities in the UK Continental Shelf through a £1.3bn package of tax cutting measures and £20m of new funding for a second round of seismic surveys, announced at the end of January 2016.

    The government has taken forward the rapid implementation of the Wood Review and the Oil and Gas Fiscal Review, establishing the Oil and Gas Authority, and in recognition of the current economic pressures hitting the industry, has established a cross-government, Ministerial oil support group. This will look at issues such as how to support the supply chain and workers through this difficult period.

    UKTI also continue to work with supply chain companies to access overseas opportunities in countries including Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and Mexico.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the Sellafield Workforce Reform programme on the Sellafield workforce.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Sellafield Change Programme is being put into place to improve business performance and provide greater value for the public purse while maintaining the priority of safe and secure operations. Sellafield Ltd will continue to offer quality employment for many people for many years and is looking at how it can deliver the decommissioning mission as effectively and efficiently as possible and in a way that strengthens the local economy. Sellafield Ltd is engaging the workforce and its representatives on plans to improve the business and specifically on what this will mean for employees.

    Details of the change programme are available at http://www.nda.gov.uk/contracts-and-competition/sellafield-model-change-programme.

    “

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission an independent assessment of the effect on children of legislation on smoking in cars.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department assesses the impact of tobacco control measures on an ongoing basis as it develops policy. The Smoke-Free (Private Vehicles) Regulations 2015 include a requirement to review the regulations within five years of them coming into force, which will include an assessment of the effect on children’s exposure to secondhand smoke in private vehicles.

    In changing the law we always said the measure of success would be in changes in attitude and behaviour, not the number of enforcement actions. Information on prosecutions for the period since the regulations were introduced has not yet been published, however we would expect very few fixed penalty notices issued for these offences would lead to court appearances.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the financial strength of the Pension Protection Fund.

    Baroness Altmann

    The Pension Protection Fund is run by an independent Board and reviews its financial position regularly. It manages over £23 billion of assets and, in the 2014/15 Annual Report, the last published, declared a funding ratio of 115.1 per cent and a surplus of £3.6 billion.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that North Korean workers are producing garments for Burberry Group Inc.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    We have made no such assessment.

    The Modern Slavery Act, enacted last year, includes a demanding transparency in supply chains disclosure provision. This provision requires businesses operating in the UK, with an annual turnover of more than £36 million, to produce a slavery and human trafficking statement setting out the steps they have taken during the financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of its supply chains or its own business.

    The provision obliges eligible companies to publish this information on their website, with a conspicuous link from their homepage, so that consumers, investors and the general public know what steps businesses are taking in this regard.