Category: Speeches

  • John Baron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Baron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) how many people and (b) what proportion of the eligible population have been invited to participate in the NHS Bowel Scope Screening Programme by screening centre in each year since that programme was launched.

    Jane Ellison

    Bowel Scope Screening is currently offered in 48 out of 63 screening units with 25% of all general practitioner practices in England engaging with bowel scope.

    All screening centres are expected to go live in 2016 and it is hoped that full roll out of bowel scope screening will be achieved by 2019.

    The annual population eligible for screening (55 year olds) is approximately 780,000 across all screening centres. This data come from the counts of people turning 55 each year.

    Data on screening centres offering bowel scope screening is currently unavailable due to deductive disclosure; however the programme is looking to publish the data as soon as possible.

  • Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases on the Child Maintenance Service system have child maintenance arrears, due to be paid by the non-resident parent, which were incurred under the 1993 or 2003 child maintenance schemes.

    Priti Patel

    Information on the number of cases with transitioned arrears from the 1993 or 2003 schemes is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason exemptions were granted from the sugar levy for 100 per cent fruit juice and milk; and if he will publish the evidence on which that decision was taken.

    Mr David Gauke

    Pure fruit juices and milk-based drinks have other health benefits and we do not want to discourage their consumption.

    Pure fruit juices are part of the 5-a-day message and have intrinsic nutrients such as containing certain vitamins.

    Milk and milk-products are a good source of protein and calcium, which have health benefits such as aiding bone formation. The government wants to encourage the consumption of milk to help children consume the required amounts of these nutrients.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish details of all the correspondence between his Department and the Britain Stronger in Europe Campaign since 1 September 2015.

    Mr David Lidington

    A search for any such correspondence since 1 September 2015 could only take place at disproportionate cost. The Cabinet Secretary issued clear guidance on 23 February that civil servants should not work directly with or for the campaign groups.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the implications for Government policy on carbon capture and storage (CCS) are of the decision not to proceed with the CCS Commercialisation Commission.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government has not closed the door on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and believes it has a potentially important role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK. We are clear that CCS is currently too expensive and its costs must come down. We continue to work with wider industry to help develop CCS cost efficiently in the UK, including through the joint Government-industry CCS Development Forum, which I co-chair. We will set out our approach to CCS in due course, informed by the findings from Lord Oxburgh’s CCS Advisory Group.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage recognition of same-sex marriage in countries where it is not currently recognised.

    Alok Sharma

    The United Kingdom is committed to tackling discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. We take discrimination to include the non-enjoyment of equal civil rights by all members of society, including the right to marry. Through our diplomatic network, Her Majesty’s Government regularly demonstrates its support for the principle of same sex marriage and encourages others to follow that example.

  • 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 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more regular blood pressure checks as a means of reducing costs to the NHS of conditions that otherwise remain undetected.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Public Health England (PHE) established the Blood Pressure System Leadership Board (BPSLB) to help drive improvements in the prevention, detection and management of high blood pressure. In 2014 the group published ‘Tackling high blood pressure: From evidence into action’, which sets out priority interventions required and key partner commitments. In the same year, PHE commissioned an assessment of the cost effectiveness of selected blood pressure interventions to help inform the work of the BPSLB.

    Between April 2013 and June 2016, 4.58 million people have benefitted from a blood pressure check as part of their NHS Health Check. Recent evaluation of the programme demonstrated that one case of hypertension was diagnosed in every 27 people receiving a check.

    PHE and partners have developed a Heart Age Tool, designed to help people understand their heart health and cardiovascular risk factors, including blood pressure. Over one million people have used the tool to date.

  • Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the level of unmet need for locked rehabilitation units offering intense psychology and substance misuse support to patients with personality disorders and drug or alcohol problems in the Humber area.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has made no such assessment. These services are locally commissioned.

  • Liam Fox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Liam Fox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of single farm payment and basic payment claims to the Rural Payments Agency are outstanding.

    George Eustice

    The payment window for the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 runs between 1st December 2015 and 30th June 2016.

    We received around 88,000 Basic Payment Scheme applications for 2015. On the 1st December, the opening of the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 payment window, we paid around 33,000 claims. This means that, as a proportion, around 62% of claims are still being processed.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many press and public relations staff are employed by her Department; how many of those employees are paid more than (a) £50,000 and (b) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by her Department in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    George Eustice

    Defra is in the midst of a transformation programme which is yielding significant reductions in communication staff.Defra currently employs 41 full time staff to deliver press and public relations. Nine staff are paid over £50,000 per annum. No staff are paid over £100,000 per annum.

    Our controls on communication spending have saved over £1million in 2015/16. The total committed expenditure for Defra’s press and public relations programme for 2015/16 is £46,761.