Category: Speeches

  • Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how he plans to assess whether clinical commissioning groups in England have met the NHS England planning guidance requirement to give real terms spending increases to mental health services in 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    In total, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure in excess of their increase in allocation for the year. NHS England is tracking actual expenditure against those plans and it will report to the Secretary of State at the end of the year on whether those plans have been met.

    Departmental Ministers meet the Chief Executives of NHS England and Monitor regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including funding for mental health services.

    NHS England was formally established on 1 April 2013.Expenditure by NHS England on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2013/14 was £1.780 billion and £1.795 billion in 2014/15. NHS England’s planned expenditure on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2015/16 is £1.859 billion.

    NHS England has published CCG level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15. Estimates for 2015/16 are not available.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what provision the Government made in the conditions of the sale of Royal Mail for suitable local alternatives to be provided in the event that local sorting or collection offices were closed.

    Anna Soubry

    Decisions on whether to close and re-locate local collection offices have always been operational matters for Royal Mail. The Government played no role in such decisions prior to the sale of Royal Mail.

    Regardless of ownership, Royal Mail, as the United Kingdom’s designated universal service provider, is required to provide a universal postal service that meets the minimum requirements as set out under the Postal Services Act 2011.

    It is the responsibility of the postal regulator, Ofcom, to ensure that Royal Mail provides sufficient access points to meet its universal postal service obligations.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many children in England have lived in overcrowded homes in each of the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    In 2013-14, an estimated 1.2 million children in England were living in overcrowded accommodation. Estimates for recent years from the English Housing Survey are shown in the attached table.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the terms are of the Dorset Growth Deal; and how much funding from the public purse has been provided to the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership.

    Anna Soubry

    To date Dorset LEP has received £88.3m in funding (£79m from the Local Growth Fund and £9.3m from the Growing Places Fund) to support investment in schemes that drive local economic growth, along with £1.88m in grants.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Department.

    David Mundell

    I refer the hon Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General on 29 February 2016.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the definition of the term Commonwealth values” when used by that organisation.”

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We believe that Commonwealth values are those set out clearly in the Commonwealth Charter which was adopted by Heads of Government on 14 December 2012. These include democracy, human rights, international peace and security, through to gender equality and the role of civil society. We will continue to work with the Commonwealth Secretariat to ensure that commitments in the Charter are upheld, adhered to and kept under review by member governments, parliaments and civil society organisations. Hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2018 will give us the opportunity to build on the excellent progress made in Malta and reinforce the need for all members to observe the values outlined in the Charter.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what he expects the take-up rate of tax-free childcare to be.

    Damian Hinds

    Tax-Free Childcare is being designed to be as straightforward as possible for parents. It will be quick and easy to apply online for the vast majority who are able to do so. However, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will ensure that assistance is provided to families who cannot access the internet so that they do not miss out on the support available via Tax-Free Childcare.

    Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.

    The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested before the scheme is launched.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-06-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many British citizens are resident in each European Union member state; how many from each of those states are resident in the UK; and in each case how many are of pensionable age.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    There is no legal obligation on a British citizen living overseas to register with the British Embassy, but the UN estimated that in mid-2015 there were more than 1.2 million UK citizens living permanently elsewhere in the EU. These estimates do not include British citizens travelling or residing for part of the year in another Member State.

    * Population of UK citizens permanently resident in the European Union; UN estimate, mid-2015

    Total (thousands)

    TOTAL UK IN EU

    1,216.0

    Austria

    11.0

    Belgium

    27.3

    Bulgaria

    5.3

    Croatia

    0.7

    Cyprus

    40.5

    Czech Republic

    4.8

    Denmark

    18.6

    Estonia

    0.5

    Finland

    6.9

    France

    185.3

    Germany

    103.4

    Greece

    17.7

    Hungary

    7.0

    Ireland

    254.8

    Italy

    65.0

    Latvia

    1.1

    Lithuania

    3.3

    Luxembourg

    6.6

    Malta

    12.0

    Netherlands

    49.5

    Poland

    34.5

    Portugal

    17.8

    Romania

    3.1

    Slovakia

    4.9

    Slovenia

    0.6

    Spain

    308.8

    Sweden

    25.0

    Office for National Statistics data show that, between January and December 2014, there were approximately 2.9 million European Union member state nationals resident in the UK.

    * Population resident in the United Kingdom, excluding some residents in communal establishments, by nationality; ONS statistics August 2015 (2014 data)

    Total (thousands)

    TOTAL EU IN UK

    2,940

    Austria

    18

    Belgium

    17

    Bulgaria

    59

    Croatia

    4

    Cyprus

    17

    Czech Republic

    37

    Denmark

    26

    Estonia

    14

    Finland

    14

    France

    160

    Germany

    131

    Greece

    54

    Hungary

    85

    Italy

    170

    Latvia

    108

    Lithuania

    155

    Luxembourg

    0

    Malta

    8

    Netherlands

    82

    Poland

    853

    Portugal

    175

    Republic of Ireland

    331

    Romania

    175

    Slovakia

    79

    Slovenia

    5

    Spain

    131

    Sweden

    32

    There are many different ways of defining and calculating migration data so different sources will not necessarily be comparable.

    No information is available on the numbers of UK and EU citizens in receipt of a UK State Pension broken down by nationality. This is because the UK State Pension is a contributory based pension, where nationality or citizenship do not form part of the eligibility criteria.

    There is no data available on the number of European Union member state nationals resident in the UK who are of pensionable age.

  • Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Farrelly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Farrelly on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans for (a) Staffordshire and (b) other constituent parts of the UK.

    David Mowat

    Sustainability and Transformation Plan proposals are currently at a draft stage, but it is expected that all local leaders will be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly as it is vital that people are able to shape the future of their local services. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation. There are longstanding assurance processes in place to make sure this happens. All footprints will submit an updated plan in October, with further formal public engagement and consultation taking place from this point, as appropriate. Many footprints are already publishing patient-facing summaries as part of their engagement programme.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offices Working Links has in Wales for the administration of probation services; and what the locations are of those offices.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The administration of probation services across the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) is changing. There will be three operational hubs located in Swansea, Cardiff and Colwyn Bay. Frontline delivery office locations will exist across Wales and the Wales CRC are establishing community hubs to provide and deliver collaborative partnership working.

    All CRC providers set out an agreed operating model within their bid during the Transforming Rehabilitation competition. We are robustly managing the contracts to make sure the providers deliver services which reduce reoffending, protect the public and provide value for money to the taxpayer.