Category: Speeches

  • The Lord Bishop of Durham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The Lord Bishop of Durham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Durham on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider re-opening the Department for International Development’s Office in Burundi.

    Baroness Verma

    In 2012, as part of its global review of bilateral programmes, DFID decided to focus its work in Burundi on the country’s integration into the East African Community (EAC) as the single most important factor for promoting economic growth. DFID has continued to provide support to Burundi, mainly through Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), a specialist agency which promotes trade growth in East Africa. DFID has contributed £16.5 million to TMEA for Burundi in the period 2010-2016. Burundi also receives contributions through multilateral organisations and funds. For example, through the Global Poverty Action Fund, we have also provided £500,000 for the provision of sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation for 139,000 people in Bujumbura Rural Province. DFID also provides central funding to UK NGOs, some of which work with local partners in Burundi.

    Given the situation in Burundi, we are now looking to provide support in the form of secondments to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for needs assessment, information management, coordination and advocacy. Over 238,000 Burundians have become refugees since April 2015. The majority of those who have fled Burundi are concentrated in Tanzania and Rwanda, for which DFID has provided £18.15 million since April 2015.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy Dataset in the collection of health outcome data from patients receiving cancer medicines paid for by the Cancer Drugs Fund.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In July 2015, NHS England and Public Health England (PHE) signed a data sharing agreement concerning the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) use, enabling NHS England to provide to PHE details of patients for whom a CDF treatment had been requested by clinicians. This will enable PHE to link information on patients for whom a CDF treatment was requested (from 1 April 2013 onwards) with a range of other data sets.

    There is presently no agreement between NHS England and PHE in terms of providing outcome information on patients receiving CDF funded treatments, or other systemic anti-cancer therapies, on a regular basis. However, PHE and NHS England are currently having detailed and productive discussions to establish a dedicated core resource which will provide NHS England with routine and bespoke information and analysis, focusing on both routine chemotherapy and activity data and outcome and quality metrics, which can include outcome analyses on the CDF.

    The Accelerated Access Review is looking at ways to better use data on treatments and outcomes from initiatives, such as the CDF, to drive innovation, adoption and reimbursement of novel treatments.

  • Margaret Beckett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Beckett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Beckett on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the letter from the National Security Adviser to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy of 10 March 2016, how many GCHQ staff were (a) recruited to and (b) completed the GCHQ cyber apprenticeship scheme in each year since 2012.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Since 2012 the scheme has already provided over 70 highly skilled new entrants to the GCHQ workforce. Of the 18 students who joined the GCHQ apprenticeship scheme in September 2012, over 60% successfully graduated from the course in 2014 and joined the GCHQ workforce. In September 2013, the nature and scale of the apprenticeship scheme changed as it expanded to become a scheme covering the whole of the SIA: all three of the UK’s intelligence Agencies (MI5, SIS and GCHQ) now directly recruit successful graduates from the scheme, which means that the exact number of apprentices each year cannot be openly released for security reasons. I can confirm however that over 160 new apprentices have joined the scheme since 2013, and of these a substantial majority are expected to join GCHQ when they graduate.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what regulations are (a) in place and (b) under consideration to support the meteorological use of drones.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There are no regulations that apply specifically to the meteorological use of drones. In order to fly a drone for commercial purposes, a permission from the Civil Aviation Authority is required, in accordance with the Air Navigation Order 2009.

    There is no plan to introduce specific regulations to support the meteorological use of drones, however Government continues to keep under careful review whether there is any need for further domestic legislation of drones.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her most recent estimate is of the number of UK citizens who have travelled to fight with Daesh in Syria and Iraq; and how many such persons have since returned to the UK.

    Mr John Hayes

    Approximately 850 UK linked individuals of national security concern have travelled to engage with the Syrian conflict. We estimate that just under half of those have returned and approximately 15% are deceased.

  • Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Grant on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to work with the gambling industry on the regulation of fixed odds betting terminals.

    Tracey Crouch

    A: In April 2015 the Government introduced regulations which require authorisation of stakes over £50 on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) through a “verified account” or staff interaction. The bookmakers shared data with my officials and the Gambling Commission to enable Government to conduct an evaluation of the £50 regulations, published on 21 January. The evaluation can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-gaming-machine-circumstances-of-useamendment-regulations-2015

    In addition, the Association of British Bookmakers introduced a Code for Responsible Gambling in 2013, updated in 2015, which includes a number of measures relating to FOBTs including the ability to set time and spend limits on gaming machines, the ability to access player statements, and the introduction of Player Awareness Systems which use data analytics to intervene where customers behaviour indicates they may be experiencing problems in their play. The Government meets regularly with industry to discuss player protection measures.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures are in place to promote apprenticeships in the construction sector.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    In 2013/14 there were 15,890 apprenticeships starts in the Construction, Planning and the Built Environment Sector Subject Area.

    We are taking action to support apprenticeships in all sectors to meet our commitment to 3 million starts. We are working with large and small businesses to encourage employers, colleges and schools to work together to increase the number of apprenticeships.

    Over 1300 employers – including in the construction sector – are currently involved in designing new apprenticeship standards. These include apprenticeships in construction occupations at a range of levels such as Construction Technician (L6), Quantity Surveyor (L6), Construction Site Management (L6), Advanced Carpentry & Joinery (L4) and Steel Fixer (L2)

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assurances he sought from his French counterpart that, in providing British surveillance assistance to the French bombing of identified ISIS operational buildings in Raqqa following the ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in Paris, the French military avoided any civilians being killed as collateral damage from the bombings.

    Michael Fallon

    France is operating alongside the UK as part of the international Coalition against Daesh. All Coalition air operations are planned in accordance with international law and every precaution is taken to minimise collateral damage and civilian casualties.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) GCSE, (b) AS and (c) A-level exam results have (i) increased, (ii) decreased and (iii) stayed the same following an appeal in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    These are matters for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her replies will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

  • Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of the Accident and Emergency department at Calderdale Royal Hospital to treat additional patients from the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary catchment area in the event that the proposed closure of the Accident and Emergency department at the Royal Infirmary goes ahead.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The reconfiguration of front line health services is a matter for the local National Health Service. Services should be tailored to meet the needs of the local population, and proposals for substantial service change must meet the four tests of reconfiguration which are: (i) support from GP commissioners; (ii) strengthened public and patient engagement; (iii) clarity on the clinical evidence base; and (iv) support for patient choice.

    All commissioners proposing reconfiguration must include an analysis of travelling times and distances in their Pre-Consultation Business Case.

    All service changes should be based on clear evidence that they will deliver better outcomes for patients. We expect the local NHS to undertake robust analysis of the impact of any proposed significant changes to services as part of the case for change.