Category: Speeches

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve one year cancer survival rates over the next five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The independent Cancer Taskforce’s five-year strategy for cancer, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015, recommends improvements across the cancer pathway with the aim of improving survival rates. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead on the implementation of the strategy, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience.

    She is currently setting up a new Cancer Transformation Board to lead the roll-out of the recommendations of the new strategy, and a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, will oversee and scrutinise their work. Timeframes and phasing for implementation will be dependent on the final financial settlement reached as a result of the spending review.

    We announced in September 2015 that Health Education England (HEE) is developing a new national training programme for an additional 200 staff to get the skills and expertise to carry out endoscopies by 2018. The content of the next mandate from the Government to HEE is currently being determined.

    A commitment to whole-person care for patients, including those living with and beyond cancer, is embedded throughout the cancer taskforce report. In addition, the cancer vanguards have been established to explore new models of care, with a focus on delivering more person-centred care.

    Ensuring the National Health Service is able to support the availability and use of effective treatments and medicines for rare cancers is a key priority. Cancer 52, an organisation which specifically represents patients with rarer cancers, was represented on the independent Cancer Taskforce. The Taskforce’s report made many recommendations relevant to rarer cancers, focussing in particular on improving access to diagnostic testing, including fast, direct general practitioner access to key blood tests, and increasing patient access to the most advanced treatments.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been affected by the under-occupancy penalty in Cardiff South and Penarth constituency in each of the last 12 months.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Information concerning how many people have been affected by the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy in Cardiff South and Penarth constituency in each of the last 12 months is published and can be found at the link below:

    https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

    “

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many officials of his Department are (a) responsible for external trade policy, (b) working on policy related to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and (c) worked on policy related to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

    Anna Soubry

    There are 41 civil servants in my Department primarily working on trade policy. Of these 10 are primarily working on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement was one of a number of trade negotiations being handled by a team of 5 BIS officials. They are assisted by officials in other Government Departments, notably the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as by other officials within my Department for whom trade policy is not their primary responsibility.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 68, Prevention of debt crisis in developing countries.

    Greg Hands

    The Government agrees that the maintenance of sustainable debt levels is a critical factor for achieving poverty reduction. The UK has provided more than £5 billion in debt relief since 1996 under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiatives, and will continue to promote debt sustainability internationally.

    The Government is also committed to supporting developing countries to access their domestic tax revenues through our efforts in driving the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project and our commitment to funding tax capacity building in developing countries bilaterally and multilaterally – including through the direct provision of technical assistance by the UK to tackle tax avoidance.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers have been subject to penalties for non-compliance with Single Farm Payment Scheme requirements in each of the last five years; and what the total value of those penalties was.

    George Eustice

    The volume of penalties, plus their value for Single Payment Scheme claims, for the last five years of the scheme are below.

    We have not yet finalised information for the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme.

    Scheme Year

    Number of Claimants In Breach

    Value €

    2014

    2,703

    2,489,438

    2013

    2,134

    2,781,039

    2012

    1,574

    1,704,085

    2011

    1,722

    2,594,023

    2010

    1,493

    2,329,495
  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to report on the progress of the Insurance Fraud Taskforce and its role in dealing with fraudulent claims and the operation of claims management companies; and what assessment they have made of the implementation of the recommendations of the Insurance Fraud Taskforce: final report published in January.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    A Written Ministerial Statement was published on 26 May 2016 to announce that the Government accepts each of the recommendations addressed to it. We expect that all organisations tasked with taking forward recommendations do so with urgency. The Government will do what it can to assist and, in order to make sure that all of the recommendations are actively pursued, we will seek an update on progress later in the year.

    The report highlighted the particular problem of fraud in relation to low value personal injury claims and the Government has established a programme of reforms in this area, particularly in respect of whiplash claims and regulation of claims management companies. We are pleased that the report’s recommendations reflect and support that reform programme.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what average length of time taken was to re-broker an academy that received formal intervention in each year since 2010.

    Edward Timpson

    Where an academy is not meeting the required standard or needs a change of sponsor, the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) strives to ensure that this change happens as quickly as possible, with minimum impact to the school. The Department does not hold a central record of the time taken for re-brokerage.

    The Education and Adoption Act 2016 gives RSCs powers to tackle underperformance in academies more quickly, by allowing them to terminate their funding agreement and re-broker an academy if it is judged inadequate by Ofsted or identified as coasting.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans her Department has for civilian enforcement officers within the context of its plans to outsource work to the private sector.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    HMCTS are considering a range of options about how best to deliver this service. The tender process will allow HMCTS to make informed decisions about what is in the best interests of the service and the taxpayer. No decision on the way forward for the Civilian Enforcement Office role has been made at the current time.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what timetable he proposes for legislative reform of the regulation of health care professionals.

    Ben Gummer

    This Government is grateful for the work of the Law Commissions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in reviewing the regulation of health and (in England) social care professionals.

    The Law Commissions made 125 recommendations to reform the existing complex and burdensome regulatory system. The joint four UK country response to the Law Commissions was published on 29 January 2015 which accepted wholly or in part the vast majority of its recommendations.

    The Department is currently reviewing how best to take forward the work of the Law Commissions. We hope to be able to provide an update on this work soon.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average time was from a patient being declared fit to leave hospital to their discharge in (a) England, (b) London and (c) each health trust in London in (i) the last calendar month for which figures are available and (ii) that month in each year from 2010 to 2014.

    Alistair Burt

    This information is not available in the format requested.

    Official statistics for NHS trusts in England are published by NHS England on the number of patients delayed on the last Thursday of each month and the total delayed days during the month for all patients delayed throughout the month. The latest publication of this data was for delays occurring in October 2015 and was published on 10 December 2015.

    It is not possible to calculate a montly average or the longest waits from these data. Health is a devolved matter in Wales.