Category: Speeches

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has undertaken of the incidence of repression of Christians by the Nigerian government; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    In Nigeria, the right to freedom of religion is protected by the Constitution. Boko Haram seeks to undermine this right by attacking Nigerians of all faiths who do not subscribe to its extremist views. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold information on the number of churches that have been destroyed in Nigeria, but it is clear that Boko Haram has caused immense suffering in both Christian and Muslim communities. We assess that the majority of their victims are Muslim.

    We are providing a substantial package of intelligence, military, development and humanitarian support to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, including training and advice on counter insurgency and £5 million of support to a regional military taskforce.

    Nigeria also faces the challenge of inter-communal conflicts between farmers and herdsmen over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water. Through our development assistance, the UK supports initiatives to reduce these conflicts and build bridges between communities.

    We will continue to work with the Nigerian Government, non-governmental organisations and civil society to improve the security situation and human rights for all in Nigeria.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment NHS England has made of the capacity in the NHS to meet the demand for aseptic services.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England Specialist Pharmacy Services have to date not undertaken a comprehensive assessment of aseptic capacity to meet the future demands for chemotherapy provision in England. They are currently working closely with colleagues at the Department and NHS Improvement to support a number of regionally based reviews of aseptic capacity and to help trusts develop local and regional Hospital Pharmacy Transformation plans, as recommended by Lord Carter in February 2016.

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department and is responsible for regulating unlicensed medicines under a Manufacturer’s ‘Specials’ Licence. The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and Care Quality Commission (CQC) are responsible for regulating medicine prepared extemporaneously in a register pharmacy or hospital pharmacy respectively under the professional exemption.

    MHRA will collaborate with the NHS, GPhC and CQC though inspections of MHRA licensed aseptic facilities or joint investigations of aseptic facilities in hospitals where there are patient safety concerns.

  • Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to make any changes to the budget it has allocated to the Northern Powerhouse initiative for investing in transport.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government remains committed to the plans it set out at the Spending Review for transport investment in support of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will eliminate the import tariffs on all unprocessed fruit and vegetables from developing nations when the UK has left the EU.

    Greg Hands

    The Government is currently reviewing its trade policy as the UK prepares to leave the EU. This offers us an opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world: to negotiate and design, in time, our own trade arrangements. The UK remains committed to ensuring developing countries can reduce poverty through trading opportunities.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Pontypridd of 9 October 2015 on the cumulative effect on working families of his reforms to tax credits and benefits.

    Damian Hinds

    I have replied to the hon member.

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made in achieving seven day services in the NHS which provides the same consultant assessment, diagnostic tests and consultant led interventions for patients seven days a week for (a) 50 per cent of the population by 2018 and (b) 100 per cent of the population by 2020.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government has set out that hospitals will achieve more seven day services by delivering four priority clinical standards developed by the NHS Services, Seven Days a Week Forum. NHS England will work with the National Health Service and NHS Improvement to support the NHS to meet the four clinical standards and realise the benefits of seven day services for patients.

  • 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 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of elective operations were cancelled in (a) England and Wales, (b) London and (c) each health trust in England in each year since 2010.

    Jane Ellison

    Information on cancelled elective operations is published quarterly. The attached table shows how many elective operations were cancelled in England, London and each health trust in England in each quarter since 2010. Information on the number of cancelled elective operations as a percentage of elective admissions is only published for England.

    The number and proportion of cancelled operations remains low in the context of the millions of operations performed in the National Health Service each year. Compared to 2009/10, in 2014/15 there were 1.6 million more operations. The proportion of cancelled elective operations in the first two quarters of 2015/16 was 0.8% which is the same as the first two quarters of 2009/10.

    Health is a devolved matter in Wales.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Prime Minister has seen a draft childhood obesity strategy document.

    Jane Ellison

    As part of the development of the Childhood Obesity Strategy, the Secretary of State has regular meetings to discuss its content. The Childhood Obesity Strategy will be published shortly.

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-02-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the World Bank’s methodology for producing its Resolving Insolvency rankings.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    It is not simple to compare different insolvency regimes. The World Bank methodology for ‘Resolving Insolvency’ uses principally an assessment of speed and amount of returns to creditors but also has introduced more subjective tests of the strength of the framework. In the World Bank’s 2016 Doing Business Report, the UK continues to be 7th in the world for returns to creditors, and is quicker and costs less than the US, Germany and France, but does somewhat less well on the subjective factors, which may understate the strengths of our regime. We keep the UK’s insolvency regime under review to ensure it remains at the forefront of best practice and that possible new features are properly considered.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department plans to develop standard technical guidance and best practice guidelines for the energy storage market to ensure the safety and consistency of installations.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC has provided more than £18million of innovation funding for energy storage since 2012 and this has included support for development of a Good Practice Guide on Electrical Energy Storage which was published in December 2014. The Good Practice Guide uses case studies and key lessons from recent energy storage demonstration projects to provide a practical reference guide for organisations which are interested in deploying or developing electrical energy storage in Great Britain.

    DECC officials are also involved in ongoing discussions led by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on technical guidance for electrical energy storage systems. Independent, professional bodies, such as the IET, are well-placed to lead development of relevant technical guidelines.