Category: Speeches

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeal hearings at the (a) First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Administrative Chamber) his Department did not send a representative to in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The department’s policy has been to focus its resources on sending Presenting Officers to the more complex benefit cases and when directed by the tribunal therefore the department sent a representative to all Upper Tribunal appeal hearings notified to them in the three years 2012-13; 2013-14 and 2014-15.

    For the First-Tier Tribunal, POs did not attend as follows:

    2012/13 238,210 (of 252,992 hearings)

    2013/14 293,713 (of 308,502 hearings)

    2014/15 78,301 (of 89,689 hearings)

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of UK development assistance on the availability of clean water in the last 10 years in (a) sub-Saharan African countries and (b) other countries.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Between 2011 and 2015, DFID reached 20.9 million people with access to clean drinking water. 60% of these results were delivered in sub-Saharan African countries. In addition we reached a further 42 million people with improved sanitation and hygiene. We met the Coalition target to reach 60 million people with water, sanitation and hygiene by December 2015 nine months early in April 2015.

    DFID supports international monitoring of access to water. This showed that in 2015, 91% of the global population used an improved drinking water source and 2.6 billion people had gained access since 1990. Globally, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target on access to water was met. However, the target was not met for sub-Saharan Africa where in 2015, 68% of people had access to improved drinking water.

    We are currently formulating our new portfolio to deliver on the UK government’s commitment to help a further 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation by 2020. We expect to maintain a significant proportion of this investment in sub-Saharan African countries, but will also support people in Asia to gain access to water and sanitation.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of Lyme disease amongst medical professionals.

    Jane Ellison

    The existing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance supports primary care doctors in managing Lyme disease but to further strengthen the evidence base we have commissioned NICE to develop guidelines for the recognition and treatment of Lyme disease; this is expected in June 2018.

    Public Health England (PHE) provides information on Lyme disease and tick awareness to the medical profession and the public, holds regular medical training days, and works with Lyme Disease Action to support the needs and interests of patients.

    NHS Choices also publishes information on its website to raise awareness of Lyme disease and encourage timely medical consultation because early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is the best way of limiting complications from infection.

    The number of human cases can be reduced by raising public awareness of how to avoid tick bites, and by environmental measures in public places to reduce the long grass and scrub which harbor ticks. PHE works with interested local authorities to raise tick awareness, and has produced joint public information with local authorities in areas such as the New Forest with a significant incidence of Lyme disease.

    The number of laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales varies annually, in 2013 there were 878 and in 2014 there were 730, but the majority of diagnoses are made clinically by general practitioners and those figures are not recorded.

    Patients with late or complicated Lyme disease may be diagnosed in a variety of specialist clinics, and the numbers are not recorded. Based on the clinical information supplied with the laboratory request, only a small proportion of the annual number of cases fall into this category.

    There is no clear definition for chronic Lyme disease, and no general acceptance of what the term means, so no data is available.

  • Lord Howarth of Newport – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Howarth of Newport – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Howarth of Newport on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take action to support users of software that is no longer supported by the original vendor, for example by requiring the release of the source code of unsupported software to a third party.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 software must be of satisfactory quality, which includes durability for a period a consumer can reasonably expect. If it is not, the consumer may be entitled to a remedy under the Act, for example, a repair or replacement of the software or, if this is not possible, the right to demand some money back. The Government has no plans to require the release of the source code of unsupported software to a third party.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the financial cost of unfreezing UK-issued pensions in those British Overseas Territories where they are frozen.

    Richard Harrington

    The Government has a clear position, which has remained a consistent policy of successive Governments for around 70 years. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and are uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so; for example in the European Economic Area, or countries where we have a reciprocal agreement that allows for uprating, and so annual increases are paid to UK State Pension recipients in Gibraltar and in Bermuda. We have no plans to change this policy.

    Were this to occur, liabilities for pensioners who live in other countries and territories would also have to be met. The estimated cost of increasing pensions in those countries where they are not currently uprated would be over £0.5 billion a year. This would be financially unaffordable.

    The annual additional cost of up-rating the State Pensions of those recipients who are resident in the British Overseas Territories was estimated at approximately £1million in 2015/16.

  • Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax revenue was lost as a result of tobacco smuggling in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

    Damian Hinds

    Estimates of revenue losses associated with the tobacco illicit market are published in ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates: 2014-15’. The combined figures for Cigarettes and Hand Rolling Tobacco are available in table 1.1

    These estimates cannot be disaggregated by country within the UK.

    The methodology for producing the estimates are provided in the ‘Methodological Annex for Measuring Tax Gaps 2015’.

    Both documents can be accessed via the following page on the HMRC website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/measuring-tax-gaps

    “

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many homophobic assaults were recorded in (a) male and (b) female prisons in the last 12 months.

    Andrew Selous

    Centrally held records do not record data identifying homophobic assaults. This information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the hepatitis C Improvement Framework will include provisions on clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to engage with the Operational Delivery Networks jointly to commission services.

    Jane Ellison

    The draft hepatitis C Improvement Framework has focused on public health improvements in hepatitis C. As such, this does not include provisions on clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to engage with Operational Delivery Networks to jointly commission services as this is beyond the governance remit of the work. In its 2014 report Hepatitis C in the UK, Public Health England recommended that “Health (and, in England, local authority) commissioners should work together to consider how to improve the availability, access and uptake of approved hepatitis C treatments in primary and secondary care, drug treatment services, prisons and other settings, and to drive innovative approaches to provide outreach”. In support of this, I hosted a summit on 3 March 2015 with local authority and voluntary sector representatives, public health and clinical experts to share best practice and explore actions that could be taken at local government level to significantly reduce the burden of hepatitis C and tuberculosis in England.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage larger companies to form partnerships with creative entrepreneurs.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Government is supportive of the concept of larger organisations forming partnerships with creative entrepreneurs and is keen to encourage an environment in which such relationships can thrive. In addition, this is a matter for individual entrepreneurial endeavours in the cultural sector.

    In the last 4 years, Creative England has pioneered new partnership models with global brands opening up new networks and opportunities for creative talent across England. My ministerial colleague, Ed Vaizey recently launched Creative England’s latest call to action in seeking a new corporate partner to co-fund ‘Creative Nation’ – a new initiative aimed at finding the best creative and digital businesses to develop innovative solutions to address non-creative sector issues.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on faulty tumble dryers causing fires; and when his Department was first made aware of safety concerns related to such tumble dryers.

    Anna Soubry

    Manufacturers, distributors and retailers are legally required to inform their Local Authority Trading Standards Department if they have placed unsafe products on the market under the General Product Safety Regulations 1995. Trading Standards work with the businesses concerned to manage any corrective actions accordingly.

    In December 2015, Trading Standards made my Department aware of the safety concerns relating to particular brands of tumble dryer, as part of the formal notification procedure of the EU Rapid Alert system for unsafe products. In addition, my Department has received correspondence from consumers of these products, who have been directed to Trading Standards.