Category: Speeches

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 11782, what discussions he has had with the professional regulators regarding the level of mental health training offered as part of the mandatory training course for (a) student doctors, (b) student nurses and (c) midwives.

    Ben Gummer

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with professional regulators about mandatory mental health training. It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified doctors and nurses are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care.This includes mental health training as required.

    Health Education England will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

  • Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on making additional funding available to local authorities to help fund the introduction of the national living wage into social care from April 2016; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    Over the course of the Spending Review there have been a large number of in-depth discussions at both official and Ministerial level to inform the outcome. These discussions and analysis informed the decision to provide a settlement which means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament, including:

    – The introduction of a social care precept, which puts money raising powers into the hands of local areas who understand the need in their area and who are best placed to respond. This could raise up to £2 billion by the end of the Parliament; and

    – From 2017/18, additional funds for social care will be made available through the Better Care Fund. This will rise to £1.5 billion by 2019/20.

    Following this additional funding, we expect councils will be able to increase the prices they pay for care in order to cover costs providers are facing such as the national living wage.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns, on 13 January (HC Deb, col 845), whether any part of North Wales forms a part of the Northern Powerhouse, and if so, which parts, and what procedures, exist for joint decision-making with and support from the Welsh Government.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    This Government has presided over a fundamental shift of power from Westminster to the people and communities of this country by promoting unprecedented decentralisation. North Wales is an integral part of the Government’s Northern Powerhouse vision. Businesses and Local Authorities in North Wales who Wales Office Ministers speak to are clear that North East Wales and North West England form one single economic entity and are best placed to drive economic development and deliver public services.

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

    Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the effect of bus franchising on the vehicle manufacturing sector.

    Andrew Jones

    My Department has not yet entered into discussions with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the effect of bus franchising on the vehicle manufacturing sector. My officials have, however, discussed proposals with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

  • Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has allocated to improve pavements and crossings for pedestrians in London in the last two years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Transport for London is responsible for pavements and pedestrian crossings on those major roads in London (or “red routes”) which form part of the Transport for London Road Network. The Department for Transport provides both a general (resource) and an investment (capital) grant to the Greater London Authority (GLA) for Transport for London (TfL) each year. This money is not ring-fenced and it is a matter for the Mayor to determine how it is spent. The great majority of pavements and crossings in London are the responsibility of individual London boroughs, which are funded primarily by the Department for Communities and Local Government, although TfL also provide some funding to boroughs for local road improvements. The Department for Transport has not provided any additional funding to individual boroughs for this purpose in the last two years.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to caseworkers on handling applications from international students to study at UK colleges and universities in a way that ensures the applicants are not disadvantaged by accusation of fraud in English language tests made by ETS.

    James Brokenshire

    UK Visas and Immigration caseworkers were issued with guidance on how to handle applications made by international students who had taken ETS English language tests in February 2014. This guidance has been updated as required. This is part of the reasonable and proportionate action we have taken in response to the clear evidence provided by ETS to identify those who had sought to profit from abuse of the English language testing system. The guidance does not disadvantage students who obtained an ETS test certificate properly, but ensures that due scrutiny is being applied by caseworkers where individuals have been identified as having obtained invalid test certificates.

    We received the determination in the case of Qadir and SM from the Upper Tribunal on 8 April, providing full reasons for the summary decision handed down on 23 March. Although the Upper Tribunal found that the Home Office did discharge the evidential burden on it in establishing fraud at ETS test centres and that each appellant would need to establish an innocent explanation, it went on to allow the appeals. We are disappointed by the decision and we are currently reviewing it with a view to challenging before the Court of Appeal. Given this, there are no current plans to issue further updated guidance to caseworkers following the recent Upper Tribunal determination.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many traffic police officers were employed in each police force area in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    The number of full time equivalent police officers employed in traffic policing roles as at 31 March in each of the last 5 years is provided in the tables. Officers with multiple responsibilities are recorded under their primary function or role. Data for 31 March 2015 (the latest period for which figures are available) can also be found in the supplementary tables of the July 2015 police workforce statistics publication:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/444537/police-workforce-supptabs-mar15.ods

    Reclassification of roles within a force can lead to fluctuations in the number of officers in a particular role.

    As HMIC has made clear, there is no simple link between police numbers and crime levels, between numbers and the visibility of police in the community, or between numbers and the quality of service provided.

    Decisions on the size and composition of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities. What matters is how officers are deployed, not how many of them there are.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to encourage students at Key Stage 3 to take up modern foreign languages.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government expects all pupils in secondary education to be taught a broad and balanced curriculum, and that includes the opportunity to study a foreign language at Key Stage 3 and 4. In 2010, only 43% of pupils were studying a GCSE in a foreign language, down from 76% in 2000. Since the Government introduced the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), the proportion of the cohort in state schools that are entered for a modern foreign language GCSE increased by 20% between 2011 and 2015. Our ambition is that 90 per cent of pupils in mainstream secondary schools will enter GCSEs in the EBacc subjects, including a foreign language.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps have been taken to ensure that teachers are able to identify the progress of students in (a) English language, (b) English literature and (c) mathematics who will be assessed using the new GCSE grading structure in the summer of 2017.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department, together with Ofqual and Awarding Organisations, is working closely with schools to help them to understand and be ready for new GCSEs. Sample assessment materials, mark schemes and grade descriptors are all available and will help schools to understand what is required.

    Assessment of pupils’ progress is a matter for schools. School leaders and teachers should use their professional judgement to establish their own assessment systems that best support teaching.

    From this year, Progress 8, which measures the progress that pupils make across 8 qualifications compared to other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment, will be reported for the first time. Progress in each of the subject elements of Progress 8, including English and maths, will also be published. This new accountability system is a fairer way of measuring school performance and will incentivise and reward the good teaching of all pupils.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Royal College of Nursing on links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no recent discussions with the Royal College of Nursing on the links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.