Category: Speeches

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the foreign aid budget was given directly to the governments of recipient nations in each of the last three years.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    Direct financial aid to governments of recipient nations constituted 14%, 12% and 9% of DFID’s total programme expenditure for years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 respectively. These are the three most recent years for which this data is currently available. General Budget Support reduced from 2.2% to 0.5% of DFID’s total programme expenditure over the same period.

  • Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to replicate the system of Historic Environment Records used in Wales in England.

    Tracey Crouch

    In England local planning authorities are required to have regard to the terms of the National Planning Policy Framework, which indicates that they should either maintain or have access to an Historical Environment Records (HER).

    The Heritage Information Access Strategy (HIAS) programme intends to secure an improved and more cost effective approach to handling digital historic environment data, especially that held by local authority Historic Environment Records. It is intended to improve the accessibility of that information and work with HERs to become more user focused. As part of HIAS Historic England will continue to champion the development, maintenance and implementation of standards for the creation, management and storage of digital historic environment data.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there has been any research into the effect of the introduction of the Traffic Management Act 2004 on congestion in Cardiff, as opposed to other cities.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Not by Her Majesty’s Government. This is a devolved matter and so would be for the Welsh Government or the relevant traffic authority in Cardiff.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent discussions they have had with East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust regarding the use of Do Not Resuscitate orders for patients with disabilities.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department expects National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts to have in place local policies on resuscitation that are based on expert professional guidance. We have commended, as a basis for local policies, professional guidance, Decisions Relating to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (2014), published jointly by the British Medical Association, the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the Royal College of Nursing. The guidance is clear that any resuscitation decision must be tailored to the individual circumstances of the patient and must not be made on the basis of blanket assumptions. A copy of the guidance is attached.

    Where a person lacks capacity to make decisions about their care or treatment, the Mental Capacity Act makes clear that doctors must act in the best interests of patients. Doctors must take account as far as possible of the known wishes of the person and consult with relatives and colleagues as appropriate to help inform their decision.

    Departmental officials have recently contacted the Trust about recent media coverage concerning an incident when Down’s syndrome was listed as a reason to issue a Do Not Resuscitate order. The Trust confirms it accepts that it failed to consult with the family and has apologised unreservedly for this isolated incident by a junior doctor.

    In regards to any disciplinary action taken against the doctor this would be an operational issue for the Foundation Trust. We have written to Ms Nikki Cole, Chair of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust informing her of the Noble Lord’s enquiry. She will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

  • 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 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made with providing Jobcentre Plus advisor support in schools.

    Priti Patel

    Jobcentre Plus support for schools was launched on 14 January in Birmingham. The remaining nine pathfinders will be launched in this academic year before national rollout by March 2017.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria are used to define challenging behaviour as used in the 2012 School Admissions Code.

    Nick Gibb

    It is for admission authorities to agree with their local authorities what they regard as challenging behaviour, based on the circumstances of each case.

    Each local authority is required to have a Fair Access Protocol in place, to ensure that – outside the normal admissions round – unplaced children are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible and that no school is asked to take a disproportionate number of children with challenging behaviour or children excluded from other schools.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel in each location are accommodated in twin rooms.

    Mark Lancaster

    This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government has taken in response to the Palliative Care Funding Review, published in July 2011.

    Ben Gummer

    In response to the Review recommendations, the Government established a large-scale two year data collection exercise to find out more about palliative care costs, with the aim of working towards a fairer, more transparent funding system for palliative care.

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for this work. The data collection concluded in 2014 and NHS England published a palliative care development currency in February 2015. Over 2015/16 the currency has been tested and refined in a number of local areas around the country. During 2016, NHS England will engage with key stakeholders on the results of this testing and make a definitive set of currencies available for use in April 2017. The currencies will allow commissioners and providers of specialist end of life care to ensure the best services are being provided to meet people’s needs regardless of care setting.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposals for the future of community pharmacy on care for vulnerable patients.

    Alistair Burt

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service. We want to see a high quality community pharmacy service that is properly integrated into primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View.

    We want to make pharmacists a pivotal part of primary care for all patient groups, including the elderly and vulnerable, by increasing the number who bring their skills to general practitioner (GP) practices, care homes, urgent care and public health settings. We have consulted on how best to introduce a Pharmacy Integration Fund to help transform how pharmacists, their teams and community pharmacy will operate in the NHS, bringing clear benefits to patients and the public.

    Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    The community pharmacy proposals for 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered in respect to the public sector equality duty, the family test and relevant duties of the Secretary of State under the NHS Act 2006.

    An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Govia Thameslink Railway on the threshold for (a) planned and (b) unplanned train service cancellations since February 2016.

    Claire Perry

    We monitor GTR’s performance and we have ongoing discussions with them over the delivery of their train services.