Category: Speeches

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations for trauma-focussed care outlined in the report Future in Mind.

    Alistair Burt

    It is important that awareness of trauma (from abuse or neglect) and the impact it can have on children and young people’s mental health is raised across the workforce and that there is clarity on roles and responsibilities. The Department has asked that Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England work together to consider the training required for the health and wider children’s workforce to become more trauma aware, building this into HEE’s work programme.

    Routine Enquiry (asking about experience of trauma at every appropriate health appointment for over 16 year olds) and sensitive enquiry in all children and young people’s services (which was proposed in Future in Mind) will be tested in key services shortly. However, there is still work to do to make sure we reach out to all parts of the workforce who may see the presentation of trauma in the children that they work with. Routine and sensitive enquiry by frontline health professionals such as general practitioners and mental health professionals is an important starting point, but it will be just as important to use those working in schools and the community to raise awareness more broadly and initiate learning about trauma and its impact on mental health.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidelines he has issued to local authorities to require them to record the proportion of their procurement spent on small and medium-sized businesses.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to ensuring there is a simple and consistent approach to procurement across the public sector so that small businesses can gain better and more access to public sector contracts – either directly or as sub-contractors.

    The Government produced guidance as part of the reforms included in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 which aim to make public contracts more accessible to businesses and in particular to small and medium enterprises. The reforms included the abolition of pre-qualification questionnaire for low value tenders; simplification of the pre-qualification questionnaire for high value tenders; advertising all local authority contracts of £25,000 or over (or the authority’s standing order limit if higher) on Contracts Finder; and paying down the supplier chain in 30 days.

    The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires all local authorities to publish details of contracts exceeding £5,000 including information on whether or not the supplier is a small or medium sized enterprise and/or a voluntary or community sector organisation.

    However, the Department has made no assessment of the amount or proportion of local government procurement spend going to small and medium sized businesses.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage investment in (a) sustainable aircraft fuels and (b) other renewable technology.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK wants to ensure that the aviation sector makes a significant and cost-effective contribution to reducing global emissions. The Government supports a range of measures to achieve this, including the use of sustainable alternative fuels, technological improvements to aircraft, operational improvements in air traffic management, and market-based measures.

    Sustainable fuels have an important role to play in reducing carbon emissions from transport, particularly in sectors where there are limited alternatives for decarbonisation such as aviation.

    We are assessing the benefits of making sustainable aviation fuels eligible for certificates under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). We aim to publish a consultation on legislative amendments to the RTFO later this year including proposals for aviation biofuels.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the Government’s policy is on continuing to adhere to the terms of the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters after the UK has left the EU.

    Mr David Jones

    I refer the honorable Member to the answer given on 26 July to Question 43162.

    Until we leave the EU, EU law continues to apply so the UK continues to comply with EU law that implements obligations in the Aarhus Convention. The UK remains a Party to the Aarhus Convention.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will commission research into the economic, social and environmental contribution of the organic farming sector in England to assist in informing policy and funding of this sector once the UK leaves the EU.

    George Eustice

    As part of our commitment to evidence-based policy making, we regularly collect and analyse data on all farm types – including small farms and organic enterprises. We will continue to develop our evidence base to inform policy development, and are committed to working with the industry to ensure a vibrant and productive future for all agricultural sectors outside of the European Union.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency plans his Department has for the decommissioning of nuclear-powered submarines if a suitable geological disposal facility is not identified.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) is the only type of waste from submarines that will require the use of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). A facility for the interim storage of ILW has been arranged at Capenhurst in Cheshire until the proposed GDF is available from 2040. In line with Government guidance, the interim ILW store will have a design life of at least 100 years – considerably longer than it is anticipated will be required.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library a copy of the 1984 Joint Intelligence Committee paper JIC(84)(N)45, entitled Soviet Union: concern about a surprise NATO attack.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    It would not be appropriate to release this report on grounds of National Security.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the relationship between criminal offending and literacy levels.

    Lord Bates

    There is no single factor which explains crime. As the Home Secretary has said, the evidence suggests that there are six main drivers of crime: alcohol; drugs; the effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System; opportunity; profit; and character. Character, or an individual’s propensity to commit crime, appears to be influenced by a range of social and environmental influences as they grow up. However, the Home Office has made no specific assessment of the relationship between crime and literacy levels.

    The most recent crime statistics published by the Office for National Statistics showed that overall crime fell by 8% in the year to June 2015, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Crime has now fallen by more than a quarter since June 2010, with just over 2.9 million fewer crimes a year.

  • 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 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the implementation of universal credit on the level of rent arrears in council homes.

    Justin Tomlinson

    This information is not collected centrally.

    Statistics are published annually on the total value of local authority social housing rent arrears, broken down by Local Authority area. They were most recently published on the Government’s website for 2014-15:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-housing-data#2014-to-2015

    “

  • Siobhain McDonagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Siobhain McDonagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Siobhain McDonagh on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average unit cost of a first outpatient paediatric ophthalmology appointment was in 2014-15.

    Alistair Burt

    The information is shown in the following table.

    Information on outpatient paediatric ophthalmology appointments in 2014-15

    Median waiting time in days for a first appointment1

    53 days

    Number of appointments that were cancelled by the hospital

    36,533

    Number of appointments that were cancelled by the patient

    33,448

    Number of appointments that the patient did not attend

    65,436

    National average unit cost of a first appointment2

    £118

    Sources:

    Hospital episode statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Reference costs, Department of Health

    Notes:

    1Waiting time is defined as the time in days between the date the referral request was received and the date of the first appointment, whether it was attended or not.

    2Defined as a consultant-led single-professional first appointment. Separate data are collected are collected on non-consultant-led, multi-professional, and follow-up appointments.