Category: Speeches

  • Paul Scully – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Paul Scully – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Scully on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with housing associations on flexibility in the time allowed to spend capital receipts from Right to Buy.

    Brandon Lewis

    Under the terms of the historic voluntary agreement between the Government and the sector, the Government will compensate housing associations for the value of the Right to Buy discount. In return, housing associations will deliver at least one additional new home for each home sold nationally. They will have flexibility in relation to the tenure and location of the additional homes built. It is a mutual objective to ensure that additional homes would be delivered as quickly as possible. The aim is to deliver the new properties within two years. The historic grant portion of any receipt released by the property sale will go back into the Recycled Capital Grant Fund. Under the current rules for that Fund receipts must be spent within three years or returned to the Homes and Communities Agency.

  • Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 10 March (HL6471), whether the Secretary of State for Health or any other Minister was made aware of NHS England’s plan to introduce a sugar tax on its premises by 2020 before it was made public; if so, which Ministers were made aware; when they were made aware; and what was the reasoning for the Secretary of State or Minister being informed.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We have a range of conversations about key issues at Ministerial and official level with NHS England. NHS England is independent and the decision on a sugar levy on the National Health Service estate is a matter for them operationally. We are interested to see the results of their consultation on a sugar levy.

    The Childhood Obesity Strategy will be published in the summer.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to facilitate the establishment of community banks that are willing to service rural communities and small local economies.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government is committed to creating the right regulatory environment that allows banks to enter and expand within the market, and serve customers and communities effectively. This is why the Government has substantially lowered barriers to entry by introducing more proportionate requirements for new banks and establishing the New Bank Start-up Unit run by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, and creating the Payment Systems Regulator to ensure all banks can access payment systems on fair and equal terms.

    In addition, this Government has committed to support the credit union movement to make financial services more accessible. Credit unions are community-based financial institutions which already provide services to under-served and financially excluded communities.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that NICE guidance is followed in the use of faecal microbiota transplants in the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infections.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced guidance on faecal microbiota transplant for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection under the interventional procedure programme. This programme makes recommendations about the safety of the procedures and how well they work. However the guidance does not constitute a direction to National Health Service trusts to provide the interventions. Decisions about whether to provide a treatment are taken locally.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has received representations from the police on increasing resources related to criminal record check disclosure requests.

    Sarah Newton

    The Disclosure and Barring service works directly with each police force to agree a budget annually based on the expected numbers of local checks and considers any requests for additional resources as part of these discussions.

    In 2015/16 the Disclosure and Barring Service had a target of processing 85% of all applications within 21 days. Some of the over four million applications received each year need to be referred to one or more police forces for further checks and the Disclosure and Barring Service funds Police disclosure units.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department has provided for research on pancreatic cancer in each of the last three years.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The information requested is not available. Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for pancreatic cancer or other cancer sites.

    Investment in cancer research by the NIHR has risen from £101 million in 2010/11 to £135 million in 2014/15 (the latest available figure). The NIHR works closely with patients, charities and our world-leading life sciences industry to support further research into pancreatic cancer.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons the sexual health component of the proposed public health funding formula does not use indicators relating to sexually transmitted infection rates.

    Jane Ellison

    The publication Public health grant: proposed target allocation formula for 2016/17, an engagement of behalf of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) proposed a component for sexual health treatment services using data derived from rates of sexually transmitted infections diagnosed in 2013. ACRA is currently considering the responses before providing its final advice to Ministers.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England will publish the findings of the Mazars review into the deaths of people with mental health problems and learning disabilities at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

    Alistair Burt

    I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 17 December 2015, HCWS421. NHS England published the Mazars report on Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust on 17 December 2015. The report is available on the NHS England website.

    “

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he has about the individual who currently holds the position of UN Special Advisor on Genocide; what recent representations to that individual about the killings by Daesh of Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq; and what plans he has to meet the Special Advisor to discuss the crisis in those countries.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Adama Dieng was appointed UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on 17 July 2012. His role is to: raise awareness of the causes and dynamics of genocide; to alert relevant actors where there is a risk of genocide; and to advocate and mobilise for appropriate action. The Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect has made a number of statements in relation to the situation in Iraq and Syria. These statements can be found on the UN website, and cover a range of issues including: incitement to violence in Syria on religious grounds; expressing concern about the on-going threat to the safety of minority groups in Syria; and expressing alarm at reports of the abduction of 1,500 Yezidi, Christian and Shabak women and girls.

    Any judgement on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will hold discussions with the Defence Police Federation on the (a) level of morale and (b) terms and conditions of service within the Ministry of Defence Police; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    I met the National Chairman of the Defence Police Federation on 17 December 2015 to review the status of the ongoing negotiations on changes to Ministry of Defence Police terms and conditions of service. I would expect any issues associated with the morale of the Force to be raised and discussed at the Ministry of Defence Police Joint Consultative Committee that is chaired by the Chief Constable.