Category: Speeches

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

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of gross domestic product was spent on (1) the NHS and public health, (2) publicly financed adult social care, and (3) both of those, in (a) 1996–97, (b) 2000–01, (c) 2009–10, and (d) for each year thereafter up to and including 2014–15.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Spend as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is usually reported on a United Kingdom basis.

    The Department is responsible for reporting on health spend in England and is not in a position to provide equivalent spend figures for health and adult social care by the devolved administrations.

    HM Treasury publish UK health spend figures as a percentage of GDP which are shown in table below.

    Spend on health in UK as % of GDP

    Year

    UK Public Spending on health as a % of GDP

    1996/97

    5.0%

    2000/01

    5.2%

    2009/10

    7.8%

    2010/11

    7.6%

    2011/12

    7.4%

    2012/13

    7.5%

    2013/14

    7.5%

    2014/15

    7.4%

    Source: Table 4.4 HMT, Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2015.

    Numbers shown do not include total spend on adult social care

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recommendations of the UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea, published in February 2014.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK has strongly supported the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and we remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in the DPRK that the report outlined. We have urged DPRK authorities to respond in detail to the contents of the report and to address the human rights violations that it documents. We also maintain pressure on the DPRK on human rights through multilateral fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council, and through our critical engagement with the regime both in Pyongyang and London.

  • Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the revised Carr-Hill formula.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England is committed to reviewing the Carr-Hill formula which underpins the payments made to general practitioner (GP) practices under the General Medical Services contract. A technical working group and steering group have been established and are meeting regularly.

    Whilst the technical work is expected to complete in 2016, the new formula is not expected to impact GP contracts before 2017/18, following negotiation with the British Medical Association.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of progress on the NATO Readiness Action Plan.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Readiness Action Plan (RAP), agreed at the NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014, is progressing well and it will deliver enhanced NATO Response Forces, including the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), by the time of the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016. The UK has played a leading role in the implementation of the RAP: we have committed to spending 2% of GDP on Defence, and 20% of that on new equipment; we will lead a capable and credible VJTF (Land) Brigade in 2017; we have increased our commitment to NATO’s Standing Naval Forces this year; and will continue to provide Airborne Early Warning, Air to Air Refuelling, Tornado and Typhoon aircraft to the VJTF (Air).

    Considerable work on survivability, sustainability and readiness of NATO forces has been undertaken. The RAP includes a commitment to generate an enhanced NATO Response Force (eNRF) including a VJTF. To enhance survivability, the eNRF has been designed from the outset as a Joint, Multi-National force with an appropriate quantity and balance of forces needed to effectively conduct the full range of potential operations. Integral logistic structures, which include the newly created Multi-National Corps Headquarters in Poland and a Multi-National Division Headquarters in Romania, ensure the sustainability of the enhanced NRF and VJTF. Enhanced NRF forces are designed to meet the readiness timelines that are laid down in NATO’s strategic planning documents, including the Alliance’s Graduated Response Plans.

    Considerable work on Interoperability has also been undertaken since the end of combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. This has built upon NATO’s Connected Forces Initiative to ensure that NATO’s Multi-National forces force are able to continue to operate together effectively beyond the end of combat operations in Afghanistan. For our lead of the VJTF (Land) in 2017, the British Army will operate alongside the armed forces from 13 contributing nations.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs is in discussions with Tanzania about a tax treaty between the UK and Tanzania.

    Mr David Gauke

    The UK is not currently involved in active treaty discussions with Tanzania.

    Discussions with Malawi over a new tax treaty began some years ago, and substantive agreement has been reached at official level. The Government of Malawi have stated that they hope to be in a position to sign the new treaty in the near future.

    The UK has negotiated a treaty with Lesotho and are currently seeking to arrange signature.

    The UK is currently involved in negotiations with Ghana in agreeing a new tax treaty.

    Nepal has approached the UK to begin negotiation of a tax treaty. We are seeking suitable dates for discussions.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to bring forward proposals for a change to legislation to further regulate the pricing of everyday drugs to the NHS by pharmaceutical companies.

    George Freeman

    The Department is already referring cases to the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) and to strengthen our work in this area. We are considering putting measures in place to routinely and systematically monitor significant price increases of generic medicines and take action where appropriate, including the possible referral of suspected excessive pricing to the CMA, while taking into account the potential impact of any such action on the availability of medicines.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff employed by his Department have been (a) seconded to and (b) directly recruited by the Department for Exiting the EU.

    Boris Johnson

    ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has seconded 39 positions including 30 officials on loan to the Department for Exiting the EU. This figure includes ten officials who were on loan to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from other government departments. No staff have been directly recruited by the Department for Exiting the EU from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The UK’s Representation in Brussels will report jointly to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Exiting the EU.

  • Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to help Syrian refugees in the Jungle” camp at Calais who are in need of advice about applying to the UK for asylum.”

    Lord Bates

    A joint communications campaign, involving British officials speaking to migrants in Calais, has been taking place to inform migrants of the reality of life in the UK and of their rights to claim asylum in France. The frequency of these campaigns has been increased in line with the commitment in the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the spend per head of population was on mental health in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    We do not have comparable figures for spending on mental health for all years requested as financial information reporting systems changed after 2013 with the formation of NHS England.

    Information is available on mental health spend by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England, the North West and Lancashire for 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 only. This information has been sourced from NHS England’s financial planning and reporting systems and data weighted on CCG populations. The per head spend on mental health services is as follows:

    England wide CCG spend per head on mental health services

    2013/14

    £139

    2014/15

    £146

    2015/16

    £150

    North West CCG spend per head on mental health services

    2013/14

    Unavailable – spend data incomplete for this year

    2014/15

    £136

    2015/16

    £139

    Lancashire CCG spend per head on mental health services

    2013/14

    £135

    2014/15

    £134

    2015/16

    £137

    Source: NHS England

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider parity of esteem, as outlined in the Belfast Agreement 1998, to have been a success, and if so, on what basis.

    Lord Dunlop

    I have nothing further to add to my earlier responses on parity of esteem.