Category: Speeches

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the Strategic Road Network Highways England plans to have resurfaced by the end of the current road investment period.

    Andrew Jones

    As part of Road Investment Strategy, we are committing over £0.75 billion to long term capital renewals every year between 2015 and 2020. This will allow for the repair and replacement of 80% of the road surfaces on England’s strategic road network.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2016 to Question 31997, on employment: telephone services, if he will provide that data for financial years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

    Nick Boles

    It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to implement health education as a compulsory part of the PSHE curriculum, inspected by Ofsted, from age five to 18, in the light of the recommendation from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Primary Care and Public Health’s Inquiry Report into NHS England’s Five Year Forward View: Behaviour Change, Information and Signposting published in March 2016.

    Lord Nash

    All schools are required to teach a balanced and broadly based curriculum that promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils, and prepares them for adult life.

    The national curriculum focuses on the essential knowledge children need so that teachers can design a wider school curriculum that is responsive to the needs of their pupils. This teaching can include a range of topics that fall under PSHE, such as health education and health awareness.

    To help schools plan their provision, the PSHE Association has produced a suggested programme of study for schools to follow, which includes content about ‘Health and Wellbeing’.

    Ofsted do not inspect individual curriculum subjects. Instead, the framework enables important aspects of PSHE to be considered in a proportionate and integrated way, linked to the core inspection areas.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to inform rail commuters of the protections available to them under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

    Paul Maynard

    It is the responsibility of train operators, as service providers, to ensure that their customers are made aware of their rights to compensation or other redress in cases of service failure or disruption. Train operators’ existing compensation schemes will continue to provide the main means of redress for passengers after 1 October 2016, when the Consumer Rights Act came into force for all transport providers.

    Information about the Consumer Rights Act is widely available from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service, consumer organisations and government websites.

  • David Crausby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Crausby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to deal with overcrowding on Bolton’s commuter trains.

    Andrew Jones

    Northern Rail is required to use all of its train fleet (allowing for maintenance) at peak times and best match capacity to passenger demand across the franchise. It is for Northern to allocate rolling stock to best fit expected passenger numbers on a day-to-day basis. As you may be aware, we have increased Northern’s train fleet this year, including the introduction of 20 refreshed four coach electric trains in the year to December 2015.

    In the longer term, unlike the last Northern franchise let under the previous Labour administration in 2004 which included limited plans to invest in services or meet demand, the next Northern Franchise will see the removal of the existing Pacer trains, the ordering at least 120 new-build carriages, the modernising of every train operating on the Northern franchise, more frequent services on many routes on the Northern franchise, and will be providing more services for commuters, during off-peak times and on Sundays. The electrification of Manchester to Preston via Bolton route, for which preparatory work began this year, will also provide the opportunity for greater capacity electric powered trains to provide services for Bolton commuters. By the end of 2019, services into central Manchester will have seen a 49% increase in passenger-carrying capacity during the morning peak compared to five years earlier, and this will help ease the crowding affecting your constituents.

  • Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the freedom of Christian worship afforded to British citizens visiting Turkey.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    It is our understanding that British citizens are not hindered from Christian worship in Turkey. As stated in the EU Commission’s Annual Progress Report on Turkey released on 10 November, freedom of worship continues to be generally respected.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the removal of bursaries for nurse training on the diversity of the workforce; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the evidence used in making that assessment.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department plans to issue a public consultation around the end of February 2016. An Equality Impact Assessment will be published alongside the consultation document.

  • Lord Knight of Weymouth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Knight of Weymouth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Knight of Weymouth on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 1 February (HL5090 and HL5091), whether they will now provide the direct link to that information, and why they did not provide that link in those answers.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England is currently finalising the service specification for a forthcoming procurement for genomic laboratory services. The issues around sharing outcome data are under broader consideration as part of the wider genomics programme.

  • Baroness Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Crawley on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether HMRC’s current pilot of the Codentify system is consistent with their obligations under the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) takes the restrictions in the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) very seriously. These require that the development, implementation and enforcement of tobacco policies as part of public health policies should be protected from the influence of the tobacco industry.

    Codentify is a system, developed and introduced by the major tobacco manufacturers on their own initiative through the Digital Coding and Tracking Association (DCTA). HMRC played no part in the development or introduction of the system nor did HMRC require that it be introduced. Codentify codes already feature on packs and are there regardless of any HMRC use of them. The trial HMRC is undertaking is to see whether these existing codes could help officers in the field to authenticate products and help tackle illicit tobacco. No other companies currently provide such codes.

    The use of Codentify by HMRC is not part of an exercise to evaluate the wider use of potential tools available on the market. Any such exercise would be undertaken in the context of the implementation of the EU Tobacco Products Directive track and trace security feature requirements, which will be implemented by May 2019 for cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco.

    The European Commission is still considering, with Member States, proposals for new pan European security features and track and trace systems, and has yet to determine any technical specifications. HMRC are not evaluating Codentify as a track and trace tool or potential security feature; the aspects of the system being used are entirely separate from the requirements of the Directive.

    The use of Codentify is not a formal pilot and there will not be reports or results to publish. Instead the trial will identify the strengths, weaknesses and usefulness of using Codentify to HMRC as an authentication tool in the field. HMRC will review this later in 2016. Some resource has been spent providing access to the system and training officers in the use of the tool. However, this has been minimal and has not been separately identified. The Department of Health leads on public health policy and has been consulted on this initiative. HMRC sees no conflict between its current use of the Codentify system and FCTC requirements.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the potholes on the northbound carriageway of the M1 motorway between junctions 10 and 11 to be repaired and the carriageway resurfaced; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England completed temporary surface repairs and filled nine potholes overnight on 30-31 March. They plan to carry out permanent surface repairs between junctions 10 and 11 in mid-May 2016. These will be hot patch repairs, which are just as effective as permanent resurfacing and are durable enough to last until the next resurfacing scheme.

    Highways England inspects the M1 between junctions 10 and 11 twice weekly, with the latest safety inspection completed on Wednesday 13 April.

    Highways England will continue to ensure that the M1 between junctions 10 and 11 remains safe and serviceable. This section is not due for resurfacing in the current Delivery Plan, due to the general condition being satisfactory.