Category: Speeches

  • Earl Baldwin of Bewdley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Earl Baldwin of Bewdley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 16 January 2013 (HL4464), whether the potential disadvantages as well as advantages of water fluoridation for young children are enjoyed regardless of personal behaviour”.”

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Scientific reviews over many years have shown that water fluoridation is an effective and safe public health measure. It is known that consuming fluoride in water at levels permitted by United Kingdom legislation, whether as a result of fluoridation or present naturally, can contribute to the risk of dental fluorosis, as can other sources of fluoride such as toothpaste if swallowed in excessive amounts.

    In 2014 Public Health England published Water fluoridation Health monitoring report for

    England, acting as guidance for dental teams on the prevention of dental disease in their patients. This included advice on reducing the risk of dental fluorosis from toothpaste ingestion among their patients, in particular young children. A copy of this guidance is attached.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many representations he has received on the exploitation of unpaid trials in the (a) service, (b) print and (c) retail sector.

    Nick Boles

    My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, BIS Ministers and officials are in frequent contact with a wide range of stakeholders on labour market issues, including issues around internships. The Low Pay Commission also consults on a range of issues, including internships, and submits its findings to Government each year to inform its recommendations on the National Minimum Wage. We are not aware of any recent, formal representations relating only to exploitation of unpaid interns in the specified sectors.

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2016 to Question 30732 and the oral contribution of the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise of 10 March 2016, Official Report, column 425, what the nature of Mr Newby’s assistance to departmental officials was in the development and implementation of the Pubs Code.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer the hon Member to the Answer to Question UIN 30732.

    “

  • Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which countries the Department for International Development (DfID) has awarded contracts for the drilling of water wells; and how many of those contracts were awarded centrally by DfID, and how many were awarded locally.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID delivers a range of water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities, through partners in 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia all of which use proven approaches that deliver affordable and sustainable services.

    These interventions are not restricted to the drilling of water wells. As such, DFID do not disaggregate individual activities separately and are therefore not able to report specific numbers of drilling contracts.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the next review of the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area is planned to take place.

    James Duddridge

    The South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area was established in the Maritime Zone in 2012 and revised in June 2013 to include further protection measures. The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands will undertake reviews every five years, with the next review taking place in 2018.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish all sustainability and transformation plans that were submitted within the June 2016 deadline.

    David Mowat

    The June Sustainability Transformation Plan (STP) submissions were a ‘checkpoint’ for draft plans and, as works in progress, will not be published. STP proposals are currently at a draft stage, but it is expected that all local leaders will be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly as it is vital that people are able to shape the future of their local services. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation. There are longstanding assurance processes in place to make sure this happens. All footprints will submit an updated plan in October, with further formal public engagement and consultation taking place from this point, as appropriate. Many footprints are already publishing patient-facing summaries as part of their engagement programme. All footprints will submit an updated plan at the end of October and, following this, we would expect to see areas publishing proposals for engagement by the end of the year. Many footprints are already publishing patient-facing summaries as part of their engagement programmes.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken to process a Security Industry Authority licence application has been in the last year.

    Brandon Lewis

    The average time taken to process applications is unavailable in the format requested. The SIA’s new IT system (introduced in July 2016) enables more detailed performance analysis. The system shows that the average number of days for processing applications (including renewals) was 38 days in July and 30 days in August. Once fully embedded, the SIA expect that the processing time for applications will be quicker than under the old system. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) have an annual performance target to process 80% of applications (including renewals) within 25 working days. The SIA met this annual target in the 2015/16 financial year. Performance for 2016/2017 to date is included in the table below.

    Applications

    Percentage within 25 working days

    Sep-15

    11618

    89%

    Oct-15

    10799

    85%

    Nov-15

    10499

    83%

    Dec-15

    8589

    76%

    Jan-16

    9905

    80%

    Feb-16

    10597

    83%

    Mar-16

    10352

    85%

    Apr-16

    9951

    86%

    May-16

    9889

    81%

    Jun-16

    9277

    80%

    Jul-16

    6305

    46%

    Aug-16

    9208

    72%
  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of (a) changes in the number of cases of, and deaths from rotavirus (b) the number of rotavirus vaccinations given each year and (c) the cost of delivering that programme of vaccinations on an annual basis since the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine in 2013.

    Jane Ellison

    The number of positive rotavirus laboratory reports each year since 2013 is shown in the table below. These data indicate that there has been a decrease of approximately 10,000 annual cases of rotavirus since the introduction of rotavirus immunisation in July 2013.

    Table 1: The number of positive rotavirus laboratory reports recorded annually since 2013.

    Year

    Number of positive rotavirus laboratory reports

    2013

    14,950

    2014

    4,447

    2015

    5,035*

    Source: PHE Second Generation Surveillance System (SGSS) laboratory reporting database

    Note: *Figure to end October 2015.

    Deaths from rotavirus in the United Kingdom are rare. However precise numbers of deaths are difficult to quantify accurately as mortality is usually low and reported simply as death due to gastrointestinal disease. It was previously estimated that there may have been up to three to four rotavirus associated deaths a year in England and Wales (Jit et al., 2007). Following a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert committee that advises the Government on immunisation, the rotavirus vaccine was introduced in July 2013. Since then, there have been no reported rotavirus-related deaths in the eligible cohort.

    Immunisation against rotavirus is offered as a two dose schedule to infants at two and three months of age. The table below indicates the number of rotavirus vaccinations given by year.

    Table 2: Number of general practitioner (GP) registered patients who received (a) a 1st dose and (b) a 2nd dose of rotavirus vaccine between six and 24 weeks of age.

    Year

    No. vaccinated with dose 1

    No. vaccinated with dose 2

    2013*

    not available

    not available

    2014

    531,068

    500,454

    2015 (up to September)

    428,591

    406,485

    Source: ImmForm

    Note: *Although the immunisation programme was launched in July 2013, January 2014 was the first complete month where all of 25 week old cohort would have been eligible from the programme start.

    In 2014/15 NHS incurred approximately £9 million delivering completed courses of rotavirus vaccination. This figure does not include the cost of the vaccine, which is procured centrally by Public Health England, and is commercially confidential.

  • Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has conducted research on the potential effect on the (a) rate of emigration and (b) number of pensioner returnees of unfreezing pensions.

    Justin Tomlinson

    At present DWP has not conducted any research into the behavioural impacts that the unfreezing of pensions may have on individuals’ migration decisions.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) potential effect on the UK economy of the decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise US interest rates and (b) potential effect of this decision on interest rates in the UK.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Higher US interest rates are a sign of confidence in the US economy, whose strong recovery has supported demand as the world’s largest economy and UK’s closest economic and financial partner. The UK’s monetary policy framework, set out in the Bank of England Act 1998, gives operational responsibility for monetary policy to the independent Monetary Policy Committee. Decisions on setting Bank Rate are for the judgement of the MPC.