Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a smoothed discount rate for the purpose of pension fund valuation.

    Baroness Altmann

    Government consulted in 2013 on whether legislation should be introduced to allow the ‘smoothing’ of asset values and liabilities in funding valuations.

    Responses to the call for evidence indicated that there was no strong case for legislating to permit smoothing, with the overwhelming majority of respondents against this option. Respondents instead favoured greater use of the flexibilities within the existing legislation governing scheme funding.

    In its response to the call for evidence the Government advised that, given the views received, it did not intend to pursue the option of legislating to permit asset and liability smoothing, and that remains the Government’s position.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure residents in deprived areas have access to dental care.

    David Mowat

    NHS England has a legal duty to commission National Health Service dental services to meet the needs of the local population. NHS dental services are commissioned by NHS England through contracts with independent providers. These contracts are set based on the outcome of an oral health needs assessment undertaken in partnership with local authorities, which identifies the level of dental need for a particular community.

    NHS England is also working up plans to start testing new ways to improve children’s oral health in 10 high needs areas by innovative commissioning, focussed on encouraging take up of services that are available. The 10 high needs areas selected will be announced in November 2016.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the traffic commissioners have made on reviewing and modernising the regulation of commercial vehicle drivers.

    Andrew Jones

    The Senior Traffic Commissioner has reviewed and redrafted a number of Statutory Guidance Documents (SGDs) including SGD6 on Vocational Driver Conduct. This reviewed guidance was publically consulted on in July 2015 and the responses published in October. As stated in the Traffic Commissioners Strategic Objectivesdocument these guidance documents will be published before the end of this calendar year.

  • John Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    John Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many people in the UK were registered on a UK Parliamentary electoral register on 1 December (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) 2015.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The number of entries on UK Parliamentary registers for the years requested, are set out in the table below. Due to the implementation of individual electoral registration revised, registers were not published in December 2013 but in February and March 2014.

    Register

    UK Parliamentary register (including attainers)

    December 2010

    45,844,691

    December 2011

    46,107,152

    December 2012

    46,353,871

    December 2013 (published Feb/Mar 2014)

    46,139,940

    December 2014

    45,325,078

    Figures for the December 2015 registers are not yet available and this data will be published as soon as possible after 1 February, once those areas that have had by-elections have published their registers.

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made regarding Chief Constable David Shaw’s Use of Force Data Review.

    Lord Bates

    Further to the Noble Lord’s previous question HL2559, the Home Secretary has received the conclusions of Chief Constable David Shaw’s Use of Force Review and will report on its recommendations shortly.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people living in each of the Overseas Territories are in receipt of a UK state pension which is (1) frozen, or (2) uprated annually.

    Baroness Altmann

    The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK state pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so for example in the European Economic Area or countries where we have a reciprocal agreement that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this.

    Details of the numbers of people in receipt of the state pension, and whether they live in countries where the state pension is frozen or uprated, is included at Annex A. Countries where the UK state pension is up-rated are identified by an asterisk by the name of the country.

    The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU. Of course there is uncertainty about how a vote to leave the EU could impact on access to pensioner benefits for UK pensioners living in other parts of Europe. These questions would need to be answered as part of the process of negotiating the UK’s exit if there is a vote to leave. We could only consider the detail of access to pensions and benefits for people in receipt of UK state pensions who are resident in Europe as part of the process for leaving the EU.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons waste reduction, improved resource efficiency and increasing recycling rates were not included in her Department’s Single Department Plan: 2015 to 2020, published on 19 January 2016.

    Rory Stewart

    Waste and resource management are important priorities for the Government. That is why reducing waste is one of the key aims in our departmental strategy that was published last month. Furthermore, our 25 Year Environment Plan will consider waste and resource management alongside other issues.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department advises schools on the steps they should take to ensure that children are not over exposed to electromagnetic fields in schools.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not specifically monitor exposure to electromagnetic fields in schools.

    We provide advice to schools on health and safety matters. Schools must take reasonable steps to ensure that staff and pupils are not exposed to risks to their health and safety by conducting a risk assessment and, if necessary, putting measures in place to minimise any known risk.

    Schools should be aware that where concerns are raised that they can access the appropriate advice; Public Health England provides advice via GOV.UK[1] on exposure to electromagnetic fields in the everyday environment.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/electromagnetic-fields

    “

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will direct the NHS to review its decision on the expansion of access to pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment for people most at risk of contracting HIV.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England’s Specialised Services Commissioning Committee (SSCC) have considered and accepted NHS England’s external legal advice that it does not have the legal power to commission pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). However, work on PrEP is ongoing and up to £2 million will be invested in a pilot programme to target those at highest risk over the course of two years.

    Public Health England is working to identify the most effective locations for the introduction of this pilot. The Department will be discussing future commissioning with stakeholders.

    PrEP is a new use of HIV drugs which has shown effectiveness in research trials at preventing HIV in people at high risk of getting HIV such as men who have sex with men and people with HIV-positive partners. The drug used in United Kingdom trials, Truvada, is not yet licenced for use as PrEP. As with any new intervention, PrEP now needs to be properly assessed in relation to clinical and cost effectiveness to see how it could be commissioned in the most sustainable and integrated way and how it compares with other cost-effective approaches.

    Our £2.4 million national HIV Prevention and Sexual Health Promotion Programme also gives those at highest risk the best advice to make safer choices about sex.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what hard evidence they have collected that Daesh is using small commercial drones for surveillance and for conveying explosives.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has a range of material, including images, that provides evidence that Daesh has used small, commercially available unmanned aerial vehicles in Syria and Iraq to extend their surveillance capability, produce propaganda material and carry small improvised explosive devices.