Category: Speeches

Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the safe level of consumption of game killed with lead ammunition for (a) healthy adults, (b) pregnant women and (c) children.

Jane Ellison

Government set up the independent Lead Ammunition Group in 2010 to provide advice on risks to wildlife and human health from lead shot game. The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report on the effect of lead shot on human and wildlife health and will respond as soon as possible The Food Standards Agency (FSA) accepts the expert advice of the UK Committee on Toxicity and the European Food Safety Authority that it is not possible to set a safe level for exposure to lead from food. However, to better understand the potential risk to UK consumers the FSA produced a risk assessment in 2012 based on its survey data from 2007 of game meat samples; Veterinary Medicines Directorate data from the national surveillance scheme was also considered. The FSA risk assessment considered the potential levels of exposure to lead from lead shot game for adults, children and toddlers based on different levels of game meat consumption.

This risk assessment led to FSA issuing targeted advice to frequent consumers of lead shot game in 2012, warning of the potential risks. The advice was promoted as especially important for vulnerable groups such as toddlers and children, pregnant women and women trying for a baby, as exposure to lead can harm the developing brain and nervous system. The FSA risk assessment was published along with this advice. The Government has not estimated the number of people who regularly consume game meat shot with lead.

More generally, the FSA, works on behalf of the UK within the European Union to agree harmonised controls to reduce public exposure to lead in the food chain. EU maximum limits apply for lead in a range of foods and these are regularly reviewed by the EU Commission and member states. These maximum limits apply to all food produced in the EU or imported to the EU.

01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to report on the progress of the pilot being run in conjunction with the Department for Education to give schools access to a single point of contact for mental health.

Alistair Burt

The Department for Education and NHS England have commissioned Ecorys to undertake an independent evaluation of the Mental Health Services and School Link Pilots. The evaluation will run from October 2015 to November 2016, covering all 22 pilot sites with Ecorys formally reporting back to the Department for Education and NHS England towards the end of 2016.

01/01/2023
Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the effect on UK businesses, and (2) the cost to the UK economy, of inadequate internet connections on trains.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government has not yet made an assessment of the effect on UK businesses and the cost to the UK economy of inadequate internet connections on trains but our policy of investing in fitting out trains with new Wi-Fi equipment and improving mobile phone signals has been evaluated based on existing evidence that there will be a net economic and social benefit to society from the investment.

01/01/2023
Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department’s policy is on the proposal from the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee to introduce comprehensive public country-by-country reporting for all multinational companies, in all sectors, by the first quarter of 2016; and if he will press for the introduction of such country-by-country reporting with other member states in the Council.

Mr David Gauke

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has a keen interest in tax, and hence put forward certain proposals. However, the Commission has the sole power of initiative in relation to legislative measures. Tax files are to be agreed by unanimity at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). The European Parliament’s role in this process in not formal, and purely consultative.

The term tax haven is often used as shorthand for low or zero tax jurisdictions. However, low tax rates are not by themselves harmful and the UK supports fair tax competition. The UK is working with other Member States in the EU Code of Conduct Group to identify harmful tax regimes and will continue to take strong action against aggressive avoidance and evasion.

The UK and other Member States have not yet seen any proposals from the European Commission or the European Parliament on public country-by-country reporting (CbCR). The Commission is due to publish an Impact Assessment on public CbCR shortly, and we are interested in the results of their analysis. The UK will carefully consider any proposals put forward by the Commission.

The UK played a leading role in encouraging other countries and jurisdictions to sign up to international tax transparency agreements during its G8 presidency in 2013. Thanks in large part to the UK’s continuing leadership on this agenda, over 90 countries have now committed to exchange information on offshore accounts, beginning in 2017 or 2018. The UK also initiated the international work on CbCR and was the first country to formally commit to implementing the OECD model for CbCR, with legislation in the Finance Act 2015. We support the proposal to amend the Directive on Administrative Co-operation to require all EU Member States to adopt and exchange the OECD CbCR template.

The European Commission intends to publish a revised proposal for a mandatory Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) later this year. The Government will wait to see the detail of the Commission’s proposal, including a robust impact assessment, before finalising its position. However, we have stated that the UK will not sign up to anything that undermines our tax sovereignty.

01/01/2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 28521, on holiday leave: pay, when work on the formal assessment of the financial impact began; and what the target date is for completion of that assessment.

Nick Boles

Our formal assessment of the financial impacts of the Court of Justice of the EU’s judgment in Lock v British Gas is based on the latest 2015 Labour Force Survey (LFS) micro data which was released on 17 February 2016. We are going through the final stages of quality assurance and hope to make the assessment available on the BIS website within the next few weeks.

01/01/2023
Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people of each nationality are awaiting deportation.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office does not disclose country specific information regarding deportation of foreign national offenders in any public material, including Freedom of Information Requests, as its disclosure could prejudice relations between the UK and foreign governments. Parliamentary Questions are approached in the same way.

01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 26065, on mental illness: employment, whether the guidance for businesses on addressing mental health issues has been published.

Alistair Burt

Public Health England and Business in the Community (BITC) have produced a Mental Health Workplace digital toolkit for employers to address mental health issues at work. The toolkit builds on the existing best practice and considers the transferable learning between business sectors and businesses of different sizes. The toolkit will be published on BITC’s website on 16 May 2016 to coincide with the start of 2016 Mental Health Awareness Week.

01/01/2023
Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information the Government holds on stockpiles of cluster munitions in countries other than the UK.

Mr Philip Dunne

At least 108 nations are signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The Ministry of Defence does not routinely hold information on whether non-signatories possess cluster munitions and their stockpiles.

01/01/2023

Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average annual spend per pupil in secondary modern schools was in 2015-16 in (a) England and (b) each region.

Nick Gibb

Schools self-select their own admissions category on Edubase. 120 schools are identified as ‘secondary modern’.

The Department does not yet hold the income and expenditure data from 2015-16. The data will be available for those which are maintained by the local authority in December 2016, and for those which are academies in the summer of 2017.

The overall expenditure per pupil in secondary modern schools by each region for 2014-15 is listed in the following table:

Region	Number of secondary modern schools	Expenditure per pupil (£)
East Midlands	13	6,388
East of England	1	5,738
London	13	6,228
North West	15	6,416
South East	54	5,703
South West	7	5,928
West Midlands	11	5,547
Yorkshire and the Humber	3	6,729
England Total	117*	5,921

*Note: There are 3 secondary modern schools for which we do not have comparable financial data for them for this period. One of these converted to an academy during 2014-15, and one was reported as part of a federation with another school. The remaining school did not submit data to the Department. The expenditure per pupil takes into account expenditure from all income sources, including self-generated income.

01/01/2023

Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the incentives for defendants in clinical negligence cases to encourage early admissions and settlements.

Ben Gummer

Admissions should be made and compensation paid to those who are entitled to it based on the evidence. The proposed scheme will also apply to defendants and incentives for early resolution are included in the consultation. NHS Litigation Authority data shows that on average clinical negligence claims resolve within 1.31 years of the claim being made, and those valued under £25,000 are resolved in less than 12 months.

Following the pre-consultation process, the Department is currently working with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee on the rules to support the Fixed Recoverable Cost work before an open public consultation is undertaken.

01/01/2023