Category: Speeches

  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what resources his Department has allocated to assessing the counter-proposal to the Government’s plans for community pharmacy published by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee in April 2016.

    Alistair Burt

    We have been developing our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond in discussion with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and other stakeholders. We welcomed the publication of the PSNC’s counter proposal which is being considered as part of the consultation process. Our aim is to communicate our final decisions early in July.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on future UK membership of Europol.

    Mr Robin Walker

    We are leaving the EU but co-operation on security with our European and global allies will be maintained. We will do what is necessary to keep our people safe – our aim will be to continue cooperation where it is in the national interest to protect the public. We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out unilateral positions in advance.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 45526, what representations he has received on the new charge brought against Nabeel Rajab by authorities in Bahrain.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Our Ambassador to Bahrain most recently raised the case of Nabeel Rajeb with the Bahraini Foreign Minister, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, on 17 October. An Official from our Embassy in Bahrain has attended all of the hearings to date, including most recently on 6 October. We will continue to monitor the case closely.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children in each parliamentary constituency are diagnosed with ADHD.

    Alistair Burt

    That information is not available centrally.

  • Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 25 November (HL3610), whether UK nuclear power plants are required to report to ONS hourly or half-hourly radioactive gaseous emissions.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Office for National Statistics has no role in respect of gathering statistics on radioactive gaseous emissions.

  • Huw Irranca-Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Huw Irranca-Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to his contribution of 16 September 2015, Official Report, columns 384-5WH, on Alan Richards and Kashif Shabir: SFO, what the threshold is for an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

    Robert Buckland

    The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) takes on the most serious or complex fraud cases, including cases of bribery or corruption. In considering whether to take on an investigation, the Director of the SFO applies his Statement of Principle, which includes consideration of:

    • whether the apparent criminality undermines UK PLC commercial or financial interests in general and in the City of London in particular,
    • whether the actual or potential financial loss involved is high,
    • whether actual or potential economic harm is significant,
    • whether there is a significant public interest element, and
    • whether there is new species of fraud

    The SFO also pursues criminals for the financial benefit they have made from their crimes, and assists overseas jurisdictions with their investigations into serious and complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on 6 January 2016, how she plans to ensure that effective national strategies on flooding and flood defences are created and maintained.

    Rory Stewart

    The Environment Agency (EA) has a duty under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a national flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy for England. The strategy was published in 2011. The Act also lays down that the EA must report to the Minister on flood and costal erosion risk management including the application of the national strategy. The EA publishes this report annually.

    In addition Government is undertaking a National Flood Resilience Review which will assess how the country can be better protected from future flooding and increasingly extreme weather events. It will focus on four key areas: updating our climate modelling and stress-testing the nation’s resilience to flood risk; assessing the resilience of our important infrastructure like electricity substations; our temporary defences; and our future investment strategy. The Government launched a call for evidence on 2 February. The Review will align closely with Defra’s work on catchment-level management of the water cycle in the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what checks the UK Border Agency makes to determine whether a person who is not a UK citizen has any overseas criminal convictions at the time of their entry into the UK from another EU country.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK conducts 100% checks on arriving passengers in order to identify people of concern seeking to enter the country. All passengers are checked against police, security and immigration watchlists and where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can – and do – refuse them entry.

    We use the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SISII) to check whether the individual is wanted for an offence under a European Arrest Warrant. If he or she is, arrangements will be made for the individual to be detained at port, and arrested by the police for surrender to the Member State that has issued the Warrant.

    In September 2015, we introduced a new requirement for Tier 1 investor and entrepreneur applicants to supply an overseas criminal record certificate for any country they have resided in continuously for 12 months or more, in the last 10 years prior to their application. Failure to provide such a document when required to do so may result in their application being refused.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on implementing recommendation 10 in the executive summary of Public Health England’s March 2015 report entitled, Public mental health leadership and workforce development framework, on building the capacity of the National Mental Health Intelligence Network.

    Jane Ellison

    Progress on implementing recommendation 10, which is to build the mental health intelligence capability through the National Mental Health Intelligence Network (NMHIN) can be categorised into three sections and is as follows:

    1) Capacity – NMHIN increased capacity in 2015/16 through NHS England investment. This enabled recruitment to work on additional/enhanced programmes on Crisis Care and Perinatal Mental Health and the first stage of a mental health Joint Strategic Needs Assessment toolkit. NHS England have committed to continue investment in 2016/17.

    2) Products – the NMHIN has enhanced mental health intelligence capability through the development of;

    a) Profiling tools (i.e. new tool on Suicide Prevention; expanded tool on Severe Mental Illness and Common Mental Health Disorders; updated tools which include; Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing) and,

    b) ntelligence products (i.e. Measuring Mental Wellbeing in Children and Young People).

    3) Dissemination – the NMHIN has enabled more people to use mental health intelligence through a communication and training programme that provides: routine updates on products and work programmes, training sessions on using products, online access to video and document guides, and a programme of presentations that promote products and encourages use. The Public Health England Local Intelligence Service support this programme and increasingly a range of partners request sessions.

  • Marie Rimmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Marie Rimmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marie Rimmer on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his plans are to facilitate the pooling of business rate revenue following full devolution of business rates in (a) areas that are not covered by combined authorities and (b) other areas.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The retention of business rates locally is an important part of our plan to take power out of Whitehall and return it to local government. This means we will no longer be taking local business rates income into Whitehall for redistribution as grant. All locally collected business rates will stay with local government.

    We have already been clear that we will retain redistribution within the system. We recognise that we will need to redistribute to ensure councils don’t lose out merely because they currently collect less in rates.

    The Government is currently working with the Local Government Association, and engaging directly with local authorities, to develop the detail of this change. This includes developing the mechanics of redistribution. As previously announced, we will consult later this year and implement this important change to the local government finance system by the end of this Parliament.