Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which authorities are responsible for safeguarding unaccompanied children on the concourse at St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International stations.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    For unaccompanied children travelling on international train services, Eurostar International have an unaccompanied minors policy, which is available on their website. If unaccompanied, lost children are found at these stations, they are transferred to the custody of the British Transport Police by station staff.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many current Child Support Agency arrears cases there is (a) a current or ongoing liability for a child and (b) no such ongoing liability.

    Priti Patel

    As at December 2015, there were 418,300 CSA cases with a current liability and arrears and 748,600 CSA cases with no liability and arrears.

    Information on Caseload Status is set out on Page 54 of the CSA Quarterly Summary of Statistics which can be accessed online at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-statistics–2

    Note

    1. Figured rounded to nearest 100.
    2. Figures include 1993 and 2003 Schemes.

    “

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what checks are in place to ensure that foreign-registered vehicles entering the UK are insured.

    Andrew Jones

    All drivers using roads in the UK have to be in possession of third party insurance covering the use of that vehicle in this country.

    Under the sixth Motor Insurance Directive (2009/103/EC) an insurance policy issued in any EU Member State must cover the use of that vehicle for third party risks in all other EU Member States.

    Drivers entering the EU from non-member states have to produce evidence that they have the necessary insurance cover in place when they enter the EU.

    Checks on insurance by the police for any vehicle using UK roads can be carried out as they determine is necessary at any time.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doctors have applied for a Certificate of Good Standing in the last six months.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold this information.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department were working on breastfeeding in each year from 2010 to 2016.

    Ben Gummer

    Following the discontinuation of the Infant Feeding Survey, the Department has been exploring with Public Health England (PHE) and other key stakeholders alternative methods and sources of information to monitor the impact of its policy on infant feeding.

    In future, the Maternity and Children’s Dataset will regularly capture data on breastfeeding initiation and prevalence from all women using NHS services rather than using a survey sample. This means that local service providers and commissioners can have up-to-date (e.g. quarterly) information about outcomes for their local populations, enabling service provision to be more agile, responsive and targeted.

    The Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding through the Healthy Child Programme. Breastfeeding is also included in the Public Health Outcomes Framework so that the improvements can be tracked, and action taken as needed.

    Since 2010, we have recruited more than 2,100 additional midwives who will provide women with the information, advice and support they need with breastfeeding. A further 6,000 midwives are in training. There are also 3,400 more health visitors than in 2010.

    The Department is working with PHE, NHS England and UNICEF to try and encourage women to breastfeed for the first six months, although we recognise that not all mothers choose to or are able to breastfeed.

    Support and information is currently available to health professionals and parents through NHS Choices, the National Breastfeeding Helpline, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative, the Start4Life Information Service for Parents and local peer support programmes.

    The Department has not retained a record of how many full-time equivalent staff there were with a specific focus on breastfeeding between 2010 and 2016; breastfeeding policy has always formed part of the larger maternity policy for which the Department has the policy lead. Resources to cover this policy area would have fluctuated according the level of work required at any one time.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to implement English language checks on doctors who have come from other EU countries to test their knowledge of clinical English rather than general social English.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In June 2014 the General Medical Council (GMC) was given powers to carry out proportionate language controls on all applicants from the European Economic Area (EEA) to ensure that doctors have the necessary English language skills to practise safely in the United Kingdom. In addition the GMC was given powers to take fitness to practise action if a doctor working in the UK has insufficient language skills to carry out their job safely. Doctors must register with the GMC to practise in the UK.

    Since June 2014 a total of 1,659 doctors from the EEA have been unable to demonstrate to the GMC that they have sufficient language skills to practise safely in the UK; 564 of those doctors have gone on to reach the standard required by the GMC and have been issued with a licence to practise.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) time and (b) cost of clearing all contaminated material on the grounds where Heathrow plans to build a third runway.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Airports Commission considered site enabling works as a part of their cost and commercial analysis and the Government is considering all of the evidence before reaching a view on its preferred scheme.

    The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and outlined that it will take forward a draft Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) to deliver new airport capacity. The NPS will be supported by an Appraisal of Sustainability which will examine the economic, social and environmental impacts of the new runway proposals. This will include an assessment of the impacts on soil.

  • Graham Allen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Graham Allen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many and what proportion of (a) 18 and (b) 19 year-olds in Northern Ireland were registered to vote on 30 June 2014; what the average number was of 18 and 19 year-olds in Northern Ireland so registered as a proportion of the mid-year population estimate made by the Office for National Statistics for 2014; and how that figure differs from (i) Electoral Commission and (ii) Cabinet Office estimates of the number of registered 18 and 19 year-olds in (A) Northern Ireland and (B) Great Britain in 2014.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    On 30 June 2014, the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland had (a) 19,361 18 year olds and (b) 20,746 19 year olds registered to vote. Drawing on the mid-year population estimate for 2014 published by the Office for National Statistics, this would represent 82.8% of 18-19 year olds in Northern Ireland.

    The Electoral Commission last assessed the completeness of the Northern Ireland electoral register in 2012 when survey sampling estimated that 51% of 18-19 year olds were registered to vote. An Electoral Commission report on the quality of the 2014 electoral registers in Great Britain assessed that 76% of 18-19 year olds were registered to vote.

    The Cabinet Office has not made a separate assessment of the number of 18 and 19 year olds registered in either Great Britain or Northern Ireland in this period.

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the medicines optimisation programme’s principle of ensuring that the right patient gets the right choice of medicine, at the right time, is applied to people with inflammatory arthritis.

    Jane Ellison

    Quality standards (QS) are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners and providers what a high quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) QS in planning and delivering services, however they are not mandatory.

    The QS for rheumatoid arthritis states that services should be commissioned from and coordinated across all relevant agencies encompassing the rheumatoid arthritis care pathway. A person-centred approach to provision of services is fundamental to delivering high-quality care to adults with rheumatoid arthritis. NHS England continues to champion their use with providers and commissioners.

    NHS England is working with patients, the pharmaceutical industry, royal colleges and others to encourage a range of improvements aimed at ensuring that all patients, including those with inflammatory arthritis, get the support they need to get the most from their medicines. The development of the four principles to support medicines optimisation offers a step change to the way we think about medicine use in the NHS. The four guiding patient-centred principles: aim to understand the patient’s experience; evidence-based choice of medicines; make medicines optimisation part of routine practice; ensure medicines use is as safe as possible are applicable to all patients, conditions and disease states.

    The medicines optimisation best practice guidance, published in May 2014 is available at:

    www.rpharms.com/promoting-pharmacy-pdfs/helping-patients-make-the-most-of-their-medicines.pdf.

    “

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the dependency that hen welfare has on the frequency of human attention regardless of the position of the cages in which they are kept.

    George Eustice

    The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) enforces the relevant welfare legislation and carries out welfare inspections on farms to check that the UK legislation, which implements European law, is being followed. This includes spot checks and planned risk based inspections.

    In addition, a programme of inspections is carried out under EU cross compliance legislation to farmers that claim cross-compliance subsidies. The APHA also enforce the requirement for owners or other responsible persons to inspect their hens at least once a day.

    Our expert advisory committee, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee, has concluded that stockmanship, and the correct application of husbandry standards, whatever the system of production, is key to ensuring good welfare for farmed animals. This view is relevant to all livestock, whether in intensive or extensive production systems. The EU Commission’s Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare recognised that there is a wide variety of enriched cage designs for laying hens, and that the layout of some cages can affect bird inspection. Both the EU Commission in its 2008 report on the welfare of laying hens in various systems and the Farm Animal Welfare Committee recognise the welfare benefits of enriched cages and have given their support to this system of production.