Category: Speeches

Lord Harries of Pentregarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harries of Pentregarth on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether reporters are now allowed to enter West Papua; and if not, what representations they are making to the government of Indonesia to allow access to the press.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We welcome the Indonesian government’s commitment to improving the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. This includes President Joko Widodo’s visit in May, when he granted clemency to a number of prisoners and announced the lifting of travel restrictions for foreign journalists. Since May, a number of foreign journalists have successfully visited and reported from Papua and West Papua.

01/01/2023
Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Sheffield City Region Devolution Agreement that has been signed by the leaders and the mayor of four councils in South Yorkshire is final, and whether before signing the signatories were informed that the powers of the mayor for the Sheffield City Region set out in paragraph 4 could be further negotiated.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

All deals are agreed in principle, and are subject to the passage of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill and relevant secondary legislation. There is a clear understanding – stipulated in the deal document – that discussions will be on-going and that further powers may be devolved in the future, as has been the case with Greater Manchester.

01/01/2023
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to eliminate food insecurity in developing countries.

Baroness Verma

The UK believes that poverty is the main cause of hunger, as most people are hungry or undernourished because they cannot afford to buy sufficient nutritious food. Much of the solution to hunger will therefore depend on inclusive economic growth, in particular in the agriculture sector. We have just published our new Conceptual Framework on Agriculture which sets out our priorities to accelerate impact on economic development, poverty reduction, and sustainable food systems and nutrition.

Alongside this policy work, the UK has committed to a number of results that will deliver on the Global Goals, particularly on ending hunger. First, our nutrition manifesto commitment will improve by 2020 the nutrition of 50 million people who would otherwise go hungry. Second, with other Nutrition for Growth (N4G) signatories, we will prevent 20 million children becoming stunted. Lastly, in 2015, alongside other G7 countries, we will help address hunger and malnutrition among 500 million people by 2030 as part of the G7 Broad Food Security and Nutrition Development Approach agreed in Elmau.

01/01/2023
Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22264, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on recovery outcomes for ill Gulf War veterans of the research that his Department has funded into rehabilitative therapies for such veterans.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) funded the first stage of a trial at Cardiff University to develop a treatment programme for ill Gulf veterans. Unfortunately there were difficulties with the recruitment of Gulf War veterans and the Department took the decision not to proceed with the second phase of the trial.

The MOD has made no assessment of the recovery outcomes for ill Gulf War veterans that took part in that trial.

01/01/2023

Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients are registered at each GP surgery in Mid Sussex constituency; what the capacity of each such surgery is; and how many such surgeries are over-subscribed.

Alistair Burt

NHS England advises that surgeries do not have a specific maximum number of patients allowed to register at a general practitioner (GP) surgery. If a practice considers that it has too many patients registered, or wishing to register, then it may request a temporary list closure, try and recruit more GPs/nurses, or may extend its premises.

NHS England confirms that in Horsham and Mid Sussex there is currently one surgery which has a capped list and has made a formal application to NHS England to close its list which is under consideration. This practice is Ship Street Surgery in East Grinstead.

NHS England has provided the information as shown in the following tables.

GP practices in the Horsham and Mid Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group area, with current list sizes (number of registered patients):

Meadows Surgery	9,643
Cowfold Surgery	4,575
Cuckfield Medical Centre	8,624
Ship Street Surgery	11,811
Judges Close Surgery	7,857
Park Surgery Horsham	24,397
Rudgwick Medical Centre	3,488
Courtyard Surgery	8,786
Lindfield Medical Centre	11,150
Orchard Surgery Horsham	9,418
Health Centre at Bowers Place	8,099
Dolphins Health Centre	11,955
Newtons Health Centre	13,839
Mid Sussex Health Care	19,322
Moatfield Surgery	13,713
Silverdale Practice	11,694
Brow Medical Centre	6,366
Riverside Surgery	7,622
The Village Surgery	8,188
Northlands Wood Surgery	6,621
Ouse Valley Practice	6,675
Park View Health Partnership	5,509
Holbrook Surgery	15,240

Source: NHS England. Validated but unpublished information on GP practice list sizes from an approved statistical collection.

01/01/2023

Christopher Pincher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Pincher on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, upon what criteria she plans to decide whether to remove the derogation in the Waste Framework Directive which currently allows air pollution control residues, which have been recovered from municipal waste to energy incineration facilities, to be treated and disposed to hazardous landfill sites.

Rory Stewart

The derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria was originally granted because there was a lack of alternative treatment capacity at the time to either treat certain wastes to levels meeting normal waste acceptance limits, to treat the wastes via alternative treatment technologies or to recycle or recover the residues. The availability of sufficient alternative treatment capacity and the costs of that treatment are therefore the two central criteria that the government will use to decide whether or not to remove the derogation.

The Government is making an assessment of the quantity of air pollution control residues produced at energy from waste facilities to inform its decision on whether or not to remove the derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria. These figures will be available following the announcement of that decision.

The Government is making an assessment of the costs of the different forms of treatment for air pollution control residues, including their mixing into concrete blocks and their disposal to hazardous waste landfill, to inform its decision on whether or not to remove the derogation to allow the landfilling of air pollution control residues that are three times above normal waste acceptance criteria. These figures will be available following the announcement of that decision.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how he plans to modify the outcome area reviews of post-16 education and training to take account of equality impact assessments available only after a review has concluded.

Nick Boles

The Government will produce an evaluation of the area review programme and its potential to impact on groups protected by the Equality Act 2010.

The Joint Area Review Delivery Unit, which supports the individual reviews, will work with the local steering groups overseeing the reviews to make sure that equality issues are considered in each review.

The reviews do not, however, mandate action. Colleges are independent corporations and it will be for each college’s governing body to assess the potential impact on groups protected by the Act, as part of its decision to accept or reject any recommendation requiring a change to their provision. This does not therefore require a modification of the outcomes of a review.

01/01/2023
Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has to extend consumer protections to customers of district heating schemes.

Andrea Leadsom

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my rt. hon Friend the Secretary of State to the Hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on 19 November 2015, Official Report Column 813-814:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm151119/debtext/151119-0001.htm

“

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect that a possible Heathrow Airport expansion will have on UK industry.

Mr John Hayes

The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme. The Government is not providing a running commentary on this work before an announcement on its preference.

01/01/2023
Nigel Huddleston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Huddleston on 2016-10-24.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of women on boards and at senior executive levels of FTSE companies.

Caroline Dinenage

We have more women on boards than ever before and no all-male boards in the FTSE 100. We have established the new, independent Hampton-Alexander Review which will have a particular focus on improving gender representation in the all-important executive layer of the FTSE companies.

I fully endorse the business-led target of 33% women on FTSE 350 boards by 2020 and would like to go further.

01/01/2023