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Category: Speeches

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what activities (a) she and (b) officials of the Government Equalities Office have undertaken to promote breastfeeding during World Breastfeeding Week 2016.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government Equalities Office fully supports the work of the Department of Health, which leads Government work to promote breastfeeding.

    • The Department of Health encourages exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life because of the health benefits to mothers and babies. We recognise that infant feeding choices are complex and based on individual and family circumstances and that not all mothers choose to or are able to breastfeed.
    • 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.
    • Support and information is currently available to health professionals and parents through NHS Choices, the National Breastfeeding Helpline, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative and local peer support programmes.
  • David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) which food banks he has visited since taking office.

    Damian Hinds

    Details of Ministerial UK official visits and official meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly and made available on the gov.uk website.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, FCO, Tobias Ellwood MP on 20 July (HC6867), what assessment they have made of the legality of coalition airstrikes in Yemen, and to what extent that assessment differs from those produced by Human Rights Watch.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK supports the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition military intervention in Yemen, which came at the request of legitimate President Hadi to the UN Security Council, the Gulf Co-operation Council, and the Arab League for support by ‘all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter Houthi aggression’. We are aware of reports, including from Human Rights Watch, of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law by the Coalition. We have received repeated assurances from the Saudi Arabian-led coalition that they are complying with International Humanitarian Law and we continue to engage with them on those assurances. The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and we encourage them to be open and transparent in this. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with International Humanitarian Law and international human rights law.

  • Lord Rennard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Rennard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated annual cost of their special advisers.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    I refer the Noble Lord to the Written Statement made on 17 December 2015, HLWS417, which I have attached for each of reference.

    The attached list of Special Advisers sets out the names of the Special Advisers in post as of December 2015, each special adviser’s pay band, and actual salary (where this is higher than the Senior Civil Service entry-level salary), together with details of the total pay bill for 2014-15 and the estimate for 2015-16. The cost has fallen from last year, and the cost represents just 0.08 per cent of the Civil Service pay bill.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the situation in Madaya; and what assessment they have made of the likelihood that access will now be possible on a regular basis.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the Syria crisis. We have pledged over £1.1 billion, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US.

    On 11 January 2016, the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent confirmed that aid convoys of humanitarian assistance had arrived in the hard to reach town of Madaya, and the besieged areas of Foah and Kefraya. Further convoys have since arrived and more are planned. DFID funding to UN agencies is directly supporting the current convoys.

    The UN and partners continue to do all they can on a daily basis to gain access to the 4.5 million Syrians in hard to reach and besieged areas. The UK supports UN agencies and its partners who are trying to secure such access and deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria

    A wide range of constraints on humanitarian access exist, including continued hostilities, onerous bureaucratic requirements, and attempts by parties to armed conflict to intentionally block access. In the past year, only 10% of all requests submitted by the UN to the regime to access besieged and hard to reach areas have been approved and delivered. That is why the UK played a critical role in co-sponsoring and lobbying for UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2191 and 2258 which enable the UN to deliver aid into Syria without the consent of the regime. It is vital we maintain the pressure on the regime to let aid convoys in and to provide sustained, permanent and safe humanitarian access.

    The desperate situation in besieged and hard to reach areas shows why we need the international community to come together at the London Conference for Syria and the Region on 4 February to support immediate needs and identify longer-term solutions to address the needs of those affected by the crisis, especially regarding jobs and education. We also hope the Conference will put pressure on the parties to the conflict by shining a spotlight on violations of international law and impediments to humanitarian access in Syria.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the reasons were for the time taken for her Department and the Department of Health to reach an agreement on the site for Harperbury Free School.

    Edward Timpson

    The negotiation for land for the site of Harperbury Free School was part of a wider land sale for new homes which was being negotiated by the Department of Health. Heads of Terms for the sale were agreed in September 2014 and subsequently revised in October 2015.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Kantar Worldpanel 2014 dataset on sales-weighted average sugar content in soft drinks; and whether he plans to review the Government’s voluntary approach to the food and drink industry in relation to calorie reduction in soft drinks.

    Jane Ellison

    As part of its review to identify possible actions to reduce sugar intakes and inform the Government’s thinking on sugar, Public Health England considered the current evidence on sugar in food and drinks. We are considering this alongside other evidence as we develop our Childhood Obesity Strategy which will be launched in the summer. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese including sugar. It will also set out what more can be done by all.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to encourage the use of faecal calprotectin in primary care to facilitate prompt and appropriate referral of people with suspected inflammation of the bowel.

    Jane Ellison

    The IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) Registry provides a United Kingdom-wide repository of anonymised IBD adult and paediatric patient data for prospective audit and research purposes. Patients must consent for their data to be added to the registry. The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) has allocated transitional funding this year to incorporate IBD audit data collection into the IBD Registry, providing an enhanced system for data capture and quality improvement that will be available to every hospital in the UK. This will allow the entry of data locally and support service improvement. Initially the focus will be for IBD patients receiving biologic treatments, but the system will address other key aspects of IBD care in the future.

    The second step of data collection will be to focus on new patients with IBD to begin to understand the incidence of IBD in the UK. This picture will build up over a number of years and be dependent on the engagement of clinicians.

    No specific assessment of the potential effects on healthcare due to the introduction of a registry of patients with IBD in England has been made. However, the data provided through the register can support National Health Service services in areas such as the assessment of local IBD populations as well as in measuring incidence and outcomes with services in other parts of the UK.

    Although there is no direct Department funding, HQIP have given £290,000 for a year’s transition funding to join the audit data with the registry.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends faecal calprotectin testing as an option to help doctors distinguish between inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and non-inflammatory bowel diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

    The NICE IBD Quality Standard states that general practitioners (GP) and GP practices should ensure that testing is offered and clinical commissioning groups should ensure the diagnostic services are in place to support this.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which competent authorities in the UK will be able to access data on the beneficial ownership of companies incorporated in (a) other EU countries and (b) British Overseas Territories.

    Harriett Baldwin

    All UK competent authorities can request company beneficial ownership information from foreign jurisdictions through Mutual Legal Assistance and other information sharing arrangements such as the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units. Furthermore, more than 30 countries have now joined the initiative to automatically share beneficial ownership information among participants (the statement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/520459/statement_on_the_initiative_for_exchange_of_beneficial_ownership_information.pdf). The Prime Minister also recently announced that UK law enforcement and tax agencies will have full access to information on the beneficial ownership of companies incorporated in all UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies (except Guernsey).

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35884, on Bees: Pesticides, if she will make it her policy to exercise her powers to lift the temporary ban on neonicotinoids in the future; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    EU restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids have been fully implemented in the UK. Member States can authorise limited and controlled use of a pesticide on an exceptional basis in emergency situations to “control a danger which cannot be contained by any other reasonable means”. Emergency authorisations are not granted automatically and applications must be based on evidence relating to the need for the pesticide and possible harmful effects.

    Decisions on whether or not to grant authorisations for restricted neonicotinoids will be made on the basis of an examination of the technical and scientific information submitted by the applicant, by the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides and the Health and Safety Executive. Two applications are currently under consideration and will be assessed using the above regulatory criteria.