Category: Speeches

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Juba Teaching Hospital in South Sudan has adequate supplies of electricity; what assessment they have made of the effect of power cuts and power rationing on that hospital’s ability to provide treatment; whether they have raised the issue of the lack of electricity at the Juba Teaching Hospital with the government of South Sudan; and what steps they will take to ensure that that government takes action.

    Baroness Verma

    The Government of South Sudan has provided one year’s supply of fuel to the Juba Teaching Hospital. The fuel was delivered and electricity was restored to the hospital at the end of May 2016. The Government has also recently signed a contract with a private company to undertake general renovation of the hospital.

    The South Sudan Government’s annual budget allocations for health and education are amongst the lowest in the region averaging 6% for education and 4% for health, compared to an average of 17% and 15% respectively in other East African countries. The UK has consistently lobbied for increased budget allocations to these sectors. The UK is pressing the Government of South Sudan to increase funding for health in the 2016-17 annual budget which will be set in July, particularly for medicines, hospital infrastructure, recurrent running costs including fuel, and personnel for hospitals and clinics. This issue was most recently raised in a meeting with the Minister of Health, Riek Gai Kok on 21 June 2016.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax and national insurance revenue was received from the self-employed courier sector in each of the last three years; and how much tax credit expenditure that sector received in each of those years.

    Jane Ellison

    Income tax and national insurance contributions are charged on total income after allowances and reliefs therefore it is not possible to determine how much income tax or national insurance contributions were generated solely from self-employment income sources from the courier sector.

    Tax credit expenditure received by this sector could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    NHS Improvement (NHSI) is responsible for overseeing National Health Service trusts. NHSI advises that East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s (EEAST’s) performance has seen a sustained improvement since March 2016. However, the Trust is still not meeting the national standards for category A (immediately life-threatening) calls. In August 2016, it responded to 68.9% of Red 1 calls and 62.3% of Red 2 calls within eight minutes, against a standard of 75%. For all category A calls, it responded to 90.8% within 19 minutes, against a standard of 95%.

    NHSI advises that overall demand on the Trust’s services has increased by 4.6% over the last 12 months, although the higher acuity ‘Red’ demand has increased by approximately 15%. This substantial increase in high acuity demand represents thousands more calls needing a response against the eight-minute standard. In 2016/17, to the end of August 2016, the Trust had responded to 3,699 more high acuity patients (Red 1 and Red 2 calls) in eight minutes than in the same period in 2015/16.

    NHSI advises that staff turnover at EEAST has been steadily reducing over the last eight months. Turnover of EEAST frontline staff for the period 1 August 2015 to 30 September 2016 was 7.12%. The Trust’s reference period for reporting staff turnover is 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015, and within this period turnover was 8.31%. Based on the most recent national benchmarking data for June 2016, turnover for all staff at EEAST was 9.85%, fifth lowest of the 11 English ambulance trusts.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of junior doctors not rostered on at evenings and weekends as a result of the terms of the current junior doctor contract.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS Employers’ evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration – “Reform of national contracts for consultant doctors and doctors and dentists in training”1 – published in December 2014 during the hon. Member’s tenure as a Minister, included a profile of how the hours worked by doctors in training were spread across the week.

    We have evidence that hospital leaders consider the junior doctors’ contract to be a significant barrier to delivering more seven-day services. NHS Providers’ written evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration on contract reform for consultants and doctors and dentists in training2 stated that the junior doctor contract is still a significant source of barriers to seven day working and reform of the junior doctor contract is also required to support trusts to deliver more seven-day services. In particular, the pay banding system for junior doctors needs to be reviewed. There were concerns from employers that the banding system is too complicated, can create “perverse incentives” for junior doctors and hospital management, and means that providing more seven-day services is unfeasible, since more junior doctors would be working outside core hours and receive premiums under the current banding system. NHS Providers also believe that more hours in a day and more days of the week need to be defined as core hours, as the current arrangement does not support the delivery of more seven-day services or reflect the needs and expectations of today’s patients.

    Future working patterns are for individual employers to determine. The evidence on doctors’ working patterns has not altered since the hon. Member was a Minister for Health.

    1 http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/pay-and-reward/pay/medical-pay/ddrb-evidence—in-detail/consultants-and-junior-doctors-contract-reform-submission-of-evidence-to-the-ddrb

    2 http://www.nhsproviders.org/resource-library/written-evidence-ddrb-special-remit/

    “

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.62 in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published on 23 November 2015, what areas his Department plans to sell to reduce the size of the built estate by 30 per cent; and by what process those areas were chosen.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Defence Footprint Strategy examines the Defence Estate across the UK, with the aim of providing a smaller more sustainable estate in support of military capabilities. Work to identify the sites which may be released to enable the reduction of the estate through the Footprint Strategy will conclude in 2016, contributing to the Government’s commitment to release public sector land for house building during this Parliament.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps Network Rail is taking to ensure co-ordination between its regional units for the purpose of redirecting traffic affected by the closure of the West Coast Main Line north of Carlisle.

    Claire Perry

    Co-ordination arrangements for managing passenger and freight traffic whilst the West Coast Main Line route through Lamington is closed are operational matters for Network Rail.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has paid out in compensation to (a) internal and (b) external claimants in each year since 2010.

    Karen Bradley

    This information is not available, except at disproportionate cost.

    The Home Office records all Special Payments (of which compensation is a type). However, we are not required to report whether the recipient is internal or external to the Department.

    It is therefore not possible, from the data we have, to provide a compensation figure that separates out internal and external claimants.

    Page 154 of the Home Office’s 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts has a table that lists the total value and number of all Special Payments

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to meet the target of reaching a national recycling rate of 50 per cent by 2020.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK recycling rate has increased from 11% at the turn of the century, to 44.9% now. This progress is thanks in large part to the hard work of Local Authorities and householders.

    The Government is committed to meeting the 2020 EU recycling target of 50% of household waste.

    Local Authorities are best placed to determine the most appropriate waste collection and recycling services in their areas and we work with them and the Waste and Recycling Action Programme (WRAP) to promote best practice.

    I have asked WRAP to look at what further measures can be taken to improve recycling rates and, in particular, the benefits and opportunities there are from having greater consistency in the materials collected and collection systems, to enable Local Authorities to recycle more, and to make it easier for householders to put the right materials in the right bin.

  • Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his visit to the Mersey Gateway on 23 April 2015, what progress has been made on ensuring support will be provided to small businesses in Runcorn and Widnes when that bridge opens in 2017 related to the cost of tolls crossing the Mersey Gateway.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Residents of Halton will already be able to use the bridges for free following previous Government decisions to fund an extension to the original, limited, resident’s discount scheme proposed by Halton Borough Council. Heavy goods vehicles and coaches will pay the same wherever they are geographically based which will ensure a level playing field for businesses across the North West.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they are making to press for the publication of the UN Security Council Sudan Panel of Experts’ most recent report, presented to the Sudan Sanctions Committee in December 2015, detailing the use of cluster munitions and gold smuggling in Darfur.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK fully supports the work of the UN Panel of Experts on Darfur. We are extremely concerned that last year’s report has not been published and have raised this issue with our UN Security Council partners.