Category: Speeches

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have made representations to his Department about the proposed change of social sector housing benefit to the level of local housing allowance.

    Justin Tomlinson

    So far representations have been made by 93 individuals and 16 housing providers about the proposed change of social sector housing benefit to the level of local housing allowance.

    DWP Ministers and officials will continue to have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

  • 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 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the availability of sufficient long-term funding for the delivery of the commitments in NHS England’s Transforming Care programme.

    Alistair Burt

    In the national service model and Building the right support published in October 2015 NHS England, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services set out how areas would be supported to deliver lasting change to people with a learning disability and/or autism who display behaviour that challenges.

    To develop community capacity, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), local authorities and NHS England’s specialised commissioners have formed 48 transforming care partnerships (TCPs) to plan for the future. TCPs have been asked to use the total sum of money they spend as a whole system on people with a learning disability and/or autism to deliver care in a different way to achieve better results. This includes shifting money from some services (such as inpatient care) into others (such as community health services including mental health services or individual packages of support). The costs of the future model of care will therefore be met from the total current envelope of spend on health and social care services for people with a learning disability and/or autism.

    During a phase of transition, commissioners will need to invest in new community support before closing inpatient provision. To support them to do this NHS England will make available up to £30 million of transformation funding over three years, to be matched by CCGs, and £15 million in capital funding. This funding is in addition to the £10 million made available to six fast track areas in 2015/16.

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of banning micro beads.

    George Eustice

    Microbeads from personal care products are believed to make up a very small percentage of the total amount of microplastics entering the marine environment, with estimates ranging from 0.01% to 4.1%. A ban in the UK would therefore be expected to have only a small impact on the effects on the environment attributed to microplastics. However, microbeads, like other microplastics, do not biodegrade and so accumulate in the marine environment. There are also less harmful alternatives that are suitable to use.

    Defra supports voluntary action by industry to phase out microbeads from personal care products, and is supporting other EU Member States in calling for the European Commission to come up with proposals to ban their use in cosmetics and detergents.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what sanctions can be applied in the event of a breach by Govia Thameslink Railway of its remedial plan.

    Claire Perry

    The “Enforcement Policy: Rail Franchise Agreements and Closures” sets out what actions can be taken; a copy of this is attached.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the need for humanitarian aid and assistance in Yemen.

    Rory Stewart

    The United Nations’ 2016 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP), published in January 2016, reports that 21.2 million people in Yemen require some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs or protect their fundamental rights, particularly for food, water and sanitation, healthcare, and support to internally displaced people. The YHRP is currently 26% funded with donations of £351 million. The UK has so far committed to spending £72 million in Yemen over 2016-17. We continue to call on other donors to provide funding for the crisis.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Government Actuary’s Department report, A cohort approach to social care funding, published on 15 September 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of his Department’s policies on meeting the pension and social care needs of the millennial generation; and if he will bring forward proposals for a cohort approach to social care funding in his Autumn Statement.

    David Mowat

    Social care continues to be a key priority for this Government. It is critical in enabling people with care and support needs to retain their independence and dignity. That is why we have already introduced landmark reforms to ensure people should not have to sell their home in their lifetime to meet the cost of care and we have set out plans to cap the amount that people will need to spend to meet their cost of care.

    We are mindful of the changing demographic of our population and the evidence produced from the Foresight ‘Future of Ageing Population’ project and are looking in the longer term about how best to respond to the challenges ahead. Decisions about the Autumn Statement are a matter for the Treasury.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department retains any formal interest in the site of the Royal Hospital Haslar.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Haslar Hospital site in Gosport was sold in November 2009 to Our Enterprise (Haslar) Ltd for £3 million. The Department retains no formal interest in the site.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the £2.1 billion Joint Security Fund allocation his Department will receive in each year up to 2020.

    Michael Fallon

    The annual profile of defence spending against the Joint Security Fund is subject to formal confirmation of the Spending Review settlement for all Departments which is expected shortly.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average time taken for the transfer of documents between GP surgeries when a patient move to a different health area was in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department does not collect information on the time taken to transfer documents between general practitioner (GP) surgeries.

    The GP contract requires GP practices to use the electronic facility known as “GP2GP” for the safe and effective transfer of any computerised patient records where they have access to this system. As at end September 2015, 97.2% of GP practices were using GP2GP. 5,859,890 patient electronic health records have been transferred by GP2GP to the patient’s new GP since 2007.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will place in the Library a copy of the representations which Natural England made in response to the (a) proposal in the draft Christchurch local plan for housing development on green belt land at Marsh Lane, Christchurch, and (b) planning application by Dorset County Council for a two-form entry primary school on green belt land at Marsh Lane, Christchurch.

    Rory Stewart

    Natural England made two formal responses to Christchurch and East Dorset Council authority about the proposed housing at Marsh Lane which are attached

    Subsequently we provided Dorset County Council (DCC) with advice on the proposed New Christchurch Primary School in relation to the Habitats Regulations Assessment undertaken by DCC. Our response is also attached.

    Planning documents related to the New Christchurch Primary School, Marsh Lane, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 2NH (8/15/0665) can be accessed via this link: http://countyplanning.dorsetforyou.com/ePlanningOPS/.

    “