Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many extended ministerial offices have been established, and in which departments; which staff have been recruited to them; and which of those were drawn from outside the civil service.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Extended Ministerial Offices have been established (or are being established) in the Cabinet Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Education, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scotland Office.

    The government regularly publishes information on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants along with the numbers of staff they manage and the budgets they are responsible for. A similar approach will apply to staff in extended ministerial offices.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2016 on Question 30222, when he expects that data on secondary breast cancer will be complete.

    Jane Ellison

    Data on breast cancer recurrence has been mandated in the Cancer Services and Outcomes Dataset (COSD) for diagnoses from 1 January 2013. The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) in Public Health England (PHE) estimates about one-quarter of recurrences are currently submitted. NCRAS will support trusts to improve their submission of data by producing reports on the number of recurrences submitted by each National Health Service trust. These will enable the identification of best practise to be shared, and enable us to engage with trusts that are not submitting data.

    Data on all cancer recurrence has been mandated in COSD since 31 July 2015.

    In addition further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect relapse and recurrence data on all cancers.

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the budget reduction for community pharmacy in 2016-17 on high street vacancy rates.

    Alistair Burt

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public. Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close or what the effect on high street vacancy rates might be because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the NHS or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.

    We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and others, including patient and public representatives, on our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

  • 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 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2016 to Question 39519, what the whole life cost of the East Coast Main Line Intercity Express fleet is; and how much of that cost will be met by funding from his Department.

    Claire Perry

    Whole life costs of the East Coast Main Line fleet are part of the £2.7bn investment for the Intercity Express Programme East Coast which includes the design, finance and maintenance of the rolling stock and maintenance facilities over the 27.5 year term. It is not possible to break this cost down further.

    The Departments costs in support of this investment are supported through funding of infrastructure enhancements and agreement in the East Coast Franchise Agreements to ensure the benefits of the IEP trains are delivered.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) nursery schools, (b) day-care facilities and (c) children’s centres in (i) Birmingham, Erdington constituency, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) the UK have (A) declared insolvency and (B) closed due to funding shortages in each of the last three years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Nursery Schools

    The Department for Education’s register of educational establishments in England and Wales indicates that from the 31 August 2013 to 31 August 2016 eight maintained nursery schools closed, and 10 amalgamated or merged with another school. No closures were recorded in Birmingham, Erdington or the West Midlands.

    The Department does not collect information on the reasons for the closure of nursery schools. Local authorities have a duty to secure sufficient childcare in their local area. In consultation with their Schools Forum, they are responsible for deciding how best to distribute early years funding across their locality.

    There is a presumption against the closure of any nursery school. The local authority must consult on any proposed closures, clearly demonstrating the rationale for so doing.

    Day-care facilities

    The Department does not collect data on the number of childcare businesses that have closed. The Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the childcare market continues to expand.

    • The number of registered places in full day care settings rose by ten per cent between 2011 and 2013.
    • The long term increase in the number of full day care providers continued in 2013. In total there were 17,900 full day care settings in 2013 (compared to 17,600 in 2011).

    Children’s centres

    Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure sufficient children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. The Department does not collect information on the reasons for the closure of children’s centres.

    According to data supplied by local authorities, a total of 259 children’s centres closed in the calendar years, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Forty nine of these closures were in the West Midlands. None of these were in Birmingham.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason employees at Sellafield Ltd are treated as being in the private sector for pension purposes and are regarded as being in the public sector for the purposes of a cap on exit payments.

    Jesse Norman

    The Government has legislated for a cap on public sector exit payments via the Enterprise Act 2016, as promised in the manifesto. The cap will apply to public sector organisations in line with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) classifications; Sellafield Limited is classified as part of the public sector by the ONS. Sellafield Limited receives the majority of its funding from the Exchequer; it is therefore important to ensure that any exit payments are fair, proportionate and represent value for money for the taxpayer.

    The specific pension arrangements for Sellafield Limited employees are a matter for Sellafield Limited and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Government policy on public service pension schemes, as set out in Public Service Pensions: Good Pensions that Last (2011), is to move away from final-salary based schemes. The Government is therefore considering how best to apply public service pension reform policy to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority estate whilst being mindful of the particular circumstances of the workforce, in particular at Sellafield Limited.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS trusts and NHS employers on proposals to allow Ministers to cap union facility time contained in the Trade Union Bill.

    Ben Gummer

    There are no current proposals to cap trade union facility time although the Trade Union Bill includes a reserve power to do so if it is deemed appropriate. Ministers have not held any discussions with National Health Service trusts and NHS employers about this.

  • Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many semen collection licences her Department has issued in each year from 2010 to 2015.

    George Eustice

    The information will be placed in the House Library.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what contingency arrangements 10 Downing Street has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the United Kingdom – so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which minister or ministers have direct responsibility for the affairs of the British overseas territory of Anguilla.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government has a broad responsibility for the security and good governance of all British Overseas Territories, including Anguilla. The 2012 White Paper set out the principle that all UK Government departments have responsibility for supporting the Territories in their areas of expertise and competence. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office takes a coordinating role, led by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) and the Minister of State at the Department for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Desmond Swayne).

    Anguilla has its own Constitution (1982) under which it has a democratically elected government which is responsible for most domestic matters. The Governor retains special responsibility for external affairs, defence, internal security and the appointment, discipline and removal of public servants.