Category: Speeches

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many student midwives there were in England in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The following table shows the total number of student midwives in training in England as at the end of each financial year for the period 2010/11 to 2014/15.

    Year

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Midwives

    5,644

    5,955

    6,315

    6,413

    6,662

    Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with his Colombian counterpart (a) the deteriorating health of many former combatant prisoners, (b) the reported human rights violations of prisoners, (c) the reported arbitrary transfers of prisoners and (d) the reported isolation of prisoners in that country which have taken place since its government’s pledges of November 2015 made following the prisoners’ hunger strike there.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I am aware of the hunger strike by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) across 13 prisons in November over prison conditions, and recent Colombian media reports on the same issue.

    I understand the Colombian government and the FARC are currently discussing end of conflict issues, which include prisoner rights. It would not be appropriate for the United Kingdom to interfere in matters under negotiation, not least as we near the 23 March deadline for talks to conclude.

    The hon. Member will recall that our Embassy in Bogotá has closely followed the cases of specific Colombian prisoners, such as David Ravelo and Húber Ballesteros, discussing concerns with the Presidential advisor for human rights and the prisons authority.

  • Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of NHS emergency medicine services.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS staff in England continue to provide quality services in the face of increasingly high-levels of demand throughout the emergency healthcare system. Front-line services are treating record numbers of patients with more than nine out of 10 patients seen within four hours in A&E departments. Ambulance services are delivering over 2800 more emergency journeys every day compared to 2010 and responding to the majority of life-threatening cases in under 8 minutes.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has met officials of the Cabinet Office to discuss improving diversity in the Senior Civil Service in the last six months.

    Matthew Hancock

    Promoting diversity in the Senior Civil Service is a ministerial responsibility of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Details of my Ministers meetings with external organisations are published routinely and can be found on Gov.uk. Details of internal meetings are not disclosed.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential economic benefits to the Calder Valley of accelerating the upgrade of the M62 to a four-lane smart motorway between junctions 20 and 25.

    Andrew Jones

    The recent Budget announced that funding had been brought forward to enable Highways England to accelerate the smart motorway investment for the M62 Junction 10 to 12 scheme by two years, and to accelerate delivery of the M62 Junction 20 to 25 smart motorway.

    Design development work on these schemes is at the very earliest stage, and as such the analysis of the full economic potential of this investment is still being developed as part of the business case.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implication for his policies on a future nuclear deterrent of the development of the Boeing Echo Voyager and other new drone technology.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We dedicate considerable resources to assessing these emerging capabilities. Despite potential advancements in technology the detection of submarines will remain extremely difficult. It would not be appropriate to go into specific detail of the steps taken to mitigate against these threats but we assess that our current and future submarine fleet remains safe and secure.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many agency staff were contracted to cover classes in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department collects details of all teachers working in state funded schools through the annual School Workforce Census. However, this census does not separately identify agency teachers.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of making selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery available on the NHS for young people with cerebral palsy.

    David Mowat

    NHS England currently has in place a programme called Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE). This is designed to enable a limited number of patients to access treatments that are not funded by the National Health Service, but nonetheless show significant promise for the future, while new clinical and patient experience data are collected within a formal evaluation programme. The benefits of Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) procedures are currently being assessed through this scheme.

    The SDR CtE is supported in five designated hospital trusts across the country. There are two main phases for any treatments entered into NHS England’s CtE programme. The first phase of the SDR CtE concluded in March 2016. During this phase a predetermined number of patients were recruited within a few selected centres across England and a formal evaluation programme was established.

    The second phase – the analysis phase – has now commenced. Once the CtE evaluation report is available, NHS England’s published policy for access to SDR will be reviewed. NHS England expects to receive an evaluation report in March 2017.

  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the objectives of the Ministry of Defence projects (1) Strike 155, and (2) Project Congreve.

    Earl Howe

    The Army is undertaking a scoping project known as ‘Medium Wheeled Gun System’ to examine 155mm calibre towed and wheeled self-propelled options to provide a medium weight fire support capability within the future Strike Brigades. At the concept stage it was previously known as Strike 155; no decisions regarding the choice of system have yet been taken.

    Project Congreve was a study conducted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and initiated in 2014. Its objective was to determine options for all future surface-to-surface fire systems capability. The work on the Medium Wheeled Gun System has been informed by Project Congreve and the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost was to his Department of training student midwives in each of the last 10 years.

    Ben Gummer

    Information prior to 2013/14 is not held centrally by the Department.

    Detailed below is an estimate of planned expenditure costs to Health Education England of providing training to student midwives since 2013/14.

    Year

    New Students Commissioned

    Planned Students in training

    Estimate Cost (million)

    2013/14

    2,563

    6,874

    £102.2m

    2014/15

    2,603

    6,624

    £120.8m

    2015/16

    2,617

    7,058

    £130.6m

    Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns