Category: Speeches

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many apheresis machines are operational in the UK; and where those machines are located.

    George Freeman

    Apheresis machines are part of the care provided in a number of haematology services including sickle cell and thalassaemia care.

    NHS Blood and Transplant is one of the main providers of Therapeutic Apheresis Services in England and has the largest installed base of therapeutic apheresis equipment in the National Health Service (32 machine platforms across the country). Additional provision of apheresis services are provided by NHS trusts and other UK Blood Services but NHS England does not currently hold information on this information centrally.

    Work in relation to these services including the incentivisation of automated exchange through Commissioning for Quality and Innovation will improve the baseline information over the coming year.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children aged 11 to 16 are educated at (a) selective state-maintained schools, (b) non-selective state-maintained comprehensive and academy schools, (c) independent fee-paying schools and (d) other educational settings in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland, (iv) Wales and (v) Northern Ireland.

    Nick Gibb

    The number and proportion of pupils aged 11-16 in selective state-funded schools, non-selective state-funded secondary schools, independent schools and other settings in England are given in the table below. The Department does not hold this information for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and therefore cannot provide these figures or a UK figure.

    Type of Establishment

    Number of pupils aged 11-16 (1)

    Proportion of Total

    State-funded selective schools

    117,310

    3.9%

    State-funded non-selective secondary schools

    2,569,444

    86.2%

    Independent Schools (2)

    226,878

    7.6%

    All other educational settings (3)

    66,498

    2.2%

    (1) Includes sole and dual main registered pupils, as at January 2016.

    (2) Not all independent schools charge all pupils fees, but it is not possible to group only the fee-paying independent schools together here.

    (3) Includes state-funded primary schools, state-funded special schools, non-maintained special schools, general hospital schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision academies and free schools.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 9 January 2015 to Question 219449, what progress has been made in improving wheelchair services following the NHS England review.

    Alistair Burt

    Following the conclusion of its review NHS England has set up an improvement support programme working with 11 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to improve services for wheelchair users. The 11 CCGs are:

    – North Yorkshire (NHS Harrogate and Rural District;

    – NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby;

    – NHS Scarborough and Ryedale;

    – NHS Vale of York CCG;

    – North West London (NHS West London);

    – NHS Hounslow;

    – NHS Ealing;

    – NHS Central London;

    – NHS Hammersmith and Fulham;

    – NHS Barnet; and

    – NHS Brent.

    NHS Improving Quality is supporting the programme which will run from September 2015 to March 2016 and include creating guidance, evidence and material to share with other organisations and communities.

    NHS England has also introduced a new national wheelchair dataset with the aim of providing information centrally on the volume, expenditure, access to, and patient experience about wheelchair services to enable transparency and benchmarking. From July 2015, data are being collected quarterly from CCGs.

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much money will be devolved to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to coincide with the transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities from NHS England to CCGs in April 2016; and what NHS England spent on such services in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

    George Freeman

    Any transfer of budget from NHS England to devolved areas will be on the basis of existing contractual activity.

    For England, the expenditure against morbid obesity for adults totalled £50.36 million in 2014/15.

    NHS England is not able to provide a figure for devolvement on 1 April 2016 as the basis for calculating the figures is still being discussed.

  • Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Crawley on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has to seek legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for the proposed repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998.

    Dominic Raab

    This Government was elected with a clear mandate to replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights. We will bring forward proposals for consultation in due course, and will fully engage with the Devolved Administrations.

    It would be premature to comment on the application of the Sewell Convention until the package of legislation is settled.

  • 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 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recourse is available to patients who believe they have undergone poor or harmful NHS psychotherapy treatment.

    Alistair Burt

    Complaints about poor or harmful National Health Service psychotherapy treatment are handled through the NHS complaints process. Details are available at the following link:

    http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/complaints/Pages/NHScomplaints.aspx

    “

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there is a maximum time her Department expects a person to travel for in order to enrol biometrics for a biometric residence permit.

    James Brokenshire

    There is no maximum time the Department expects a person to travel in order to enrol their biometric information for a biometric residence permit.

    There are 115 Post Office branches across the UK providing the biometric enrolment service; these are primarily located in or around cities and towns where the majority of applicants are residing. The extension of the service to other locations would be a commercial consideration for the Post Office Ltd.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with the Department for Transport on the proposal to the International Maritime Organisation to develop a work plan to define the shipping industry’s fair share in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the meeting on 18 to 22 April 2016.

    Andrea Leadsom

    All countries agreed in Paris in December to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts towards 1.5°C. Action on international shipping will be an important part of this. The international nature of shipping emissions means that the best place to reach a credible solution is at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

    Negotiations on how the global shipping sector can contribute to Paris goals are at an early stage. The Department for Transport leads on these negotiations for the UK. The Department of Energy and Climate Change will continue to support the Department for Transport on this issue.

  • 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 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Statement of 25 November 2015, Official Report, column 1361, if he will place in the Library an itemised breakdown of to which HM Revenue and Customs’ projects and programmes he has allocated the additional £800 million announced in that statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    Autumn Statement 2015 referenced £800 million allocated to HM Revenue and Customs at Summer Budget 2015 to tackle evasion and non-compliance.

    The £800 million will fund the following projects:

    • Tax Credit Debt Recovery

    • Criminal Investigations

    • Wealthy: enhanced compliance

    • Tackling the hidden economy

    • Additional Compliance Resource: local compliance

    • Tackling illicit tobacco and alcohol

    • Large Business: enhanced compliance

    • Specialist Personal Tax: enhanced compliance

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment she has made of the cost to the public purse of deportations on chartered flights and commercial flights.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office conducts a cost comparison between charter flights and commercial flights every 6 months.