Category: Speeches

Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the results from the latest Blueprint for Water Scorecard as launched on 6 November 2012.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Blueprint for Water is an ongoing campaign of Non-Government Organisations that make an assessment against the scorecard they have produced.

Government has already taken substantive action to protect and improve the water environment. For example, through reducing phosphate pollution in rivers from sewage works by a fifth and ammonia by a sixth compared to 2010 through investment at almost 500 sewage treatment works. Also, £87 million invested in local actions to restore our rivers and this has supported projects to improve over nearly 10,000 miles of rivers

Looking ahead, £900 million has been made available under Countryside Stewardship for environmental action by farmers and there are plans by water companies to invest £3.5 billion.

These investments, together with other actions, are drawn together in River Basin Management Plans which contain a comprehensive programme for the water environment up to 2021 and which will be published soon.

Since the Water Scorecard of 2012, Blueprint for Water published a further report ‘Water Matters’ in September 2015. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs accepted an invitation from the group to speak at the launch of this report in the Palace of Westminster, hosted by the hon. Member for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith.

In her speech the Secretary of State made it clear that Government shares many of the long-term outcomes put forward by the Blueprint for Water and went on to explain how Government intends to pursue them through the 25 Year Plan for the Environment. Blueprint and its constituent organisations will have an opportunity to contribute to this plan as it is refined further over summer and autumn 2016.

January 1, 2023
Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to ensure that adequate ring-fenced funding is provided to local authorities so they can successfully deliver the Government’s childcare provision targets.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We have already announced over £1bn more for the early years entitlements within the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant by 2019-20, which includes £300m to uplift the funding rate to providers. The increase to the funding rate is based on robust evidence from the Review of the Cost of Childcare. We have made clear our commitment to maximise the amount of this funding which reaches front line childcare providers, and will consult on proposals for achieving this as part of our consultation on early years funding reform later this year.

January 1, 2023
Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department took to inform prison officers in Scotland of the transfer of Civil Service Employee Pensions from the Classic to the Alpha Scheme.

Matthew Hancock

Prison Officers employed in the Scottish Prison Service are members of the Civil Service. All members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) who transitioned into the Civil Service (and Others) Pension Scheme (CSOPS, also known as alpha) were notified by letter to inform them of the change, in accordance with the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations. In addition, relevant Employers were provided with a variety of communication products to inform their staff and support those who needed to make decisions. These were also held on the Civil Service Pensions website.

Between 2011 and 2015 Cabinet Office Ministers and officials held extensive discussions with all of the Civil Service unions, including the Prison Officers’ Association, on the detail of the pension reforms. There was also discussion with both the Scottish Prison Service and National Offender Management Service on the detail of the pension offer to operational staff in Prisons.

The Civil Service is a Reserved Matter and this includes pensions for all Civil Servants. Representations on the pension age of Scottish Prison Officers were made to me by the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice in July last year. I replied later that month.

January 1, 2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to define the term, fit and proper, for the licensing of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport currently provides Best Practice Guidance to assist with the fit and proper person test, which is the responsibility of local authorities.

January 1, 2023
Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the Competition and Markets Authority to report on its investigation on suspected anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical sector.

George Freeman

The Department is already referring cases to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). To strengthen our work in this area we are considering putting measures in place to routinely and systematically monitor significant price increases of generic medicines and take action where appropriate, including the possible referral of suspected excessive pricing to the CMA, while taking into account the potential impact of any such action on the availability of medicines.

The CMA is currently conducting a number of investigations into anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry. It imposed fines totalling £45 million in one case (currently subject to appeal at the Competition Appeal Tribunal), and expects to reach a final decision by late summer in another. It opened two more cases in March and April 2016 in which it expects to decide in late summer whether there are grounds to take each investigation further.

The CMA is also considering evidence of other potential cases of anti-competitive practices in the sector, and may well open further investigations in the coming months.

The CMA is independent of Ministers and we cannot interfere in either the substance or the procedures of its decision-making.

January 1, 2023
Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 1.10 of his Department’s paper, Inflected blood: Government Response to Consultation on Reform of Financial and Other Support, published in July 2016, whether survey respondents were asked whether they were infected with both HIV and hepatitis C.

Nicola Blackwood

Responses to the consultation were provided on a voluntary basis and none of the questions asked were compulsory. Consultation respondents were asked in separate questions to indicate if they had hepatitis C and/or HIV, from infected National Health Service supplied blood/blood products. Whilst respondents were not asked specifically whether they had stage 1 or stage 2 hepatitis C, many voluntarily offered this information.

January 1, 2023
Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NHS England to publish the first and second quarter figures for Cancer Drugs Fund notifications and individual Cancer Drugs Fund requests for 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman

The information for the first quarter of 2015-16 was published on NHS England’s website on 10 November 2015 and is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

Information for the second quarter is currently being finalised and NHS England expects to publish this in the near future.

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January 1, 2023
Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how UK citizens living in the UK can apply for a visa for relatives living in Yemen.

James Brokenshire

UK citizens can submit visa applications on behalf of relatives living overseas via the following website – www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/home/welcome.

The applicant would then need to travel to their nearest Visa Application Centre (VAC) to verify the information provided and progress their application to the next stage.

There are no VACs in Yemen; guidance for applying for a UK visa from Yemen can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/yemen-apply-for-a-uk-visa/apply-for-a-uk-visa-in-yemen

January 1, 2023

Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new entrants there were for religious education initial teacher training courses in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb

The numbers of new entrants to religious education initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England, and the target levels, for each of the last five years are as shown in Table 1 below.

The numbers of people achieving qualified teacher status (QTS) in religious studies in each of the last five years are as shown in Table 2 below.

Table 1: New entrants to Religious Education ITT courses.

Year	Postgraduate ITT new entrants	Postgraduate ITT target	Percentage of the postgraduate target achieved	Undergraduate ITT new entrants
2011/12	463	446	104%	15
2012/13	471	439	107%	12
2013/14	367	450	82%	12
2014/15	386	537	72%	8
2015/16	411	650	63%	14

Table 2: Final year religious education trainees obtaining QTS awards.

Year	Postgraduate				Undergraduate
Number awarded QTS	Number not awarded QTS	Total	Percentage awarded QTS	Number awarded QTS	Number not awarded QTS	Total	Percentage awarded QTS
2009/10	755	96	851	89%	12	2	14	86%
2010/11	762	78	840	91%	19	2	21	90%
2011/12	464	71	535	87%	17	7	24	71%
2012/13	419	65	484	87%	25	5	30	83%
2013/14	321	23	344	93%	12	0	12	100%

Further information is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training

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January 1, 2023

Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice or guidance, if any, they propose to provide to schools, in particular to religiously selective schools, regarding compliance with the School Admissions Code, in the light of the findings of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a significant number of schools are failing to comply with the Code in various ways.

Lord Nash

The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the School Admissions Code which will both respond to concerns from parents and to the findings in the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Report. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.

Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

When constructing faith-based oversubscription criteria, including deciding how membership or practice of the faith will be determined, admission authorities must have regard to the guidance of their relevant religious authority, and their arrangements must comply with the statutory School Admissions Code. They must consult with their religious authority when proposing any changes to their admission arrangements.

January 1, 2023