Category: Speeches

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the decision making criteria is for the award of the contract for the supply of human papilloma virus vaccine.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus vaccination programme for girls. As this is a competitive tender, it would not be appropriate to discuss the outcome of the procurement until a contract has been concluded with the successful bidder following the mandatory standstill period.

    The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service. The award criteria are published on the government’s Contracts Finder website:

    https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/813bc859-8662-4c79-822b-f03cc84b8ceb

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum on the teaching and learning of modern foreign languages.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government believes that learning a language is important to the social and economic future of the country and to help children understand the world which they live in. We are committed to the teaching of foreign languages as part of a core academic curriculum. This is why a modern or ancient language is included within the English Baccalaureate performance measure.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking on steps to find a long-term solution for congestion in the South East.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government is committed to alleviating congestion in the South East and is providing £15.2 billion between 2015 and 2021 to invest in our strategic road network. This is the biggest upgrade to our motorways and A roads for a generation, and it is adding capacity and tackling congestion. Of this total, about £2.2 billion is being invested in the South East and includes tackling congestion on key parts of the network such as the M25.

    On local roads we have set up the £12 billion Local Growth Fund to 2021 which has enabled Local Authorities through the Local Enterprise Partnerships to identify and secure funding for projects to enable among other things, local road improvements and sustainable local transport projects. This is on top of over £6 billion through to 2021 to councils in England to help maintain their local roads and repair potholes. This funding includes more than £143 million for the South East in 2016/17, and over £777 million up to 2021.

    In addition, our investment in railways contributes to the Government’s overall transport vision by facilitating, amongst other things, congestion relief on our road network. As part of our Rail Investment Strategy, the Government is investing over £700 million on infrastructure in the most congested routes in London and the South East between 2014-2019, in addition to delivering the Crossrail and Thameslink Programmes to transform east-west and north-south travel across the region.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to introduce a new passport with a navy blue cover for the UK following the exit of the UK from the EU; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There are no immediate plans for changes to the format or colour of the UK passport. Parliament will be informed of any changes to the passport following UK withdrawal from the European Union.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs Benefits and Credits, Errors and Fraud Adding Capacity 444 contract between SYNNEX-Concentrix UK Limited and HM Revenue and Customs, if he will publish the quality criteria for assessing tax credit decisions.

    Jane Ellison

    Information around the criteria and process for assessing tax credit decisions is set out in sections A12-A14 of the Concentrix contract and can be found at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/85d1b730-5e4e-4be8-ae4c-3ac1f359afc7.

    “

  • Gerald Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gerald Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to renew funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit after March 2016.

    Mike Penning

    Decisions on future funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit will be made as part of the current Spending Review process.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter of 11 October 2015 from the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which was passed to his Department.

    Brandon Lewis

    I replied to the hon. Member on 4 January.

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

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the level of payments by Remploy to Experts by Experience; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has advised that it has taken into account the application of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 in the new contracts with Choice Support and Remploy Ltd.

    The CQC issued a press release on 28 January 2016 on this matter. It advised that the CQC’s contractual discussions with Remploy Ltd and Choice Support are still ongoing. The CQC understand that Remploy has now written to Experts by Experience confirming they will pay an hourly rate of £15 for the first six months of the contract – commencing 1 February 2016.

    Departmental Ministers have not received any representations about the importance of Experts by Experience in the National Health Service or the level of payments by Remploy to Experts by Experience.

    The Department has not received any direct correspondence about the importance of Experts by Experience in the NHS or the level of payments by Remploy to Experts by Experience. We are, however, aware of one email on this subject that the Department has been copied into that was sent to the CQC.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to his Department of the Export Support Team was in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and whether those costs have been reimbursed by the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Export Support Team is part of the Defence and Security Organisation, part of UK Trade and Investment. The Minister for Trade and Investment is responsible for administrative and funding arrangements, including attached Service personnel’s capitation costs. Therefore, there is no cost to the Ministry of Defence.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to address historic allegations of mistreatment of whistleblowers in the NHS.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department supports the right of staff working in the National Health Service to raise concerns and expects all NHS organisations to support staff in raising concerns. We expect all NHS organisations to adopt the national whistleblowing policy for the NHS as a minimum standard, which will be published by NHS Improvement and NHS England next month, and comply with the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

    A regulation-making power was included in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 to prohibit discrimination against whistleblowers (or applicants believed by the prospective employer to have been whistleblowers) when they apply for jobs with prescribed NHS employers. The Department is aiming to consult shortly on draft regulations to implement this power.

    NHS England, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority are currently developing a support scheme for NHS workers and former NHS workers, whose performance is sound and who can demonstrate that they are having difficulty finding employment in the NHS as a result of having made protected disclosures. This scheme will be piloted in the next financial year.