Category: Speeches

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support is offered to families with children suffering from life-limiting or life-threatening conditions in England.

    Jane Ellison

    Information is not held centrally on how many children in England required 24-hour care due to life-limiting or life-threatening conditions in 2014-15. The local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) do not collect information for the North East and Sunderland.

    CCGs (and in the case of specialised services, NHS England), will commission a range of care to support children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, including paediatric care, and community-based nursing. A child with a life-limiting condition may be eligible for a package of continuing care, where their needs are such that they require clinical care in addition to that routinely commissioned. This might include one-to-one support. NHS England also allocates an annual grant of £11 million to children’s hospices to support their provision of palliative and respite care.

    Children and young people with complex needs may also be eligible for local authority-commissioned social care to support living, short-breaks, and special educational support, where they have a special educational need.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he will respond to the submissions to his Department’s consultation, Parking reform: tackling unfair practices, of March 2015.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    We are currently analysing responses to the discussion paper ‘Parking reform: tackling unfair practices’ issued earlier this year. The suggestion to establish a standards setting body with a code of practice and an appeals service for all accredited trade associations for the management of parking on private land was made in some responses, and we are actively considering this point as part of our wider work on parking. We will publish our response to the discussion paper in the New Year.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations on North Korean women trafficked into China as part of the next UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We remain concerned at the continuing reports of widespread and systematic state sanctioned human rights violations in DPRK, and we continue to press the regime to make progress on improving its appalling human rights record, most recently at a meeting that I had in December with a senior visiting North Korean diplomat.

    We also continue to raise the situation in DPRK with Chinese counterparts. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised North Korea’s nuclear programme with State Councillor Yang Jiechi during his visit to China earlier this month, and I raised our human rights concerns with Vice-Minister of the Chinese Communist Party, Chen Fengxiang, in December. We consistently raise our concerns during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, particularly on the issue of refoulement (the repatriation of individuals who have left North Korea). We work directly with the Chinese authorities on a number of projects to counter human trafficking which seek to protect the most vulnerable from exploitation, abuse, neglect and violence.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that all mental health practitioners and providers receive training on the revised Code of Practice relating to the Mental Health Act 1983 in all 57 mental health NHS trusts as recommended by the Care Quality Commission’s sixth annual report, HC483, published on 14 October 2015.

    Alistair Burt

    The Mental Health Act 1983: Code of Practice, which came into force in April 2015, provides statutory guidance on how functions under the Mental Health Act 1983 (the Act) should be carried out. All providers of mental health services under the Act have a duty to abide by both the provisions of the Act and the detailed guidance on how implement those provisions contained in the Code of Practice. That includes the duty of all such mental health providers to ensure their staff know and understand their responsibilities under the Act.

    Empowerment and the involvement of patients are key principles underpinning the Act, and the Code of Practice is clear that detained patients must be informed of their rights; that it is the responsibility of those treating them to ensure that patients understand their rights; and that patients are aware that they are entitled to ask for the assistance of an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) to help them understand this information.

    The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) annual report Monitoring the Mental Health Act 2014/15 indicates that CQC have already taken action where providers are failing to effectively monitor the Act, train staff and support patients and recommends that services use the findings of that report to make sure staff have the right skills and knowledge and decide what action needs to be taken to improve the care and support available for patients.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what applications for unitary authority status his Department has received in the last year.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Whilst we understand a number of local areas are considering moving to unitary structures, we have over the last year received no applications for unitary status, which in future will be considered under the provisions of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016

  • Chloe Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chloe Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chloe Smith on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients with hearing loss (a) in each age group, (b) who (i) were and (ii) were not eligible for free prescriptions and (c) treated by each of the Any Qualified provider suppliers in Norfolk were treated by (A) Norwich, (B) South Norfolk and (c) North Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group in each of the last three years.

    Alistair Burt

    The information requested is not held centrally.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of hotel bookings her Department made for its (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    Core Defra uses a single provider for all travel and hotel bookings. Provision of this service began in May 2012. Information relating to hotel bookings made prior to that date, through a different provider, is not available.

    This table sets out spend on hotels in financial years 2012-13 (from May 2012 onwards) to 2015-16:

    2012-13 (£)

    2013-14 (£)

    2014-15 (£)

    2015-16 (£)

    Ministers

    1,530

    2,461

    3,157

    1,139

    Special Advisers

    2,952

    1,598

    2,066

    563

    Officials

    425,676

    665,583

    743,896

    472,544
  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of teachers in state schools have (1) masters degrees, and (2) doctorates.

    Lord Nash

    The information requested is not available in the format requested.

    The Department publishes statistics showing the highest post A-level qualifications held by teachers in state funded schools in England. This information does not show those with masters degrees and doctorates separately.

    The latest statistics for November 2015, which were published on 30 June 2016, are provided in Table 10 of the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2015’, which is attached and available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2015

    The statistics show that 97.3% of teachers have a degree or higher level qualification. This is an increase on the previous year when 96.6% of teachers had a degree or higher level qualification.

    “

  • 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 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials of his Department work in the Propriety and Ethics team.

    Ben Gummer

    Transparency data on Cabinet Office staffing can be found online at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-staff-and-salary-data-as-at-31-march-2016

    “

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support the proposed trade deal between the EU and Canada.

    Lord Price

    The Government has been clear in its support for the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). This approach is in line with our commitment to back the EU’s trade agenda and participate constructively in decision-making on trade while the UK remains a member of the EU.