Category: Speeches

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 January 2016, Official Report, column 18, what the baseline year is for the commitment to train 10,000 more nurses, midwives and other allied health professionals over the course of the Parliament.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government has committed to remove the cap on the number of students studying nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions from 2017/18. This will enable universities to offer up to 10,000 additional places for students to start these courses by the end of the parliament.

    The Department of Health, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with health and education partners will work together prior to implementation in 2017 to determine how these additional places are appropriately baselined (and monitored) against those commissioned for National Health Service workforce planning purposes.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Chief Constables, or equivalent, in England and Wales are (1) female, and (2) members of the BME communities, and how those figures compare to those on 1 March 2011.

    Lord Bates

    The Government is clear that increasing diversity in our police forces is not an optional extra. It goes right to the heart of this country’s historic principle of policing by consent. We must ensure that the public have trust and confidence in the police, and that the police reflect the communities they serve.

    The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of chief officers by gender and ethnicity on the Gov.uk website, using self declared diversity data. As well as chief constables, the chief officer group also includes assistant chief constables and deputy chief constables, and their equivalents in the Metropolitan police and City of London police. The data is provided in the attached tables (The Association of Chief Police Officers referred to in the data has been replaced by the National Police Chiefs’ Council).

    The statistics do not separate chief constables from the chief officer cohort, therefore we are unable to provide a breakdown relating to chief constables specifically.

    The Home Office does not collect information about how many chief constables, or equivalent, in England and Wales have a university degree.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to provide additional emergency accommodation for homeless people in London.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to do all we can to prevent homelessness. We recently provided an additional £5 million for local authorities facing the greatest pressures in moving people out of temporary accommodation and into a settled home. 21 local authorities in London received a share of this funding.

    We invested in the world’s first homelessness Social Impact Bond in London, which aimed to turn around the lives of 830 entrenched rough sleepers. So far, over half have achieved positive outcomes. We have also supported the roll-out of No Second Night Out through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund, which has also helped fund more than 30 London based projects aimed at tackling homelessness. The Greater London Authority No Second Night Out project has helped new rough sleepers in London off the street quickly and prevented them from becoming entrenched.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19309, if she will publish a summary of the recovery plan drawn up for Dorset Police.

    Karen Bradley

    The operational performance plans of police disclosure units are matters for Chief Constables in association with Police and Crime Commissioners. The Dorset recovery plan is addressing a number of challenges which have affected performance levels, including the implementation of an upgraded IT system and the recruitment of additional staff to enable it to improve its disclosure turnaround times. Of disclosure certificates dispatched to individuals with a Dorset postcode between December 2014 and March 2016, 16% were not completed within 60 days.

  • Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service were made by people living in London in the last 12 months.

    Karen Bradley

    The total number of certificates issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service to applicants with a London postcode in the year ending 31 May 2016 was 720,832.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has conducted surveys with asylum seekers accommodated under her Compass contracts on what they felt about their (a) housing and (b) treatment by staff.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The overarching purpose of the COMPASS Inspection Regime is to ensure that the accommodation provided is safe, habitable, fit for purpose; that the overall service described in the COMPASS contracts is being delivered and to ensure that Service Users feel safe, secure and know how to raise concerns should they occur.

    Following on from the audit into asylum seeker accommodation in Middlesbrough, UKVI have trialled various methods of gathering, recording and responding to service users’ feedback relating to service delivery as part of improving their inspection regime.

    Following analysis from the trials conducted UKVI intends to agree a formal process which is to be rolled out across all provider Regions.

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

    Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GPs in England have a specialism in mental health.

    David Mowat

    This information is not collected by the Department.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-11-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reintroduce charges for museum entry in the next year.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    This Government is committed to maintaining free admission to the permanent collections of major museums and galleries, as set out in the 2015 Conservative Party general election manifesto.

  • Lord Ramsbotham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Ramsbotham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ramsbotham on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment has been made of the success of the current system of press regulation in preventing children being named before being charged, following the identification before charges were brought of the child convicted of stabbing Vincent Uzomah and the child accused of fatally stabbing Bailey Gwynne.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government is committed to a strong, independent and effective self-regulatory system for the press that commands the confidence of both the public and the industry.Following the Leveson Inquiry, and with cross-party agreement, Government has now delivered the framework for a new system of independent press self-regulation: the Royal Charter has been sealed and the Press Recognition Panel has been appointed, opening for business in September of this year. We must now give this new approach time to become established.

  • Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Manzoor on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people with multiple sclerosis have scored a minimum of half their points for (1) standard rate, and (2) enhanced rate, of Personal Independence Payments daily living through aids and appliances descriptors.

    Baroness Altmann

    For Multiple Sclerosis:

    3,500 individuals were awarded Standard Daily Living, of which 3,050 (87%) scored at least half of their daily living points from aids and appliance descriptors.

    3,110 individuals were awarded Enhanced Daily Living, of which 790 (25%) scored at least half of their daily living points from aids and appliance descriptors.

    These figures relate to PIP normal rules awards made during the period April 2013 to 30th September 2015.

    DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on the way that aids and appliances are taken into account when determining entitlement to the daily living component of PIP. The department wants to make sure that the policy on this is meeting the intent of focusing support on those with the greatest needs and is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.