Category: Speeches

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rates are for offenders who have had a conviction (a) under and (b) over 12 months in each of the last five years.

    Dominic Raab

    The most recent proven reoffending bulletin can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics. A full report with data going back to 2003 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519648/proven-reoffending-July-2013-June-2014.xlsx

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of whether eating butter puts people at greater risk of heart disease.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Butter is high in saturated fat. Evidence shows that average population intakes of saturated fat exceed United Kingdom government advice which is to limit saturated fat intake to no more than 11% of total food energy to protect against heart disease.

    The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition is currently reviewing the evidence on saturated fat and health; it aims to publish a draft report at the end of 2017.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of staff on the payroll of the Law Officers’ Departments who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Robert Buckland

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. There are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to pay a daily rate or fee to members of the review committee he has proposed on securing the decisive role of the Commons on financial matters and secondary legislation; and what rate he plans to set for that work.

    John Penrose

    The Government has asked Lord Strathclyde to lead a review to examine how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to (i) its primacy on financial matters; and (ii) secondary legislation. Lord Strathclyde will be supported by a panel of experts and further details will be announced in due course.

  • Owen Thompson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Owen Thompson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to reduce the share of lottery ticket income allocated to the Big Lottery Fund budget.

    Tracey Crouch

    As set out in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn statement this week, there are no plans to reduce the Big Lottery Fund’s budget. The Fund will continue to receive 40% of National Lottery good cause money. Sport, Arts and Heritage will also continue to receive 20% each.

  • Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the investment rate in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

    Anna Soubry

    The ONS only publishes investment data at a country level, for which the latest published data was in the 23rd December Business Investment release, available on the ONS website. Investment data is unavailable on a regional basis.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of substance addiction in people aged over 50.

    Jane Ellison

    Local authorities are responsible for commissioning effective drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services based on an assessment of local need. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work, by providing bespoke data, value for money tools, topical briefings, and advice on good practice to help local authorities meet the needs of their local population, including older people.

    PHE is engaged in a series of work programmes which aim to reduce the incidence of substance addiction and help provide support to older people; an alcohol misuse screening question has been part of the national NHS Health Check since 2013. The Health Check programme is offered to three million 40-74 year olds per year.

    An independent expert group updating the United Kingdom drug misuse clinical guidelines, Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management[1] is considering specific advice for clinicians on managing and addressing substance addiction in older people.

    [1] http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/clinical_guidelines_2007.pdf

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many former employees of British Rail were entitled to receive Safeguarded Travel benefits on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    This information is not held by the Department. This benefit is managed by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), and they may have this information; they can be contacted at rstl@atoc.org.

  • Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the staff who manage the gardens in Chevening country residence are employed as civil servants; whether such staff are enrolled under the civil service pension scheme; and under what terms and conditions such staff are employed with what pension entitlement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    No members of the Civil Service are employed at Chevening.

  • Jenny Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jenny Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services on the health, wellbeing and performance of young people in schools and colleges.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We want children to do well academically. Attainment is supported if students have good health and mental wellbeing and when they have access to specialist mental health services where they need it.

    The Government is investing an additional £1.4bn in children’s mental health this Parliament. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across the country have worked with partners, including schools and colleges, to produce local transformation plans for children and young people’s mental health services. These should set out what will be done locally to make the best use of the resources available – changing how child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are delivered in response to the challenges set out in the Future in Mind report and increasing the focus on preventative activity. NHS England has put the plans through an assurance process before releasing funds and is carrying out an analysis of plans to identify practice that can be shared to inform future planning.

    In addition we have contributed to a £3m joint pilot with NHS England which is testing how single points of contact in CAMHS and schools can secure effective mental health support to pupils. The pilots are involving over 250 schools in 27 CCG areas through joint training, which supports schools and CAMHS leads to identify specific activity to improve support in their area.

    The Department of Health has commissioned a new survey into the prevalence of mental health conditions in children and young people in England, the first since 2004. They expect this to be published in 2018.