Category: Speeches

Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36974, on Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many policy staff are based at each of those 14 locations.

Anna Soubry

The number of employees of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) headquarters, working in policy roles as at 31 May 2016, are shown in the table below. Some details have changed since the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36974 because of staff movements and people leaving under Voluntary Exit schemes.

Policy staff includes all people working in policy directorates as well as those directly involved in the policy making process including, for example, Private Office, analysis, external communications, and legal services (other than those that operate on a local basis such as prosecutors and investigation offices). It excludes corporate functions such as Finance, HR, Digital and Commercial, and regionally based staff such as BIS Local.

Location	Number of employees
Billingham Queensway House, West Precinct, Billingham TS23 2NF	1
Birmingham Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B2 4BU	1
Bristol 2 Rivergate, Bristol BS1 6EH	5
Cambridge Eastbrook House, Shaftsbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8DU	1
Cardiff Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff CF14 3UZ	31
Coventry Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry CV1 2WT	1
Darlington Queensway House, West Precinct, Darlington TS23 2NF	5
Gateshead St George’s House, Kingsway, Gateshead NE11 0NA	2
Leeds 1 City Walk, Leeds LS11 9DA	1
London 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET	1363
Manchester 3 Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester M1 2WD	2
Nottingham Apex Court, City Link, Nottingham NG2 4LA	4
Sheffield 2 St Paul’s Place, 125 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2FJ	222
Warrington/Daresbury Daresbury Laboratory, Keckwick Lane, Warrington WA4 4AD	10

01/01/2023

Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve coordination of bed allocation for adult in-patient treatment for patients with eating disorders.

Nicola Blackwood

The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report published in February 2016 set out the start of a 10 year journey for the transformation of the National Health Service care and a shift towards prevention. The proposed mental health pathway and infrastructure development programme in the report envisages a referral to treatment pathway for eating disorders (adult mental health) being published in 2018/19.

In the Autumn Statement 2014 increased funding of £150 million over the next five years was announced to improve services for children and young people with mental health problems in England. Particular emphasis was placed on improving services for people with eating disorders.

As part of the planning processes, specialised commissioning teams review the needs of service for patients and where possible reflect provision. There is currently significant attention on eating disorders, primarily focussing on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service but this will extend to the adult pathway of care shortly with the expectation of revised National Institute for health and Care Excellence Guidelines in April 2017. A prime focus of the work on eating disorders is about the improved provision of out of hospital care so patients are only admitted to a bed when clinically required.

01/01/2023
Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase diversity in apprenticeships.

Robert Halfon

We want to increase the quality and quantity of all apprenticeships, including for those from a black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) background.

We have publically committed to increasing the number of BAME apprentices by 20% to 11.9% overall by 2020, from just under 10% in the last parliament. Targeted campaigns and a network of 18 employer diversity champions are driving progress. In 2014/15, 10.6% of those starting an apprenticeship were from a BAME background.

We have taken action through our marketing campaign ‘Get in Go Far’ to ensure that there is clear representation from BAME apprentices. Research undertaken prior to the campaign ensured that it could reach a diverse audience. The employer diversity champions are committed to sharing good practice and raising awareness of apprenticeships amongst employers.

Research has been commissioned to explore potential barriers that BAME applicants for apprenticeships face so that we can provide support to improve the success rates of this group. We have started detailed analysis of apprenticeship data to identify areas of under-representation and areas of potential for growth. We are currently developing options to take forward.

01/01/2023
David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the proportion of medical research spending which is spent on eye disease.

Joseph Johnson

The UK Clinical Health Research Analysis (2015) shows that, in 2014, the combined government spend on medical research into eye disease, development and function was £15.1m, or 1.2% of public funding on health research. The report is available at http://www.hrcsonline.net/pages/uk-health-research-analysis-2014 (page 95).

The Research Councils account for approximately half of this expenditure and support research in response to proposals from the academic community. They welcome high quality applications for support into any aspect of human health which are judged in open competition with other demands on funding. Awards are made according to their scientific quality and importance to human health.

“

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his plans are for the 2015-2020 National Cyber Security Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock

A new 5 year National Cyber Security Programme will commence in April 2016. Details of the programme will be published next year.

01/01/2023
Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the level of debt was in each arms-length government body in each of the last six years.

Greg Hands

HM Treasury publishes the total level of public sector liabilities for previous financial years in the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA). This sets out the total level of central and local government liabilities, which includes any debt owed by their arm’s length bodies (ALBs).

HM Treasury does not however hold information on the specific levels of debt attributable to each ALB.

This information can be found in the individual accounts of each body, and is aggregated in the accounts of the ALB’s parent department. WGA contains a list of all such bodies consolidated into the account.

Where ALB’s are permitted to borrow, they must do so in accordance with the restrictions and controls set out by HM Treasury in Consolidated Budgeting Guidance and Managing Public Money.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether tribunal awards made to employees will be included when calculating the proposed exit payments cap for those workers.

Greg Hands

The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on which organisations and types of payments the Government intends to capture within the scope of the public sector exit payment cap. This accords with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.

The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf

The exit payment cap will apply to payments made as a result of an employee leaving their employment. It will not affect any pension a person has earned through their years of service or have any impact on accrued pension rights or pension lump sum entitlements on retirement. It will capture contributions, made by the employer, to fund early access to an unreduced or partially reduced pension. This is because such costs are ultimately funded by the tax payer.

The Government has been clear that early retirements relating to ill health are outside the scope of the cap and will not be affected. Additionally, any payments directed by a Court or Tribunal will not be included in the scope of the cap.

Exits on compassionate grounds are not such a clearly defined concept as exits related to ill health or redundancy. There will generally be a large degree of employer discretion on the terms of such exits, and on any payments. In these cases there will be discretion available to relax the cap in individual cases, subject to relevant Ministerial or local council approval, as will be set out in further detail in forthcoming Treasury guidance and directions.

01/01/2023
Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) Arabic speakers with an operational level (C1) examination pass and (b) Mandarin Cantonese speakers were employed by his Department in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2010.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

I refer my rt hon. Friend to my answer of 10 February 2016 (PQ 25484).

01/01/2023
Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proposals they have to reduce the noise level of motorbikes travelling on public highways.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

There are already a number of measures in place to control motorcycle noise with manufacturers required to meet strict noise limits which are then enforced by the police and through the annual MOTs. There are currently no plans for further measures.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were removed from the UK by surface transport on grounds that they were not entitled to leave to remain but who were unable to fly on medical grounds in each of the last five years; and how many such people were removed to India.

James Brokenshire

The mode of transport for persons for persons subject to enforced removal from the UK is not published within official national migration statistics. To establish this figure over a 5 year period would require a manual examination of records within the Home Office Case Information Database (CID) which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023