Category: Speeches

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of trained doctors; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The annual workforce census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that as at 30 September 2014 there were 4,662 more consultants and 2,389 more doctors in training working in the National Health Service in England than there were in September 2010.

    The census also shows that there were 1,219 more qualified general practitioners (GPs) working in England over the same period.

    The Government has maintained the number of undergraduate medical training places at a level sufficient to support continued increase in the medical workforce in England.Where there are shortages in specific specialties, the Department will work with Health Education England and NHS England to address them for example, through the ten point plan for the general practice workforce, which will boost recruitment, encourage experienced GPs to remain in the profession and support GPs to return to practice. The Government has also committed to providing an estimated 5,000 more doctors working in general practice by 2020.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Scottish Government on strategies to prevent premature births.

    Ben Gummer

    In the last seven months, since the General Election, the Secretary of State, myself as I have responsibility for maternity care, and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Jane Ellison) who has responsibility for public health, have not held any discussions with Health Ministers in the Scottish Government on strategies to prevent premature births.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she has taken to protect recipients of Green Deal funding from companies whose work is not of an acceptable standard.

    Andrea Leadsom

    All authorised Green Deal participants must adhere to the Green Deal Code of Practice which clearly stipulates their roles and responsibilities in relation to carrying out energy efficiency measures and dealing with consumers. A Green Deal provider offering Green Deal finance must also hold the appropriate FCA permissions to do so and comply with the relevant elements of that regime. Any measures installed under a Green Deal, the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, or Green Deal Communities must be installed to the standards required in the Publicly Available Standard 2030 (PAS 2030). Green Deal Certification Bodies exist to certify and audit Green Deal Installers against PAS 2030 and the Green Deal Code of Practice.

    Consumers with Green Deal finance plans who have a complaint can contact the Green Deal Ombudsman if their Green Deal provider is unable or unwilling to help when something goes wrong with a Green Deal Plan.

    My rt. hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for DECC and DCLG, have also commissioned Dr Peter Bonfield to chair an Independent Review of Consumer Advice, Protection, Standards and Enforcement for UK home energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. The Bonfield review will be submitting its recommendation in April 2016.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that military assistance, support and training provided by the UK to the Kurdistan regional government does not directly or indirectly contribute to or facilitate the commission of violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence takes it role in promoting human rights very seriously. Before the UK undertakes any training of foreign troops around the world, we assess the potential impact of the proposed training in relation to human rights and international humanitarian law and we seek to mitigate any risks.

    To support the fight against Daesh the UK military is currently providing the Infantry Battle Course to the Peshmerga. This course includes training on international humanitarian law.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many names were provided to Ministers to enable them to take a formal decision on the appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Hove on 10 March, Official Report, Vol 607, Col 426.

  • 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 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what fee his Department agreed with Learndirect in connection with its negotiated exit from the Drive and Vehicle Standards Agency contract for provision of the UK Driving Theory Test.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and learndirect Ltd have concluded an exit from the contract for the provision of the UK Driving Theory Test, which was due to transfer to learndirect Ltd in September 2016.

    The supplementary agreement to that exit is subject to commercial confidentiality. The agreement with Pearson Vue, the current provider of the theory test, to extend their contract is expected to lead to overall net benefits of more than £8million over four years to the theory test service and its customers.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of coal burnt in UK coal-fired power stations in each of the last three years was mined in the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    This can be estimated by subtracting the amount of steam coal imports (mainly used by coal-fired power stations) by the total amount of coal used in electricity generation. Please see the table below:

    Imports of steam coal (thousand tonnes)

    Coal used in generation (thousand tonnes)

    UK produced coal used for generation * (thousand tonnes)

    Proportion of UK produced coal used for generation %

    2013

    42,995

    50,041

    7,046

    14.0%

    2014

    35,294

    38,400

    3,106

    8.0%

    2015 (provisional)

    20,631

    29,342

    8,711

    29.6%

    * This includes stocks from earlier years.

    Source:

    Energy Trends tables 2.1 and 2.4, available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends.

    “

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the results of the sentencing review of motoring offences and penalties will be published.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    Both the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Transport are aware of concerns about a number of issues relating to serious driving offences and the maximum penalties those offences carry. The Government are committed to making sure that the courts have sufficient powers to deal with driving offences appropriately and proportionately within the context of our wider sentencing framework. It is our intention to commence a consultation before the end of the year which will look at driving offences and penalties.

    The new Justice Secretary will meet the new Transport Secretary to discuss further in due course.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consistency of provision in the quality of care in mental health services across England.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Mental health is one of the six core clinical areas to be covered by NHS England’s new CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework. NHS England is working to ensure that this will provide as broad a view as possible of how well commissioners are supporting and driving improvement in mental health.

    A dashboard for mental health will be published this autumn, containing a set of standard indicators to articulate progress in mental health services at a national level and allow benchmarking of services across the country.

    NHS England will continue to ensure that mental health is represented within the full suite of levers and incentives at its disposal including Commissioning for Quality and Innovation payment framework (CQUINs), Quality Premium, the NHS Standard Contract and within the design of new models of care. The Technical Guidance for NHS planning covering 2017/18 and 2018/19 that accompanied the publication of the main NHS Planning Guidance earlier this autumn included a number of draft proposals for specific mental health CQUINs:

    – Improving services for people with Mental Health needs who present to A&E;

    – Improving physical health care for people with Severe Mental Illnesses; and

    – Improving transitions for children and young people.

    The Quality Premium is based on measures that cover a combination of national and local priorities, and on delivery of the fundamentals of commissioning. The Premium is paid to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in 2018/19 and 2019/20 reflects the quality of the health services commissioned by them in 2017/18 and 2018/19. There will be six mandated indicators including a mental health indicator.

    Mental health service providers are responsible for the consistency and quality in the services that they provide. Services in England are regulated by the Care Quality Commission which introduced a new regulation and inspection regime in 2014. CCGs are expected to increase their spending on mental health in line with overall growth in their baseline allocations.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will take steps at EU level to encourage better labelling of alcoholic drinks by providing (a) uniform information about strength and calorie content, (b) guidelines on safe drinking levels and (c) health warnings.

    Jane Ellison

    Current food labelling regulations, including those for alcoholic drinks, are set at a European level.

    Alcoholic drinks are currently exempt under European law from needing to provide nutritional information and ingredients lists. However, there is a provision allowing the voluntary labelling of the energy content of alcoholic drinks.

    We are not currently planning any national policies on nutrition labelling of alcohol. However, some businesses are choosing to label calories voluntarily on their alcoholic beverages.

    Guidelines on safe drinking levels and health warnings are not being taken forward at EU level at this time. However, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is overseeing a UK-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives. Under the previous Government’s Responsibility Deal, independent monitoring has shown nearly 80% of bottles and cans on shelf now carry unit content, the CMO’s lower-risk guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant, fulfilling a Responsibility Deal pledge.