Category: Speeches

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research has her Department undertaken on the effect of the use of increasing levels of yeast and yeast extracts in food.

    George Eustice

    Historically Defra has funded research on yeast under the Food LINK Programmes in relation to its use in brewing, in food and drink spoilage and to develop predictive food microbiological modelling tools. Since 2010 we have engaged with Innovate UK on collaborative R&D with industry supporting a range of issues on food quality.

  • David Mowat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Mowat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mowat on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications have been issued in England and Wales for financial provision for the children of unmarried parents under schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 in each year since 2000.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    A parent is entitled to apply for an order under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 regardless of marital status. Information on marital status is not collected in relation to Schedule 1 applications. Applications can also be made by a person who is a special guardian for the child or by a person with whom the child is living under a child arrangements order. The number of all applications issued under Schedule 1 over the period is set out in the table below.

    YEAR

    No. of Applications

    2000

    556

    2001

    604

    2002

    585

    2003

    599

    2004

    675

    2005

    677

    2006

    637

    2007

    702

    2008

    615

    2009

    507

    2010

    529

    2011

    472

    2012

    504

    2013

    467

    2014

    588

    2015

    650
  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken was to complete an investigation into the alleged presence of an unreported adult in the household of a tax credit claimant in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016, the average time taken to complete a tax credit undeclared partner investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from the point at which they first write to the customer to closure, was 51.27 days. During the same period, Concentrix acting on behalf of HMRC took an average of 65.34 days.

    Where an alleged presence of an unreported adult occurs, claimants are given 30 days to contact HMRC or provide the relevant information. If after 30 days HMRC has had no contact, tax credit payments are either suspended or reduced. HMRC then gives the claimant a further 30 days to contact HMRC before making a decision on the household composition and tax credits award using all the available information.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much NHS England spent on mental health services in England for each year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    In total, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure in excess of their increase in allocation for the year. NHS England is tracking actual expenditure against those plans and it will report to the Secretary of State at the end of the year on whether those plans have been met.

    Departmental Ministers meet the Chief Executives of NHS England and Monitor regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including funding for mental health services.

    NHS England was formally established on 1 April 2013.Expenditure by NHS England on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2013/14 was £1.780 billion and £1.795 billion in 2014/15. NHS England’s planned expenditure on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2015/16 is £1.859 billion.

    NHS England has published CCG level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15. Estimates for 2015/16 are not available.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to update information online on civil servants earning an annual salary of over £150,000.

    Matthew Hancock

    As part of its transparency agenda, the Government is committed to publishing an annual list of senior officials in departments, agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies with pay rates of £150,000 and above. The 2015 list will be published on the Cabinet Office website shortly.

  • Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many NHS doctors qualified in each of the last 10 years, broken down by gender.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department does not collect the data requested.

    The General Medical Council, as the independent regulator of doctors in the United Kingdom, will hold information on doctors currently registered with them which may include their gender and what year they qualified.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the maximum level of engagement by children and young people with the commemoration of the First World War.

    David Evennett

    DCMS is working with other Government Departments and our delivery partners to ensure that people of all ages can take part in commemorations of the First World War and remember those who sacrificed so much. As part of the FWW centenary commemorations, the government is providing the opportunity for two pupils and one teacher from every state-funded secondary school in England to visit the FWW battlefields on the Western Front. In 2015, 1,140 Schools and 3,489 pupils and teachers visited FWW battlefields on the Western Front. Since July 2014, 54,702 children and young people visited the Imperial War Museums First World War Galleries as part of a school visit. Over 21,400 people from the UK and overseas wrote a letter for the ‘Letter to an Unknown Soldier’ project, engaging over 500 primary and secondary schools across the UK. On 4 August 2014, 1.4 million 16-24 year olds participated in LIGHTS OUT – an initiative to light a candle in remembrance. As well as the official commemoration programme schools across the UK are organising their own individual events and projects to remember those who took part in the First World War in battle and on the home front.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many British Transport Police officers will be deployed in 2016-17.

    Claire Perry

    3,064 British Transport Police officers will be deployed in 2016-17, an increase of 6.5% from the 2,878 officers who were deployed in 2009-10.

  • Lord Lansley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Lansley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lansley on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of asylum claims resolved after six months were found to be well-founded in the latest period for which the statistics are available.

    Lord Bates

    In 2015 there were a total of 10,199 asylum claims which were concluded six months or more after their initial application date. Of these, 4,620 claims were found to be entitled to a grant of asylum based on a well-founded fear of persecution.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Local Transformation Plans in improving the scale, quality and effectiveness of therapeutic support available to children who have experienced abuse.

    Alistair Burt

    Support for vulnerable groups, which includes children who have experienced abuse, is key to the transformation of children and young people’s mental health services as set out in Future in mind. To assess the effectiveness of Local Transformation Plans (LTPs), NHS England’s Local Transformation Plan Guidance included a tracking template that all clinical commissioning groups had to complete. It set out local progress milestones and financial spend.

    This tracker will be used as the basis for assurance assessment in 2015/16, and from 2016/17 onwards progress on local transformation will become part of the mainstream planning assurance process to ensure the successful delivery of the transformation of children and young people’s mental health.

    NHS England has also commissioned a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the LTPs, in order to support policy makers, local commissioners and services to understand and use the data that is contained within the plans to drive further improvements. LTPs will be reviewed from a narrative, analytical and financial perspective, with thematic reviews carried out in key focus areas, that align with Future in mind principles. This includes vulnerable groups.