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Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons the Government did not support proposals by the Netherlands for the UN Human Rights Council to set up an independent inquiry into civilian deaths in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​We worked hard with international partners to secure a strong resolution to help the situation on the ground in Yemen. The resolution includes a commitment to increase the number of international human rights experts in the Yemen Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) operation, making clear the independent mandate for OHCHR to conduct their own investigations. The resolution also maintains the technical cooperation programme for OHCHR to strengthen the National Commission in Yemen, which we believe will make a difference on the ground. We look forward to reports from the OHCHR next year.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    On 4 November the The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) and I met President Khoja and other representatives of the Syrian National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (National Coalition) in London. We discussed the urgent need for political transition in Syria as the only way to solve the conflict and defeat ISIL. We were clear that Assad has no place in Syria’s future and that the new political process in Vienna offers the opportunity to make progress towards Syrian-led negotiations. The National Coalition expressed their readiness to reach out to other moderate political and armed groups in Syria and agreed that the opposition negotiating team must be able to speak for the Syrian people. The UK’s special representative for Syria maintains regular contact with the National Coalition. The UK will continue to work with the National Coalition and our international partners in pursuit of a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made in making it lawful to reuse graves.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The reuse of burial space is a sensitive issue and any potential changes in this area, including any legislation, would require careful consideration. We have been actively engaging with stakeholders and will consider whether there is a need for government to take action in due course.

  • Jason McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jason McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jason McCartney on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will change local authority public health team regulations to ensure that (a) public mental health no longer falls under the heading of miscellaneous and (b) there is parity of esteem between physical and mental health in the activity of such teams.

    Jane Ellison

    We accept entirely the centrality of mental health and wellbeing to public health and the need for parity of esteem across health services. While it is right for local authorities (LAs) to determine their own local priorities and account to their own electorates, the Department’s Public Health Outcomes Framework – which defines areas for improvement across the public health system, and to which LAs must have regard – includes a number of indicators that relate directly to mental health. Public Health England collects and publishes LA-level data for all these indicators and will continue to support and advise LAs on the evidence base for effective mental health interventions.

    We have no plans to require LAs to report spending on public mental health. LAs’ public health functions cover a wide range of activity, and it is important for central government to limit its demands for information from local government to a minimum. LAs would also be unable to disaggregate their spending on, for example, a drug or alcohol misuse service in order to isolate a sum that could be attributed purely to the mental health aspect of the service.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the daily rate of pay is for specialist contractors hired by her Department to advise regional school commissioners.

    Edward Timpson

    The department does not publish daily rates for specialist contractors. Doing so would prejudice commercial interests.

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Pubs Code Adjudicator on (a) the length of leases given to pub tenants by owners of pubs, (b) implementation of the market rent only option for pub tenants and (c) the independence of the adjudicator from pub companies.

    Anna Soubry

    There have been no discussions of the types described with the Adjudicator.

    BIS officials met the Adjudicator after his appointment to provide him with a high level briefing on Part 4 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act and some areas of the draft Pubs Code in order to familiarise him with key aspects ahead of him taking up this important role. During the course of this briefing there was a discussion of some technical aspects of the market rent option arbitration process – for example, the length of time it takes to appoint an independent expert – where the Adjudicator shared his professional insights.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will request that train operating companies publish the criteria they use for calculating rail fares.

    Claire Perry

    The rail fares we regulate have been capped at inflation (Retail Price Index) for three years running, and will continue to be capped for the life of this parliament. The Government sets the maximum amount by which regulated fares can rise. Details of how fares regulation applies to train operators can be found in Schedule 5 of the Franchise Agreement which can be found on the Department’s website. Other fares are unregulated, and train operators are permitted to set these on a commercial basis.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-register-of-rail-passenger-franchise-agreements

    “

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of waste exported for recycling which is contaminated and is sent to landfill or incinerated.

    Rory Stewart

    We are not aware of any waste exported for recycling which has had to be landfilled or incinerated due to contamination.

    There is a legitimate export market for quality recyclable material – but the law is clear that it is illegal to export waste from the UK for disposal.

    The regulatory framework governing waste shipments provides a mechanism for facilitating the takeback of waste to the country of export in cases where it cannot be processed as intended or in the case of an illegal shipment.

    The UK environment agencies have adopted an intelligence-led approach to identify and disrupt the movement of waste intended for illegal export. Defra has been working with the agencies to find ways of strengthening their enforcement activities.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what targets her Department has in place to ensure criminal records check disclosures are processed efficiently.

    Sarah Newton

    The Disclosure and Barring service works directly with each police force to agree a budget annually based on the expected numbers of local checks and considers any requests for additional resources as part of these discussions.

    In 2015/16 the Disclosure and Barring Service had a target of processing 85% of all applications within 21 days. Some of the over four million applications received each year need to be referred to one or more police forces for further checks and the Disclosure and Barring Service funds Police disclosure units.

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

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce financial incentives for physiological services to engage with and achieve IQIPS accreditation.

    David Mowat

    Comprehensive data on the number of audiology services in England is not collected.

    NHS England has no current plans to introduce financial incentives for the achievement of Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) accreditation.

    As of 1 September, there are 39 organisations with IQIPS accreditation for audiology, covering 28 adult and 21 paediatric audiology services. If an organisation is accredited for both adult and paediatric audiology, United Kingdom Accreditation Service considers that one accreditation.

    In Commissioning Services for People with Hearing Loss: A framework for clinical commissioning groups, published in July, NHS England strongly encourages clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to expect providers to have completed the IQIPS self-assessment tool and applied for accreditation with UKAS, and achieve accreditation within the duration of their contract. This is reflected in the model service specification for adults.

    In the contract for Genomics Medicines Centres, Annex M requires National Health Service trusts nominated as Lead Organisations and Local Delivery Partners to be working towards diagnostic accreditation across all available schemes, including IQIPS.

    NHS England is also working with the Care Quality Commission to agree the use of scientific and diagnostic schemes as an information source for inspection purposes, as set out in their latest strategy.

    We currently have no plans to introduce mandatory accreditation of audiology services in England.