Category: Speeches

  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department plans to spend on emergency aid relief in Fiji in response to the recent cyclone in that country.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is assisting Fiji in response to Tropical Cyclone Winston. We are contributing technical support to strengthen United Nations Children’s Fund capacity with water, sanitation and hygiene coordination and are ready to consider further requests for humanitarian experts should it be required. DFID has also offered to provide support to the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Co-ordinations team and will remain in contact with Agencies in the region.

    The UK is also funding MapAction, a UK-based NGO. Two of their volunteers have now deployed to Fiji to provide GIS and Mapping capability. The UK also makes core contributions to the UN Agencies, the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department and the Red Cross, all of whom are contributing to the response. Stephen O’Brien, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recently announced US $8 million for Fiji from the Central Emergency Response Fund, to which the UK is biggest contributor, having donated in excess of $855m in the last 10 years.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of progress in the EU structured dialogue with Israel in halting the demolition and confiscation of EU-funded structures in Area C of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    There has been a significant increase in Israeli demolitions since the start of 2016. The UK and the EU continue to raise concerns about demolitions with the Government of Israel and make it clear that demolitions are contrary to international humanitarian law in all but the most exceptional cases.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate how many jobs have been created in Yorkshire since May 2015.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what services are currently provided for prison inmates with dementia.

    Ben Gummer

    Prisoners with dementia should be offered the treatment and care they require, equivalent to that provided to people with similar needs in the community.

    Health services in prisons are commissioned by NHS England to meet the health needs of prisoners. Every person entering a prison will have an initial health screen at reception where health needs are assessed and where appropriate referrals are made to other services. Prisoners with dementia who also have care and support needs will have these assessed and any eligible care needs will be met by the local authority in which the prison is situated.

    The budget for treating dementia in prisons cannot be reported separately, as the prison healthcare budget is not disaggregated into specific treatment provision or diagnoses.

  • Alan Whitehead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alan Whitehead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the membership of the body which will oversee the proposed review of neonatal services in England; and whether that review will examine (a) admissions rates, (b) length of stay and (c) outcomes by (i) singleton and (ii) multiple pregnancies.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The NHS England Maternity Review, Better Births (published February 2016), made a number of recommendations including a review of neonatal critical care. NHS England’s Women and Children’s Programme of Care and its Neonatal Critical Care Clinical Reference Group (CRG) will take this work forward. The review will focus on a number of themes and variables including admission rates, length of stay, outcomes and pregnancy profiles.

    NHS England’s Women and Children’s Programme of Care Board will oversee the review and will also report progress to the Maternity Transformation Programme. The membership of the team that will oversee the review is not yet finalised, but Dr Peter Wilson, the Clinical Co-Chair of the Women and Children’s Programme of Care Board will be the Senior Responsible Officer.

    Membership is also expected to include the Chair of the Neonatal Critical Care CRG Professor Neil Marlow, Lead Commissioner Natalie Hariram, and National Programme of Care Manager for Women and Children’s Services, Mary Passant, who are currently working on the scope of the review. The review team will also involve all Neonatal Care Operational Delivery Network Managers.

    The Maternity Transformation Programme has asked that the review report initial findings in December 2016.

  • 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 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce blood tests for the detection of ovarian cancer on the NHS.

    George Freeman

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 November 2015 to Question 16523.

    “

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question HL2604, what the cost to the public purse is of salary, expenses and bonuses of the 3.5 full-time staff who worked under the JSi brand.

    Andrew Selous

    As was stated in the Answer to HL 2604, the 3.5 full time equivalent staff who worked under the Just Solutions International (JSi) brand also worked on other core business within the National offender Management Service. Exact calculations were not made to apportion staff time, salaries, expenses or bonuses on JSi.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many officials have worked on the impact assessment for the Trade Union Bill (1) in total, and (2) by job title; and how many hours, and over what period, each official has worked on it.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government has published detailed Impact Assessments for the Bill – on the Trade Union Bill, on the Reporting of Facility Time in the Public Sector, and on the Prohibition on Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector. At a meeting with Peers in December, Ministers committed to publishing prior to the Lords Committee stage of the Bill, and they were published in good time on 21 January.

    The Trade Union Bill’s impact assessment has been subject to scrutiny by the independent Regulatory Policy Committee, and its opinion has been published alongside the impact assessment.

    They were reviewed and approved by the relevant Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office. The Permanent Secretary has been kept informed of progress on all stages of the Bill.

    Policy officials and analysts in both Departments have worked together to produce the impact assessments as quickly as possible while ensuring that the analysis was thorough.

    We have not asked civil servants working on the Bill in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office to fill out time sheets.

    We do not record which particular documents each special adviser reads. Special advisers have access to departmental papers in line with the Special Advisers’ Code of Conduct and provide advice to Ministers.

    I am placing copies of the relevant documentation in the Library.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a mixed-competence agreement that will require ratification by the national parliaments of all EU member states.

    Anna Soubry

    We expect that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will be a “mixed” agreement, covering areas of both EU and Member State competence. In that case, it will be subject to agreement by each EU Member State, the EU Council and the European Parliament. As part of this process the agreement will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny before it is ratified by the UK.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on passenger revenues of an extension of driver-only operation on services operated by Govia Thameslink Railways Ltd.

    Claire Perry

    No assessment has been made of the potential effect on passenger revenues of an extension of driver-only operation on services operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.