Category: Speeches

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households in (a) Birmingham, Northfield constituency, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK have prepayment meters; and what the change in the number of such meters has been in each of those areas over the last five years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Data on methods of payment for domestic energy consumers are published in Quarterly Energy Prices, tables 2.4.2 and 2.5.2.

    This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-price-stastics .

    The tables below show the proportion of customers within the region using pre-payment meters for each year since 2010. Data is only available at the Public Electricity Supply (PES) region level.

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    Electricity

    West Midlands

    15.3%

    15.8%

    16.3%

    16.6%

    17.0%

    UK

    15.0%

    15.4%

    15.8%

    16.3%

    16.7%

    Gas

    West Midlands

    13.4%

    14.0%

    14.8%

    15.3%

    15.7%

    GB

    12.6%

    13.2%

    14.0%

    14.5%

    15.1%

    Data above are produced from a sample survey (DECC’s domestic fuel inquiry).

    “

  • Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 12 of Advice Note: 05/2015 on the Harm-Benefit Analysis Process, how many project licence applications were withdrawn at the (a) concept and (b) draft stage as a result of advice from the Animals in Science Regulation Unit that the application would clearly fail the harm-benefit analysis in each year since 2012.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Harm-Benefit Analysis (HBA) is undertaken, on behalf of the Secretary of State, by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors, all of whom are veterinary or medically qualified and trained in assessing research proposals. The HBA is the process of considering a research proposal to make a judgement whether the likely harms that the animals will experience are justified by the likely benefits. Under section 18 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, inspectors advise the Secretary of State who decides whether and on what terms a project licence should be granted.

    The number of project licences which were recommended for grant by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors between 2012 and 2015 are shown in table 1, column (c).

    The Secretary of State has not rejected any of the recommendations for granting project licences made by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors between 2012 and 2015.

    The Home Office does not keep records of applications that have been rejected or withdrawn at the concept or drafting stage [24507]. The Home Office does not keep records of which applications were withdrawn as a result of advice from the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors.

    The Home Office refers project licence applications to both the Animals in Science Committee and external independent assessors for critical review. The number of project licences referred to both is given in Table 1 columns (a) and (b) respectively for the years 2012-15.

    Year

    (a) Project licence applications referred to the Animals in Science Committee[1]

    (b) Project licence applications referred to independent assessors

    (c) Project licences granted

    2012

    9

    4

    626

    2013

    3

    0

    604

    2014

    4

    1

    474

    2015

    3

    0

    577

    [1] Prior to 2013 the independent advisory body was entitled the ‘Animals Procedures Committee’

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

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that approved personalised medicines are available to patients with colorectal cancer.

    George Freeman

    On 24 September, the NHS England Board agreed the development of a Personalised Medicine Strategy for the National Health Service. Personalised medicine is a move away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the treatment and care of patients with a particular condition. It uses emergent approaches in areas such as diagnostic tests, functional genomic technologies, molecular pathways, data analytics and real time monitoring of conditions to better manage patients’ health and to target therapies to achieve the best outcomes in the management of a patient’s disease or predisposition to disease. The high-level vision and strategy is to create a Personalised Medicine service in the NHS embracing four overarching principles: the prediction and prevention of disease; more precise diagnoses; targeted and personalised interventions; and a more participatory role for patients.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce’s five-year strategy for cancer, Achieving World-Class Outcomes (July 2015), recommends improvements across the cancer pathway, with the aim of improving survival rates.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. She has set up a new Cancer Transformation Board to implement the strategy, and this met for the first time on Monday 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.

    The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to transformative new medicines and technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include personalised medicines for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the extent to which recent changes to the OECD’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) definition will divert ODA away from welfare programmes into military programmes.

    Justine Greening

    The recent DAC High Level Meeting was able to agree the first update in the ODA rules in over 40 years and reflect the changing nature of aid delivery. All of this is in line with the primary purpose of ODA – to support the economic development and welfare of development countries – and this has not changed.

  • Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Twigg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to merge clinical commissioning groups during the course of the current Parliament.

    George Freeman

    There are no plans to merge clinical commissioning groups.

  • Lord De Mauley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord De Mauley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord De Mauley on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of each of the issues raised in the response of the British Horse Society to their consultation on a draft cycling and walking investment strategy.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are now analysing the feedback received during the draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy eight week consultation period, which closed on Monday 23 May. We expect to publish the final Strategy this summer along with a Government response to the consultation.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has undertaken research into the child welfare implications of possible amendments to the meaning of the term supply in the Video Recordings Act 1984 to include adults providing children with access to recordings categorised as containing age-inappropriate content.

    Matt Hancock

    Following public consultations involving representations from classification bodies, child welfare groups, local authorities, content producers and many others, since 2010 we have legislated twice to strengthen the protections provided by the Act. This has ensured that retailers now cannot sell or rent any age-inappropriate DVDs or video games discs or cartridges to children. It also ensures these products are all labelled with relevant British Board of Film Classification (DVDs) and PEGI (video games) age ratings and content advice. This means adults have better information to help them make responsible decisions about the material children can access.

    We will continue to work with industry and the age ratings bodies to encourage further promotion of the BBFC and PEGI age ratings to consumers including through initiatives such as BBFCInsight and AskAboutGames.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of areas of the country with a relatively low level of social care provision; and what steps he plans to take to reduce that number.

    David Mowat

    There has been no estimate of the number of local authorities with low level of social care provision. Access to adult social care is based on the level of need an adult has and not on the number of users.

    In April 2015, the Care Act 2014 introduced a national eligibility criteria for access to adult social care. The Act requires that local authorities must meet the needs of any adult whose needs meet this national criteria. Authorities cannot restrict eligibility beyond this threshold. This ensures that the most vulnerable adults have their eligible needs met.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had, or are having, with the government of Libya about compensation for people killed or wounded by explosives and guns supplied to the IRA by that country, in a manner similar to compensation for the victims of the Lockerbie bombing, and when those discussions will be completed.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The last significant discussion with the Libyan government on the resolution of legacy issues was in June 2014, when the then National Security Adviser, Sir Kim Darroch, visited Libya.

    The subsequent violence and political instability in Libya, which resulted in the closure of our Embassy in Tripoli in August 2014, effectively stalled further discussions with the authorities. Under the current circumstances we need to be realistic about what the Libyan authorities can deliver, but we remain determined to make progress. Once stability returns, and our Embassy re-opens, we will again encourage the Libyan authorities to engage with UK victims and their legal representatives seeking redress, including those seeking compensation.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of NHS psychological therapists are Improving Access to Psychological Therapies practitioners.

    Alistair Burt

    There were 756 training places commissioned for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (Adult IAPT) programme in 2014/15. The commissioning intention for 2015/16 is 946.

    Information is not available of what proportion of National Health Service psychological therapists are IAPT practitioners. We also do not hold information on the number of hours worked by IAPT practitioners and other therapists.