Category: Speeches

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the conclusions set out in the Future in Mind report on vulnerable young people in transition from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service to Adult Mental Health Service.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government’s report, Future in Mind, sets out a ‘vision’ for a comprehensive approach to promoting, supporting and treating our children and young people’s mental health, and to supporting their families. Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) which have been developed by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to deliver this ‘vision’ have been successfully assured by NHS England. These plans must cover the whole spectrum of services for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, including improved transitions between services. The Government recognises that vulnerable young people are especially at risk at points of transition, which is why local strategic planning as part of the LTPs should take their needs into account.

    123 local transformation plans have been produced covering 209 CCGs. All LTPs were required to be published locally by 31 December 2015 and the CCGs have been asked to provide details of where they are published, as part of the continued assurance process. At least 74 of the 123 LTPs are available online and by mid-February a link will be available to all 123.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of Syrian refugees in each local authority in the UK.

    Richard Harrington

    The Home Office holds this information in relation to those Syrian refugees resettled in the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. However, we do not routinely identify which local authorities are participating in this scheme. Participation is voluntary and it is often the case that local authorities do not wish to have their participation published. It is a matter for each local authority to decide whether they want to publish the fact of their participation and the numbers of refugees they take.

  • Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number and proportion of councils which have decided to levy the social care precept in 2016-17.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The number of local authorities which have decided to set a precept in 2016-17 for adult social care will be published with the Department’s annual council tax statistical release; the scheduled date for publication is 31 March 2016.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of a vote to leave the EU in the forthcoming referendum on (a) the process for child adoption and (b) the number of children adopted.

    Edward Timpson

    The EU referendum vote will have no bearing on the UK’s adoption process as there are no uniform rules applicable in all EU countries and every country applies its own rules. The adoption system in England is underpinned by the Children Act 1989 and Adoption and Children Act 2002 and associated statutory guidance. We do not collect centrally information on how many children from EU member states have been adopted in the UK.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 13 April 2016 to Question 32732, when she plans to publish a response to the consultation into out-of-school education settings.

    Edward Timpson

    The Government wants children to be educated in a safe environment without exposure to hateful and extremist views that undermine British values. The call for evidence on out-of-school education settings was launched on 26 November 2015 and ran for six and a half weeks closing on 11 January 2016.

    Around 3,000 people completed the published response form, either online or manually. The Department for Education received a significant number of further representations to the consultation by email and post. All responses and representations are being analysed.

    We will be publishing a response to the consultation in due course.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department is doing to narrow the 12 year difference in life expectancy between council wards in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Addressing health inequalities is a Government priority. This was clearly set out in the Prime Minister’s inaugural speech in July. Key to this message was the importance of addressing the gap in life expectancy.

    Achieving measurable and sustained reductions in health inequalities by 2020 and reducing the gaps in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy are priority objectives in the Department’s Shared Delivery Plan: 2015 – 2020. Action is largely led locally to ensure that the solutions put in place reflect the needs of individual communities.

    To address the differences in life expectancy across Plymouth, Plymouth Clinical Commissioning Group and health services have introduced the ‘Thrive’ initiative. This aims to tackle the four lifestyle choices (inactivity, diet, alcohol consumption and smoking) that lead to respiratory diseases, cancer, stroke and heart disease. The work, currently in its second year, is the start of the long term drive to improve health and reduce inequalities in Plymouth. Health organisations such as Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Livewell Southwest and general practitioner Practices have signed up in support of the Thrive initiative.

    In order to ensure that health services are supporting those communities with the highest need, the ‘Success Regime’ has been introduced across Devon, which aims to protect and promote services for patients in local health and care systems that are struggling with financial or quality problems. Additionally, the Sustainability and Transformation Plan for Wider Devon includes a requirement to ensure that sustainable general practice is in place for all populations with equitable access times for routine and urgent treatment.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the business case for universal credit to be signed off in full.

    Priti Patel

    The 2nd Permanent Secretary to the Treasury explained to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the 10 December 2014 (see link below), the process for Business Case approvals within Government. The first stage of this process, the Strategic Outline Business Case, was agreed in September 2014. The next step, the Outline Business Case, has been agreed at official level and is now with Treasury Ministers for approval. The Full Business Case will follow for approval by the end of 2017. This is in line with the process within Government and a Programme of the scale and complexity of Universal Credit.

    http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-accounts-committee/universal-credit-progress-update/oral/16340.html

  • Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the assessment procedure to close (a) MOD Fairbourne and (b) MOD Llanrwst followed investment appraisal on project evaluation policy JSP507; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    The review was a study undertaken to understand how best to deliver Adventurous Training to meet the future needs of the RAF and not a financially driven initiative, therefore the principles of JSP 507 were followed although a formal Investment Appraisal was not undertaken.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish NHS England’s decision making criteria for the assessment of highly specialised technologies.

    George Freeman

    NHS England is currently developing a refined process for the prioritisation of proposed new investments in specialised services and highly specialised services.

    This continues to be worked up, including formation of potential criteria and weighting. NHS England is aiming to begin using this process in June 2016. The process will be made public once complete.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to send prisoners returned to jail having broken their licence conditions to a different prison than the one from which they were released.

    Andrew Selous

    Prisoners recalled to custody having breached the conditions of their licence will be arrested by the police and then taken to the nearest local prison for the area in which they were arrested. Prisoners who, prior to release had been held in the closed training estate or in an open prison, will not therefore be returned to the same prison from which their release took place. Those prisoners who had been held in a local prison prior to release on licence, may be returned to the same establishment if that is the nearest local prison for the area in which they were arrested.

    Once returned to a local prison, prisoners will be re-assessed and a decision made on which prison is best suited to their needs, taking into account all factors in the case including the risks they present and other security issues. Prisoners recalled for short periods may remain in the local prison until release unless there are specific reasons, including security reasons, why they should be transferred elsewhere.