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Category: Speeches

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to extend the entitlement to their late spouse’s teacher’s pension to the surviving spouses of teachers who retired or died prior to January 2007 and lost their entitlement to their late spouse’s pension on remarrying.

    Nick Gibb

    It has been the policy of successive governments that changes or improvements to all public service pension schemes should not normally be applied retrospectively. This policy protects the current membership from having to meet the cost of potentially very expensive improvements. There are therefore no plans to extend the entitlement for those whose spouse was a member of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and who died or retired before January 2007.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on patient outcomes of the planned transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities to clinical commissioning groups from April 2016.

    George Freeman

    We do not expect obesity outcomes to be affected, as the change will primarily be in regard to commissioning responsibilities. However, we believe the transfer should support better integration between Tier 3 and Tier 4 services (which include obesity services) which in turn should improve patient pathways.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his oral evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee of 2 December 2015, Question 9, what progress he has made on determining his policy on whether to use a British Bill of Rights to make the Supreme Court a constitutional long stop.

    Dominic Raab

    We will announce proposals in due course.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish in full the responses to Question 3 of the Government’s consultation, Devolving Sunday trading rules, published on 5 August 2015, before Report Stage of the Enterprise Bill [Lords].

    Anna Soubry

    The Government published its response to the consultation on 9 February, in which it sets out its proposals to devolve Sunday trading rules to a local level. The Government has no plans to publish in full the responses at this time.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the National Probation Service on the supervision of offenders found guilty of domestic abuse.

    Andrew Selous

    The National Probation Service (NPS) is responsible for initial risk assessments in all cases, including domestic abuse. Following sentence, it allocates each case either to a Community Rehabilitation Company or to the NPS itself, depending upon the assessed level of risk. The NPS is responsible for the supervision of all offenders assessed as presenting a high risk of serious harm and those who are subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA). These will include higher-risk and MAPPA offenders convicted for offences of domestic abuse.

    The performance of the NPS is closely monitored through a set of performance measures. In addition, HM Inspectorate of Probation has carried out a series of inspections of the early implementation of the previous Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation reforms.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people receiving social care in (a) Dartford and (b) Kent who are entitled to public funding to support that care.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department does not hold this information in the format requested.

    Data collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre indicates that in 2014/15 there were 4,175 local authority supported long term residential and nursing care users aged 65 years and over supported by Kent County Council. This data is not available for the individual district councils in Kent, of which Dartford is one.

    The data can be found at:

    http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18663

    An internal estimate carried out by the Department in 2012/13 estimated that 48% of people aged 65 and over in residential and nursing care in Kent were receiving local authority support at that time.

    “

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce the reliance of universities on state funding.

    Joseph Johnson

    It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-06-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discretion his Department has to waive rules on non-payment of housing benefit to people with savings over a prescribed amount for (a) looked after adults, (b) vulnerable adults and (c) adults with disabilities.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The capital limit of £16,000 applies to all Housing Benefit claimants, other than those on the guarantee element of Pension Credit.

    While it is important to encourage saving, it has been the consistent policy of successive governments that substantial amounts of capital should not be ignored altogether when deciding entitlement to benefits which are based on need.

  • Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a comparative assessment of the average earnings for hospital and community health service doctors and the average earnings for workers in professional occupations in each age band.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The best available comparison for 2015 is shown in the table below. The figures are for doctors employed by the NHS Hospital and Community Health Service in England (HCHS) and are based on NHS Earnings Estimates published by NHS Digital. General practitioners (GPs) are not included. The All Professional Occupations figures represent all employees nationally in Professional Occupations, as published by the Office for National Statistics.

    Age Range

    All Professional Occupations

    HCHS Doctors

    22-29

    £28,958

    £41,390

    30-39

    £36,456

    £61,885

    40-49

    £40,603

    £94,470

    50-59

    £40,138

    £112,924

    60+

    £32,564

    £96,629

    Sources: All Professional Occupations earnings statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, from its 2015 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

    HCHS Doctors earnings figures are based on statistics published by NHS Digital, from NHS Electronic Staff Record data, in NHS Staff Earnings Estimates to December 2015. The NHS Electronic Staff Record is the HR and Payroll system used by almost all National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England.

    Both sets of figures are the estimated mean average total earnings in 2015 of employees who worked for the full year, regardless of their working hours (i.e. this includes both full-time and part-time workers). The figures do not include GPs.

    Equivalent figures are not available for GPs, because most provide services through commissioning rather than direct employment.

    The ‘All Professional Occupations’ group covers occupations whose main tasks require a high level of knowledge and experience in the natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, social sciences, humanities and related fields. The main tasks consist of the practical application of an extensive body of theoretical knowledge, increasing the stock of knowledge by means of research and communicating such knowledge by teaching methods and other means.

    Most occupations in this major group will require a degree or equivalent qualification, with some occupations requiring postgraduate qualifications and/or a formal period of experience-related.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the forthcoming cessation of funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit on the prosecution of wildlife crime cases in the UK; and if she will make it her policy to continue funding the National Wildlife Crime Unit for the next five years.

    Rory Stewart

    An assessment of the effect of future funding decisions regarding the National Wildlife Crime Unit on the prosecution of wildlife crime cases in the UK has not yet been made.

    Decisions on future funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit beyond March 2016 will be made as part of the current Spending Review process.