Category: Speeches

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the (a) number and (b) proportion of junior doctors who work on average more than (i) 48, (ii) 56, (iii) 72 and (iv) 91 hours a week.

    Ben Gummer

    The Electronic Staff Record System shows that 1% (around 500) of junior doctors receive a Band 3 pay supplement – 100% addition to basic salary – which applies to working patterns that are in breach of the current contractual limits on hours or rest.

    The Working Time Regulations (WTR), which provide the same protection to junior doctors as to other workers, limit working hours to an average of 48 per week. Junior doctors, as is the case for all workers, may choose to opt-out of the WTR and work beyond the limits; however, where they do so, their contract imposes a limit of 56 hours per week.

    The vast majority – 99% – of junior doctors are working average hours within these current limits of 48 or 56 per week.

    Under the proposed new contract the limits on average weekly hours will continue to apply and there will also be limits that go further. There will be a cap on the maximum number of hours that junior doctors can work in any one week: whilst it is possible under the WTR to work 91 hours in a single week and still remain within the 48 hour weekly average, the proposed new contract will limit the maximum number of hours that can be worked in a single week to 72.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will discuss with the BBC Parliament channel improving the provision of (a) subtitles and (b) an in-vision interpreter for hearing impaired people.

    Tom Brake

    The audience share for BBC Parliament is below the Ofcom threshold for Access Service provision. However, we have committed to subtitling 100% of live Commons on the channel by 2019. We will reach this figure by increasing the amount of subtitling by 5% each year and this year will subtitle 85% of live Commons sittings.

    The year to date figure for the total provision of subtitling on BBC Parliament against the total broadcast hours of the channel is 12.05%.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure that any assistance provided to Palestinians in camps in Lebanon is used to encourage reconciliation between Palestine and Israel to take steps towards peace.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The main objective of our support to Palestinians living in camps in Lebanon is to meet their basic human needs, especially food needs. We also support projects aimed at improving governance and life chances for youth and communities.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will estimate the cost of travel for (a) Ministers and (b) officials to attend EU meetings in each of the last three years.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government publishes information about ministers’ and senior officials’ visits overseas on a quarterly basis in the transparency data section of the gov.uk website. Information on travel overseas for staff at Senior Civil Service Band 1 and below could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lansley on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance and specific information they have provided, or plan to provide, to businesses about the impact of the UK leaving the EU on individual business sectors in order to support those businesses in communicating with their staff, suppliers, and other stakeholders about the possible impact on them of the UK leaving the EU.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with my noble Friend.

  • 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 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential role of the UK in reducing the number of people trying to cross the Mediterranean in dangerous circumstances; and what plans he has to tackle the issue of deaths in the Mediterranean of people attempting to make that crossing.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government’s focus is on addressing the root causes of irregular migration so as to reduce the need for people to make perilous journeys to Europe. We have taken action to tackle smugglers and save lives at sea: HMS Enterprise is deployed as part of the EU’s counter migration operation, Operation Sophia. The UK has rescued almost 18,000 people, and disrupted suspected people smugglers, in the Mediterranean since 2015. At the G7 Summit in Japan on 27 May, the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), announced that the UK will work on a plan to boost the capability of the Libyan coastguard to stem the flow of illegal migration across the Mediterranean into Europe. Following adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 2292 on 14 June, we are working with EU partners to ensure Op Sophia can begin its new taskings as soon as possible, including capacity building for the Libyan Coastguard. As the Prime Minister announced following the June European Council, RFA Mounts Bay will also be deployed to stop the flow of weapons to terrorists, particularly Daesh, in Libya. As the Prime Minister also said at the G7, the UK stands ready to deploy an additional naval vessel to the South Central Mediterranean.

  • 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, what the average earning rate is of graduates who studied medicine 10 years after graduation; and if he will make a comparative assessment of that level of earning with the average earning rate of (a) all, (b) mathematics and computer science, (c) law, (d) economics and (e) nursing, midwifery and physiotherapy graduates.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in April 2016 looked at graduate earnings 10 years after graduation.

    Only economics and medicine graduates are outliers with much higher earnings than would be expected given A-level performance as compared with their peers in other subjects.

    Selected graduate earnings (£000s) by subject of degree (includes those without earnings)

    Female

    Male

    Percentile

    Percentile

    20th

    50th

    90th

    20th

    50th

    90th

    Medicine

    23.7

    45.4

    68.8

    33.0

    55.3

    84.7

    Maths and computer science

    3.3

    22.0

    53.3

    6.4

    26.8

    57.5

    Law

    4.8

    26.2

    62.8

    3.5

    30.1

    79.5

    Economics

    20.3

    38.2

    93.9

    6.6

    42.0

    121.4

    Subjects allied to medicine

    4.2

    22.1

    40.6

    7.1

    27.9

    49.1

    “

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which organisations have received government funding to assist their efforts to compile a complete electoral register.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Government provided £14 million across 2013/14 and 2014/15 to support the costs of activities at a local and national level to maximise the number of people on the electoral register. This includes allocating funding to local authorities and national organisations.

    The following organisations received funding to target under registered groups:

    Active Citizens FE

    Bite the Ballot

    British Youth Council

    Citizens Advice

    Citizens UK

    Gingerbread

    Operation Black Vote

    The Hansard Society

    Homeless Link

    National Association of Managers of Student Service

    National Union of Students

    Scottish Youth Parliament

    Sixth Form Colleges Association

    The Royal Mencap Society

    The Student Room

    The Tab

    UK Youth

    UpRising

    vInspired

  • Oliver Colvile – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Colvile – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his timetable is for implementing the recommendations of the Keogh Review with regard to the safety and quality of laser eye surgery.

    Alistair Burt

    Providers of laser eye surgery are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as this is a regulated activity. All providers of regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet the new fundamental standards of safety and quality that came into force on 1 April this year. The CQC has a range of enforcement actions that it can take if providers do not meet the fundamental standards.

    Doctors performing laser eye surgery in the United Kingdom must also be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). All registered doctors are expected to be familiar with the GMC’s publication Good medical practice and supporting guidance, which describes what is expected of them. This document makes clear that medical doctors must recognise and work within the limits of their competence.

    It has now been agreed that work to improve the delivery, safety and standards for patient information for laser eye surgery will be taken forward separately from the work to implement the Keogh Review, and that, as the professional body for setting the standards of practice for refractive procedures, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists will lead on this work.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police constables there were in North Wales in each year since 2010.

    Mike Penning

    The table provided contains statistics on the total number of full-time equivalent police officers and the number of these who hold the rank of constable in North Wales, as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2015.

    As HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has made clear, there is no simple link between police numbers and crime levels, between numbers and the visibility of police in the community, or between numbers and the quality of service provided.