Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of Public Health England on the Zika virus.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England’s (PHE) Medical Director is fully engaged in cross-Government discussions on tackling Zika virus and regularly provides updates to Ministers. Staff in the Department, PHE, and other Government departments are in regular contact to monitor the Zika virus situation.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many organisations were affected by his Department’s pilot of anti-sock puppet rules; how many exemptions were made under that pilot scheme; and what estimate he has made of the savings to the public purse that arose from that pilot scheme.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The guidelines ensure that government grants are only spent on the good causes and programmes spelt out in the underlying grant agreement, and prevent taxpayers’ money being diverted to unproductive lobbying. The savings are thus delivered by ensuring all such public money is properly spent on the intended purposes, rather than seeking to reduce the absolute level of government grants as a consequence of stopping taxpayer-funded lobbying.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects effective processes to be in place to allow the issuing of fixed penalty notices to people who are smoking in cars when children are present.

    Jane Ellison

    Local authorities can issue fixed penalty notices for offences related to smoking in private vehicles carrying children; the police can use the traffic offender report to pass information to local authorities who can issue the fixed penalty notice and collect the fines. Guidance on this process has been sent to police forces.

    The police and local authorities can also collaborate on enforcement action, for example when carrying out local road safety operations, when the local authority can take enforcement action as appropriate.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for food with falsely-labelled ingredients in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Jane Ellison

    Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

    Data is reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues; 23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

    Data is also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 75 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

    The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to implement the recommendation in the report by Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, The Blood of People Who Don’t Co-operate, published in November 2015, that the Government should suspend support for security service reform until the other recommendations of that report are complied with.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We believe that UK support to Bahrain’s reform programme is the most constructive way to achieve long-lasting and sustainable reform in Bahrain. While it will take time to see the full results, UK support is having a direct, positive impact on areas of concern. We continue to work with the Government of Bahrain to ensure momentum and progress on its reforms, for the benefit of all Bahrainis. All Foreign and Commonwealth Office programmes that support security reform are carefully considered in line with HMG’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance in order to assess and mitigate human rights risks. Our assistance is specially designed to improve human rights standards and strengthen the rule of law in partner countries. These programmes are routinely monitored and evaluated on a quarterly basis to ensure that they are on track for delivery.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will visit the Cumbrian Coast Rail Line between Carlisle and Whitehaven.

    Paul Maynard

    I regret that due to pressures on my diary I will not be able to visit the Cumbrian Coast Rail Line in the near future. However, I will be writing to the Hon. Member to respond to the concerns he has raised with the Secretary of State about the progression of enhancements to the line to support proposed economic development in his constituency.

  • Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have made to ensure that effective healthcare is available in Northumberland following the closure of Rothbury Community Hospital’s in-patient ward.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    These are matters for the local National Health Service. We understand the decision was taken by NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group and the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in light of the continued extremely low use of the ward. As the suspension is a temporary measure, public consultation is not required.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who has been appointed to the Community Engagement Forum; what criteria were used to make those appointments; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    Individuals are not appointed to the Community Engagement Forum. Attendance at the meetings will rotate to allow ministers to hear directly from a wide range of individuals and groups taking a leading role in challenging extremism as well as sharing thier expertise and initiatives on building stronger community relationships.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training his Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps he has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 November 2015 to Question 15341 to the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green).

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-11-06/15341/

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum decisions identified as critically flawed in her Department’s Quality Audit in the last 12 months were (a) reconsidered by officials as a consequence of that finding, (b) overturned as a result of that reconsideration and (c) overturned on appeal.

    James Brokenshire

    In the twelve months to September 2015 a total of 29,246 asylum decisions were made. Over the same period, 4 asylum decisions were identified as critically flawed by the Department’s Quality Audit team of which;

    a) all were reviewed as a result of the assessment,

    b) 3 were overturned as a result of that reconsideration and;

    c) none have to date been overturned at appeal.