Category: Speeches

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made on its target to plant 11 million trees by 2020.

    Rory Stewart

    The Forestry Commission publishes progress against the 11 million trees target quarterly. The latest report shows that over 640,000 trees have been planted towards meeting the 11 million target in 2015. This reflects the fact that we are at the opening stage of a new grant scheme. We are confident that more trees will be planted in the next phases of the scheme.

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

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to adapt the cancer recovery package and investigate new models of care for blood cancer patients who are (a) given treatment and (b) put on a watch and wait regime after diagnosis.

    Jane Ellison

    It is important that people with cancer have the best possible experience throughout their cancer pathway and are treated with dignity and respect.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes – A Strategy for England 2015-2020 in July 2015, and identified a key priority of establishing patient experience as being on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety. In May 2016 the National Cancer Transformation Board published Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the Strategy Forward outlining the detailed steps being taken to make this a reality.

    In September 2015, the Government announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016 NHS England published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively.

    In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015. The guideline includes new recommendations for haematological cancers. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold. Following publication of the updated guideline, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has worked in collaboration with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) on a programme of regional update events for GPs to promote the new guideline. RCGP and CRUK have also worked to develop three summary referral guidelines for GPs to enable them to adopt the guideline. These are available at:

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/learning-and-development-tools/nice-cancer-referral-guidelines

    “

  • Lord Aberdare – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Aberdare – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding of the recent British Red Cross research report Are prehospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable? that up to 59 per cent of pre-hospital deaths from injury could have been prevented with basic first aid, what they are doing to ensure that first aid education features within public health strategies.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    The Government recognises that the timely application of first aid can help minimise the impact of injuries, as well as health conditions such as heart attacks and strokes, and contribute to avoiding preventable deaths.

    The NHS Choices website contains information for the public on first aid responses to various injuries and health incidents including burns, bleeding, choking, drowning, fractures, heart attacks, strokes and poisoning; the possible symptoms to note; how to respond to them; and how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A copy of the relevant NHS Choices web page is attached.

    In addition, the Government is making available another £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England. This builds on last year’s funding of £1 million, which provided almost 700 more publicly accessible defibrillators in communities across England and increased the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

    The national Act Fast campaign also aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of stroke, teach people what to look out for in themselves and others, and encourage those who notice the symptoms to call 999. Since Act Fast launched in 2009, it is estimated that an additional 47,000 people reached hospital within the vital three-hour window and over 5,000 fewer people became disabled as a result of a stroke.

    Local authorities in England have the lead responsibility for identifying and meeting needs for local interventions to improve the health of their populations, including steps to reduce preventable deaths.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Prime Minister’s recent assertions at the CBI Annual Conference on 9 November that the UK’s security is provided through membership of the EU, what assessment they have made of the impact of NATO membership on the UK’s security and whether they will continue to oppose any proposals for an EU army or other EU armed forces.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is the cornerstone of our national security, and the ultimate guarantor of our defence. But the EU can play a useful complementary role, for example in missions in the Western Balkans and off the coast of Somalia. We always have, and always will, resist any proposal for an EU army.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support his Department is offering to businesses affected by flooding in Cumbria in advance of tax payment deadlines.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates a dedicated Severe Weather helpline to offer help and advice on any tax matters to those people and businesses affected by the recent flooding. The helpline is 0800 904 7900

    Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, excluding bank holidays.

    HMRC will also:

    • consider instalment arrangements where customers are unable to pay as a result of the floods;
    • agree a practical approach when individuals and businesses have lost vital records to the floods;
    • suspend debt collection proceedings for those affected by the floods; and
    • cancel penalties when the customer has missed statutory deadlines due to the floods.

      The helpline is in addition to other HMRC telephone contact numbers.

  • Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

    Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what information the Committee holds on steps being taken by IPSA to prevent errors in P11D forms for hon. Members occurring in future financial years.

    Mr Charles Walker

    I have received confirmation from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority that in 2014-15, an error with the mail merge used to create P11Ds resulted in incorrect forms being sent to Members.

    I understand from IPSA that they have taken steps to improve the quality checking process, and that staff will receive additional training in the production of P11Ds. In the longer term, IPSA is planning improvements to its information management systems which should reduce the likelihood of data discrepancies, like the one that led to this incident, occurring.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value was to the UK economy of the game meat market in each of the last five years.

    Anna Soubry

    Official statistics are not broken down in sufficient detail in order to separate the value added and employment attached to the processing and sale of game-meat from that of other meat or poultry products.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to introduce a statutory time limit for dealing with appeals under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the hon Member to my Written Ministerial Statement of 1 March 2016 [Hansard reference HCWS566]

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the number of UK merchant seamen, officers and men required to man the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and other merchant shipping taken up from trade in time of national emergency or war.

    Earl Howe

    Should extra capability or capacity be required at a time of national emergency or war, as has been the case in the past, the Ministry of Defence would charter suitable merchant ships from the commercial market. The extent of such a requirement would of course depend on the nature of the circumstances faced.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which public and private sector stakeholders her Department has (a) engaged and (b) plans to engage in the implementation of the Government’s proposed improvements to the SARs IT infrastructure.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Home Office ran a Call for Information on the operation of the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) regime between 25 February and 25 March 2015. We received more than 60 responses from a wide range of stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, the financial sector, and the legal and accountancy sectors. Subsequently, further discussions were held with private and public sector bodies through a series of workshops.

    The Government published the Action Plan for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist finance on 21 April 2016. The Action Plan sets out the Government’s programme to deliver a significantly improved anti-money laundering regime for the UK. This includes the replacement of the SARs IT infrastructure. A summary of the submissions received following the Call for Information is set out in the Action Plan at Annex B.

    In the Action Plan, we announced our commitment to develop a stronger public private partnership to tackle money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and as part of that we will engage with public and private stakeholders to develop the replacement.

    The stakeholders will include law enforcement agencies, government departments, and businesses in the ‘regulated sector’ including banks, the legal and accountancy sectors, and estate agents. We will also include regulatory and supervisory bodies, and public bodies for whom SARs are of value.

    This engagement will enable us to ensure that the replacement of the SARs IT architecture will deliver significant benefits for all of the sectors involved in the SARs regime. As we set out in the Action Plan, we will reform the SARs regime, making the necessary legislative, operational and technical changes, by October 2018.