Category: Speeches

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure hospital trusts routinely collect and submit data on secondary breast cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer.

    At present pilot work in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis to the National Cancer Registration Service but the uptake has been slow and the data is not complete. Further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

    Data on the number of people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is not currently available.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 March (HL7168), whether they will now state whether there will be more or fewer Royal Navy ships in commission by 2025 than the 57 currently.

    Earl Howe

    On current planning assumptions there will be at least the same number of warships in service with the Royal Navy in 2025 as at present. However, the aggregate tonnage of the Royal Navy will have increased greatly due to the introduction of the aircraft carriers HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and HMS PRINCE OF WALES. Due to the withdrawal from service of HMS GLEANER, an unarmed inshore survey vessel, the Royal Navy will have one fewer non-combat vessel that it does today.

  • Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Iranian government on the imprisonment of Ebrahim Firouzi and other Christians in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I discuss many issues with my Iranian counterpart. Restriction of freedom of expression, religion and belief continue to cause concern. I have repeatedly called on the Iranian government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, and to guarantee the human rights of all Iranians, regardless of belief

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of proposed insurance-based reimbursement funding models, including cap and collar models, on the UK’s ability to appropriately reward innovation whilst also tackling antimicrobial resistance.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Department is in discussions with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry regarding possible future approaches to the pricing and reimbursement of new antimicrobial products, including insurance-based reimbursement arrangements such as ‘cap and collar’ models.

    These discussions are not yet at a point where an assessment of their effect can be made. However there is potential for such models to reconcile the current contradiction between conservation goals and industry revenue, facilitating appropriate stewardship of antibiotics.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 3 April (HL7210), how much surplus food is now being redistributed from supermarkets; and what action they are taking to increase the proportion of food redistributed to charities.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) published its Food Surplus and Waste Quantification report in May this year. This estimates that 5,000 tonnes of surplus food was redistributed by the UK retail sector last year.

    WRAP has established a Redistribution Working Group under Courtauld 2025 to share best practice and help identify and overcome barriers to redistributing food. This Working Group met for the first time in July this year. All of the major retailers are carrying out initiatives aimed at increasing store-level redistribution, or looking at how to maximise distribution from distribution centres or make it easier for their suppliers to redistribute surplus food.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with his counterparts in (a) China, (b) Vietnam and (c) South Korea about the dog meat trade in those countries.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Government is committed to raising the standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. Whilst there are no international norms, laws or agreements governing the trade and consumption of dog meat, we believe it is necessary to work with governments to gain agreement on animal welfare standards and phase out cruel and inhuman farming practices.

    I raised the importance of animal welfare with the Vietnamese government during my visit in February. Our Ambassador in Seoul has raised the issue of cruelty related to the dog meat trade with the South Korean authorities, explaining that UK Parliamentarians and the public would like to see regulation that would bring this to an end. Ministers have also raised the issue with Chinese counterparts, and we continue to work alongside the authorities there to help protect the welfare of stray animals.

    I will be writing to all relevant Ambassadors about this issue in due course and the Government will consider a review of how we interact with various international organisations on dog meat consumption, specifically on the issue of health.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of eligible early service leavers have participated in the Early Service Leaver Programme of the Careers Transition Partnership in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Future Horizons Programme (FHP) for Early Service Leavers was introduced on 1 October 2013. Between 1 October 2013 and 31 March 2014 33% of eligible personnel participated in the FHP. During 2014-15 62% of eligible personnel participated in the FHP. Data prior to this date is not held as there was no requirement to collate this information prior to October 2013. However all Early Service Leavers prior to October 2013 were entitled to unit level support as part of standard Ministry of Defence policy.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from the Syrian conflict relocated in the UK to date are (a) adults with a vulnerable characteristic, (b) adults in a family unit, (c) adults not in a family unit or with a vulnerable characteristic, (d) children with parents and (e) unaccompanied children.

    Richard Harrington

    The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is based on need and prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in their region of origin. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for identifying people in need of resettlement based on its established vulnerability criteria, which are: women and girls at risk; survivors of violence and/or torture; refugees with legal and/or physical protection needs; refugees with medical needs or disabilities; children and adolescents at risk; persons at risk due to their sexual orientation or gender identity; and refugees with family links in resettlement countries.

    The Home Office is committed to publishing data as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 February 2016 and will cover the period October-December 2015. This adheres to the standard practice for the release of information about the work of the department, both through the quarterly national statistics and the additional transparency data that is released, which ensure that statistics are published properly in a way which is open and accessible to all. This information will not include a breakdown of the vulnerability criteria, or the family composition of the refugees that have been resettled.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he had made to his counterparts in (a) the US, (b) China, (c) France and (d) Russia on the recent ballistic missile launched by North Korea.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) strongly condemned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s satellite launch of 7 February, which used ballistic missile technology in clear violation of a number of UN Security Council Resolutions. We are working closely with our international counterparts, including permanent members of the UN Security Council, to ensure significant and substantive measures are agreed in response to the DPRK’s repeated provocations. In addition, we continue to work with international partners to ensure existing Resolutions are implemented effectively.

  • 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 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on which occasions the Care Quality Commission has inspected each provider of NHS 111 since April 2013.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC is responsible for deciding which providers to inspect and when to inspect them. The CQC has provided the following information:

    In June 2015, the CQC published the results of three NHS 111 inspection pilots. The NHS 111 services inspected were operated by the Isle of Wight Healthcare Trust, Derbyshire Health United and North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

    In November 2015, the CQC conducted a comprehensive inspection of Derbyshire Health United. This report has not yet been published. In November 2015, it also conducted a comprehensive inspection of Hertfordshire Urgent Care and published its report on 10 March 2016. The service was rated ‘Good’.

    In November 2015, the CQC conducted a focused inspection of South Central Ambulance Trust’s 111 service and published its report in January 2016. In March 2016, the CQC completed a focussed inspection of South West Ambulance Trust’s 111 service and will publish the report in due course.

    The remaining providers are scheduled to be inspected in line with the CQC hospital and primary medical services inspection programme during 2016.