Category: Speeches

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his announcement of 27 September 2016 on extra funding for mental health, what steps he is taking to ensure that funding reaches children who have experienced abuse, neglect or live in poverty.

    Nicola Blackwood

    On 29 September, NHS England announced that an extra £25 million from nationally-led programmes on children’s mental health would be made available to clinical commissioning groups to support children and young people’s mental health transformation and delivery, with a focus on reducing current waiting times.

    Access to all National Health Service treatment is determined on the basis of clinical need, not on the basis of personal circumstances or any other non-clinical criteria.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

    Karen Bradley

    This information is not available.

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness King of Bow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the £150 million funding made available for the regeneration of local authority housing estates has been made available to each of the successful schemes.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Shortlisted schemes are currently undergoing due diligence. Subject to this, we expect contracts to be signed in this financial year and the full £150 million to be committed. The final amount for each scheme is yet to be confirmed.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the departmental settlement for his Department for this Spending Review period included any specific allocation of funds for ex gratia payments to victims of contaminated blood in future financial years.

    Jane Ellison

    The £25 million, announced by the Prime Minister in March 2015 to support transition to a reformed scheme, will remain available in 2016-17. We are assessing what can be allocated above and beyond that. We expect to announce our plans for that money once we have a better understanding of what wider scheme reform might comprise following the outcome of consultation.

  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions in the last 12 months and from which airfields aircraft of the Quick Reaction Alert have been scrambled, and for what purpose on every occasion.

    Earl Howe

    Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Coningsby launched to intercept aircraft on 12 days in 2015.

    I am withholding further details as deterrence is a principal function of QRA and QRA is in turn an integral part of the air defence of the UK. The disclosure of information that might compromise the QRA deterrent capability would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Department.

    Justin Tomlinson

    I refer the hon.Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my Rt.Hon. Friend Matthew Hancock, Question UIN 27946.

    “

  • 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 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on establishing an investigative capability for the Food Crime Unit.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is initially focusing on establishing the scale and nature of food crime in the United Kingdom at a strategic level through developing intelligence sharing relationships across the law enforcement community and with the food industry. This will also enable the Unit to instigate investigative interventions by law enforcement partners and local authorities to identify and disrupt specific instances of food crime.

    At the end of this year, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) will review progress on food crime, in line with Professor Elliott’s recommendations following the horsemeat incident. This review will inform decision-making about the Unit’s future form and function including the need or otherwise for the unit to establish an in-house investigative capability.

    Intelligence analysts within the Unit have just completed the first ever Food Crime Annual Strategic Assessment (FCASA). The FCASA sets out the Unit’s developing understanding of food crime and will drive its work to ensure resources are focused where the threat to consumers and other interests is the greatest.

    The NFCU receives reports of suspicions of food fraud from a number of sources via many different routes. The FSA website directs users to a dedicated email address and telephone number for reporting these suspicions. Information is also received through local authority and law enforcement partners. Information received is analysed and, where appropriate, entered onto the Unit’s intelligence database. Between 1 January 2015 and 18 March 2016, 793 such records were created.

    Establishment costs for the NFCU were minimal as the Unit initially evolved from a small but similar capability within the FSA. Total running costs to date are in the region of £579,000. Estimated costs for the forthcoming year are £1.2 million, subject to final allocations being agreed.

  • Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) the number of jobs, and (2) the total value of sales, within the retail sector attributable to (a) online retail, and (b) high-street retail premises.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    In 2015 the retail sector accounted for nearly 3.2m jobs. It is not possible to allocate these jobs to online or offline retail nor to “high-street” or “non-high street” premises.

    Excluding sales of automotive fuel the total value of retail sales was £340bn in 2015, with around 12.4% of these sales (£42bn) attributable to online retail.

    It is not possible to determine what proportion of sales were made by “high-street” premises. There is not an operational statistical definition of this term, so data is not collected on this basis.

  • Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many EU proposals and initiatives, of which they are aware, are being delayed for publication until after 23 June, and what are those initiatives.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Decisions on the timing of proposals for EU Laws and Directives are solely the responsibility of the European Commission. The European Parliament publishes details of current legislation under negotiation on its website.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria he will use to determine eligibility for discounted travel as part of the local discount scheme when tolls on the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges are introduced.

    Andrew Jones

    Following the previous Chancellor’s further statement in July 2015 that the Government is looking at extending Mersey Gateway bridge toll discounts to residents of Chester West & Chester and Warrington, officials are currently working through what the proposed further extension means for the scheme both by way of the cost to the Department but also and importantly what this would do to the commercial structure of the contracts already signed for the scheme. Once this is clear we will be able to provide more information.