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Category: Speeches

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve educational standards in Bradford.

    Nick Gibb

    This Government is committed to educational excellence everywhere. The new powers in the Education and Adoption Bill are designed to help raise standards in underperforming areas such as Bradford, ensuring all failing maintained schools become academies with strong sponsors, and coasting schools are challenged to improve.

    The Regional Schools Comissioner has already prioritised Bradford for the Northern Fund and brought two new sponsors into the area.

    We have also significantly expanded School Direct and Teach First, to ensure schools in Bradford have access to high-quality teachers. The new National Teaching Service, which will place outstanding teachers and middle leaders into schools which most need additional support to improve their teaching, will begin with a pilot later this year; Bradford will be one of the areas eligible to participate in this pilot.

    I recently had the pleasure of being able to see some of the excellent work that is already being done to raise standards in Bradford, when I visited the outstanding Beckfoot School in Bingley, where 46% of pupils achieve the E-Bacc combination of core academic GCSEs.

  • Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the plans she has to reintroduce tick treatment for pet animals returning to the UK.

    George Eustice

    The requirement for tick treatment was dropped as part of the harmonisation of the EU pet travel rules for movement and import of non-commercial dogs following a qualitative risk assessment and economic impact assessment for the introduction of Mediterranean Spotted fever (MSF) and the Brown Dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus.

    The evidence which informed these pieces of work has not changed and therefore there is still no strong scientific basis for reintroducing the requirement for tick treatment to control MSF, a zoonotic disease.

    Treatments for ticks are readily available and veterinary practices are able to advise on the most appropriate treatments.

  • Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what plans his Department has to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Alexander Thomson in 2017.

    David Mundell

    Alexander “Greek” Thomson is one of the most important and original architects of the nineteenth century. Many of his exceptional neo-classical buildings still grace the city of Glasgow, which was Thomson’s home from boyhood. One such is ‘Holmwood,’ in the hon Member’s constituency, which is described by the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture as ‘a sumptuous villa at once Classical and Picturesque.’ While I am not aware of any formal plans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Thomson’s birth, my officials have been in touch with various organisations to discuss the bicentenary, and I would be happy to meet the hon Member to discuss any suggestions he has.

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

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients are supported by (a) NHS West London, (b) NHS North Manchester and (c) West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

    Alistair Burt

    The number of registered patients in each of the specified clinical commissioning group (CCG) areas as at 1 April 2016 is shown in the following table.

    CCG

    Number of registered patients

    NHS West London

    242,428

    NHS North Manchester

    206,140

    NHS West Hampshire

    553,237

    Source: Information extracted on a quarterly basis from the General Practice payments system, which is maintained by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take to support access for independent monitors to (a) places of detention in Syria and (b) Saydnaya prison.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I condemn the Asad regime’s arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and mistreatment of tens of thousands of Syrians and call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained, especially women and children, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolutions 2254 and 2268.

    I fully support calls for access for independent monitors to all places of detention in Syria, including the regime’s notorious Saydnaya prison. The Government has sought to keep international focus on this issue, particularly via the UN. We have ensured that detention and mistreatment has featured in successive Syria resolutions of the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council, and will continue to do so. We also regularly raise detainee issues at the Task Forces of the International Syria Support Group in Geneva.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of pharmacies that will close as a result of the proposed 12 per cent reduction in funding for pharmacies in England from December 2016 until March 2017.

    David Mowat

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of community pharmacy services including public access to medicines. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we have a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population. Our reforms are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim.

    The Government announced the package of reforms for the community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond on 20 October 2016. This included full details of how the Pharmacy Access Scheme will operate, as well an impact assessment for the package of reforms. This can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-pharmacy-reforms

    “

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of raising the minimum wage on the capacity of charities to deliver public services.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The National Living Wage will benefit low paid workers across all sectors, including charity workers delivering public services on behalf of the state.

    Government is taking steps to support employers with the transition. For example, the employer National Insurance Bill for businesses and charities will be cut by £1000 from April 2016.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme; and what steps he is taking to increase uptake of such screening among (a) men, (b) people living in deprived areas, (c) ethnic minorities and (d) all people.

    Jane Ellison

    The UK National Screening Committee recently consulted on the use of Faecal Immunochemical testing (FIT) as an alternative screen test for bowel cancer. Initial results of the FIT pilot, indicates that this test is more acceptable to the screened population with a significant increase in participation (10%). This is particularly marked amongst men and disadvantaged groups.

    At the end of January 2015, 25 million faecal occult blood test kits had been sent out to men and women aged 60-74 to self-sample at home. Over 15 million kits have been returned by post to one of five regional laboratories (programme hubs). Over 21,000 cancers have been detected and over 122,000 patients have been managed for polyps, including polyp removal.

    Public Health England (PHE) Screening held a national workshop engaging various organisations to discuss inequalities in accessing screening programmes.

    The national workshop was attended by colleagues from local authorities, the Department of Health, PHE, National Health Service and cancer research UK. The day looked at current knowledge about the extent of inequitable access, what works to improve access for those in deprived and protected groups, how existing levers might best be used and by whom.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passengers have used high-speed rail services from London St Pancras station in each year since such services started.

    Claire Perry

    Whilst Eurostar services commenced in 1994, St Pancras has only been the London terminus for HS1 services since late 2007. Eurostar journeys originating from St Pancras are as follows:

    2008 4.3m

    2009 4.3m

    2010 4.6m

    2011 4.7m

    20124.8m

    2013 5.0m

    2014 5.1m

    2015 5.1m

    Domestic high speed services, operated by franchised train company Southeastern, commenced in 2010. Southeastern journeys originating from St Pancras are as follows:

    2010 0.6m

    2011 2.0m

    2012 2.5m

    2013 2.8m

    2014 3.0m

    2015 3.4m

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the one-year survival rate for each of the last 15 years with regard to: (1) C50, malignant neoplasm of breast, (2) C61, malignant neoplasm of prostate, (3) C33-C34, malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, (4) C18-C20, malignant neoplasm of colon and rectum, (5) C43, malignant melanoma of skin, (6) C82-C85, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, (7) C67, malignant neoplasm of bladder, (8) C64, malignant neoplasm of kidney, except renal pelvis, (9) C91-C95, leukaemia, (10) C25, malignant neoplasm of pancreas, (11) C54-C55, malignant neoplasm of corpus uteri and uterus, part unspecified, (12) C15, malignant neoplasm of oesophagus, (13) C00-C14, malignant neoplasm of lip, oral cavity and pharynx, (14) C56-C57, malignant neoplasm of ovary and other unspecified female genital organs, (15) C16, malignant neoplasm of stomach, (16) all other neoplasms; and what were the weighted average one-year survival rates for those tumours listed in (1) to (5), and those tumours listed in (6) to (15).

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.