Category: Speeches

  • Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on funding research into improving the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The information requested is not available.

    The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) spent £25.5 million on respiratory disease research in 2014/15 (the latest available figure). Most of this investment (£16.6 million in 2014/15) is in infrastructure for respiratory research where spend on specific topics such as the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cannot be separated from total infrastructure expenditure. This infrastructure includes NIHR biomedical research centres and the NIHR Clinical Research Network.

    The NIHR manages the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme, which is funded by the Medical Research Council and NIHR. The programme is currently funding a £1.4 million efficacy and mechanism evaluation of treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with the addition of co-trimoxazole.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to implement the family test; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Officials in my Department have liaised with DWP as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it and encourage routine use of the Test. Thiscould includetraining officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevantevidence, learning materials and best practice.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 11834, whether the additional £25 million transitional funding announced by the Prime Minister was provided by HM Treasury or from within existing Departmental funds; how much of that funding has been allocated or spent to date; and what new funding for this purpose has been provided in the departmental settlement in the Spending Review 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    The £25 million was announced by the Prime Minister in March 2015, to support transition to a reformed scheme. The money will come from existing departmental funds. We expect to announce our plans for that money once we have a better understanding of what wider scheme reform might comprise following the outcomes of the consultation.

    Funding for specific programme budgets, following the Spending Review, will be set out as part of the normal business planning cycle, as we work on the detail of our central budgets over the coming months.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times Warnings Index checks have been suspended (a) in the UK, (b) at each port, (c) at each airport and (d) nationally in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    In November 2011, the then Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration found that the then UKBA had carried out a number of suspensions of Warnings Index Checks without due ministerial authority. Since then, Border Force has operated to a Ministerially-approved mandate that requires it to undertake Warnings Index Checks against all passengers arriving into the UK on scheduled, commercial routes; and Secure ID Checks against passengers that require a visa to enter the UK. These checks have not been suspended at any port since November 2011.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on ensuring that Kurds are part of Syria peace talks.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has had a number of conversations about Syrian peace talks with the Foreign Minister of Turkey and other Turkish leaders, including during his recent visit to Turkey and at the Syria Conference in London. There was agreement on the importance of support to intra-Syrian negotiations on political transition in Syria. Any political settlement must be inclusive and we trust that the process will bring in a full range of Syria groups at the right time.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of disabled people offered assistance by his Department for the installation of a chair lift in their home in each of the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government is committed to helping disabled people live independently in their homes for as a long as possible. That is why, since 2010, we have invested over £1 billion into the disabled facilities grant, providing around 250,000 adaptations to disabled people’s homes. The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect specific information on the number of disabled people offered assistance for the installation of a chair lift in their home. However, information on the overall number of grants completed for the years 2009-10 to 2014-15 is provided in the table below.

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    No. of grants completed

    44,102

    45,383

    43,986

    36,874

    42,586

    33,922
  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the level of EU subsidies provided to sugar manufacturers.

    George Eustice

    There are no specific EU subsidies provided to sugar manufacturers under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, those that produce their own sugar beet are entitled to make a claim for support under the CAP Basic Payment Scheme. Details of the amounts received by UK beneficiaries can be found on the UK CAP Payments website at http://cap-payments.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx.

    “

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to investigate the growth in the number of banks offering unsecured credit cards with interest and principal payment grace periods of more than three years, in the light of the most recent report by MoneyFacts.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

    The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. On 3 November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers.

  • 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 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of ending the NHS bursary system on the Capital Nurse project in London.

    Ben Gummer

    We are advised by NHS England that it is working closely with Health Education England to deliver the Capital Nurse programme.

    Impact on programmes such as the Capital Nurse programme, will be considered by NHS England once the outcome of the bursary consultation, which closes on 30 June 2016, has been published.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many contracts for franchised passenger rail services his Department has tendered in each year since 2013; and how many such contracts his Department plans to tender under the existing franchising schedule in each year between 2016 and 2023.

    Paul Maynard

    The number of contracts for franchised passenger rail services tendered* per calendar year from 2013 to 2015 are as follows:

    Year No.of Contracts Awarded

    2013 0

    2014 3

    2015 2

    The number of planned of contracts for franchised passenger rail services tendered* per calendar year from 2016 to 2023 are as follows:

    Year No.of Contracts Awarded

    2016 1

    2017 3

    2018 4**

    2019 1

    2020 0

    2021 2

    2022 2

    2023 0​

    *We have taken the use of the term ‘tendered’ to mean the completion of the tendering process which is contract award. The response does not require the number of Direct Awards as the question only asks for “franchised passenger rail services”.

    **The schedule shown reflects standard Department for Transport franchising timings. The UK Government has agreed in principle to transfer franchising powers to the Welsh Government to lead on procuring the next Wales & Borders franchise. In anticipation of this, the Welsh Government are developing their procurement approach which is planned to start earlier than shown on this schedule.