Category: Speeches

Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the opportunities presented by NHS England’s Five Year Forward View to improve HIV services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The National Health Service continues to offer world class Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) treatment services.

In its role as the commissioner of specialised HIV care and treatment, NHS England has a service specification which emphasises the responsibility of commissioned providers to collaborate with other health, social care and third sector organisations as appropriate to help ensure the holistic needs of patients are met. This includes ensuring people living with HIV and other comorbidities have access and referral to appropriate services.

The effectiveness of HIV treatment means that more people will live well with HIV in old age. As people living with HIV get older, they will require access to services for the other conditions they may experience. Good communication with their HIV provider is important and this is required in the service specification.

In line with the Five Year Forward View, NHS England will continue to work closely with HIV organisations in order to inform its commissioning responsibilities with regard to specialised HIV care and treatment as well as ensuring primary and secondary health care services respond to the wider health needs of people living with HIV.

The Government’s Improvement Framework for Sexual Health includes the ambition that “older people with diagnosed HIV can access the additional health and social care services they need”. A copy is attached.

January 1, 2023
Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the cost of establishing the Green Deal Finance Company in (a) payments to consultants and (b) other costs.

Andrea Leadsom

DECC has made no payments to consultants in establishing the Green Deal Finance Company, but in other costs payments of £10,294.26 in legal support were made in 2014/15.

The Green Deal Finance Company has not been closed. It is not currently issuing new loans, but continues to collect repayments from its existing loan book. In July 2015, DECC took the decision that the case for further investment was not strong enough in terms of value for money. This decision has no impact on existing Green Deal Finance Plans or existing Green Deal Home Improvement Fund applications and vouchers.

The Green Deal Finance Company is a private company and has its own internal costs which are not included in this estimate.

January 1, 2023
Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England plans to publish its response to its consultation on developing a method to assist investment decisions in specialised services.

George Freeman

The proposed prioritisation methodology which went out to consultation was signed off by the Specialised Commissioning Committee at its meeting on 31 May 2016 – for use in 2016/17.

The consultation outcome document will now be published on the website imminently.

There will be further work undertaken on the methodology in due course to refine and improve it for use in future years.

January 1, 2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to mark National Road Victim Month which falls in August of each year.

Andrew Jones

The Department supports the purpose of National Road Victim Month. We recognise every death is a tragedy and we regularly attend the Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. We are determined to do more to make our roads safer. That’s why this Government has a Manifesto commitment to reduce road deaths and injuries every year. We are prioritising our efforts on delivering the actions set out in the British Road Safety Statement which we published on 21 December 2015 which is available on gov.uk and copies are in both libraries of the house.

January 1, 2023
John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which 20 secondary schools have had the biggest improvement in GCSE results over the last 15 years.

Nick Gibb

There is not a consistent metric to measure school performance at Key Stage 4 over this time period. However, the data showing the performance of schools in each of the last 15 years as measured at the time is available at the download data page of the “Compare school and college” website[1].

[1] https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data

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January 1, 2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.

Rory Stewart

The European Commission is running a REFIT Fitness Check of the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives. This is an evidence-based assessment of the Directives’ effectiveness and efficiency.

Defra supports the Fitness Check as a normal part of good policymaking and is fully engaged with the review. Our contribution to the evidence gathering process is available online here:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/fitness_check/evidence_gathering/index_en.htm.

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January 1, 2023
Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provisions in place to provide psychological treatments for victims of FGM.

Jane Ellison

As part of its £3 million Female Genital Mutilation Prevention Programme, the Department is actively looking at the provision of mental health and wellbeing services for FGM survivors.

A ministerial roundtable with senior stakeholders was held on 29 October 2015 to discuss this issue. The Department is working with specialist mental health professionals and professional bodies to evidence the needs of FGM survivors, and will consider how best to support commissioners to ensure FGM survivors can access existing mental health services that are able to meet their individual needs.

The Department has also commissioned specialist FGM mental health e-learning and we are also updating existing mental health training materials to support awareness and recognition by health professionals of how FGM may impact mental health.

January 1, 2023
Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will discuss with the Financial Conduct Authority the effect of the savings products offered by providers with almost zero interest rates on people with savings.

Harriett Baldwin

In January 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its Cash Savings Market Study report, which found that competition in the cash savings market was not working well for many consumers. In response, the FCA has consulted on and will subsequently be introducing new rules from 1 December 2016 designed to improve competition by encouraging easier and quicker switching and improving the information savers receive.

These new rules will require firms to provide key information in a product summary box at point of sale and to be clear on what interest rate consumers are getting. The FCA will also introduce a new rule which requires firms to provide a prompt and efficient service so that a customer can switch to a better account offered by the same firm.

January 1, 2023

Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding for cycling (a) London and (b) each of the cities which received Cycle City Ambition Grants received in 2014-15; and what the average level of such funding other areas received in that period.

Mr Robert Goodwill

CYCLE FUNDING FOR LONDON

The Department for Transport provides the Greater London Authority with a substantial transport grant for Transport for London (TfL). It is for TfL and ultimately the Mayor of London to decide how best to prioritise spending the grant.

CYCLING CITY FUNDING

CYCLING CITIES GRANT RECIPIENTS	Region	2013/14 capital (£m)	2014/15 capital (£m)	Total Funding Allocation for 2014-15 (£m)
Newcastle City Council	North East	5.7	–	5.7
Cambridgeshire County Council	East of England	2.2	1.9	4.1
Bristol City Council	South West	1.6	6.2	7.8
Manchester (Transport for Greater Manchester)	North West	20.0	–	20.0
Birmingham City Council	West Midlands	17.0	–	17.0
West Yorkshire ITA (covering Leeds and Bradford)	Yorkshire and the Humber	18.1	–	18.1
Norwich City Council	East of England	1.1	2.6	3.7
Oxfordshire County Council	South East	–	0.8	0.8
Total Cities Grants		65.6m	11.5m	77.2m

In 2014-15 the Department for Transport awarded the Cycling Cities Ambition grants to improve and develop cycling facilities and infrastructure. Some of the cities received their funding upfront in 2013-14 under the Cities Deal arrangement. Only four cities received funding in 2014-15.

REGIONAL FUNDING

REGIONS RECEIVING CYCLE FUNDING	2014/15 – DfT £m	2014/15 – Total (DfT + Local Contribution) £m
East Midlands	3.6	13.4
East of England	4.7	19.3
North East	4.3	17.5
North West	8.7	34.1
South East	10.0	37.8
South West	8.1	37.1
West Midlands	7.3	25.7
Yorkshire & Humber	5.3	28.2
Total Regions Average Funding	52.0m	213.1m

The 2014-15 figures include some funding streams, such as the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, which benefit a range of locations across England and cannot be easily disaggregated. The figures above therefore contain elements of funding which also benefit the eight cycle cities.

January 1, 2023

Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to support and develop the export potential of UK dairy through the Dairy Exports Strategy.

George Eustice

There is great global demand for quality British dairy products and we are working to maximise this opportunity by opening up new markets around the world. Eight dairy companies accompanied the Secretary of State on a trade mission to China in November, and next month a Chinese dairy delegation is visiting to discuss opportunities for investment in our domestic industry.

Further trade missions are planned over the coming months to the US, Japan and China. Together with UKTI we will continue to promote our fantastic British dairy brand.

January 1, 2023