Category: Speeches

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to improve security at the Akrotiri and Dhekelia RAF Sovereign Base Areas; and how much his Department has spent on securing those areas in each of the last 10 years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There are robust and established measures in place to provide effective security to the Akrotiri and Dhekelia Sovereign Base Areas, both of which have undergone various upgrades during the past 10 years. I cannot comment in detail on the security arrangements, the cost of them, and any specific changes to them over the last ten years, but they include physical improvements and intelligence driven countermeasures. All measures are kept under constant review.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to deliver hyper-speed broadband coverage in urban areas.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As announced at the 2016 Budget, the Government intends to support the development of the ultrafast market by establishing, in partnership with the private sector, a new broadband investment fund to support the growth of alternative network developers by providing greater access to finance. Ofcom also recently announced its strategy to promote large-scale roll-out of new ultrafast broadband networks as part of its Digital Communications Review. The Government is committed to ensuring that ultrafast broadband should be available to nearly all UK premises, as soon as practicable. We are proposing to take action in a number of areas which will help support existing commercial investment plans and encourage the ultrafast market to develop further, including reforming the Electronic Communications Code, the statutory framework governing rights of access to private land; implementing the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive to help reduce the cost of rolling out high speed broadband; reviewing the effectiveness of the fixed planning changes introduced in England in 2013 to determine whether they should be made permanent; and encouraging and supporting innovative approaches in street works which can lower the cost and speed up deployment of faster broadband.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the minimum standards required to practice as a care worker are; and what steps he is taking to ensure online training courses in care work are regularly assessed and adequate to meet those requirements.

    Ben Gummer

    All providers of health or adult social care activities that fall under the supervision of the Care Quality Commission have a legal duty to ensure that all staff working to provide those activities have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience necessary for the work to be performed.

    Health and social care support workers should meet the Care Certificate standards. The Certificate comprises 15 standards that cover the fundamental skills, knowledge and behaviours that are required to provide safe, effective and compassionate care.

    The Care Certificate contains practical components that must be completed. There are a number of online commercial Care Certificate training products that do not make this clear. Health Education England and Skills for Care are working on online training materials to provide a free-of-charge and authoritative alternative to the current commercial offerings.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what operational contingency plan his Department has made in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

    Michael Fallon

    None.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the foreign aid budget was given directly to the governments of recipient nations in each of the last three years.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    Direct financial aid to governments of recipient nations constituted 14%, 12% and 9% of DFID’s total programme expenditure for years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 respectively. These are the three most recent years for which this data is currently available. General Budget Support reduced from 2.2% to 0.5% of DFID’s total programme expenditure over the same period.

  • Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to replicate the system of Historic Environment Records used in Wales in England.

    Tracey Crouch

    In England local planning authorities are required to have regard to the terms of the National Planning Policy Framework, which indicates that they should either maintain or have access to an Historical Environment Records (HER).

    The Heritage Information Access Strategy (HIAS) programme intends to secure an improved and more cost effective approach to handling digital historic environment data, especially that held by local authority Historic Environment Records. It is intended to improve the accessibility of that information and work with HERs to become more user focused. As part of HIAS Historic England will continue to champion the development, maintenance and implementation of standards for the creation, management and storage of digital historic environment data.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation officers have been employed by the National Probation Service since its establishment in each month in that period, and for each such month in each region of England.

    Andrew Selous

    Information on the number of probation officers employed in each NPS Division is published quarterly in the National Offender Management Service Workforce Statistics Bulletin. The information on probation officer numbers can be located in table 11 of the publication, which can be found at the link below:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics

    “

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent discussions they have had with East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust regarding the use of Do Not Resuscitate orders for patients with disabilities.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department expects National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts to have in place local policies on resuscitation that are based on expert professional guidance. We have commended, as a basis for local policies, professional guidance, Decisions Relating to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (2014), published jointly by the British Medical Association, the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the Royal College of Nursing. The guidance is clear that any resuscitation decision must be tailored to the individual circumstances of the patient and must not be made on the basis of blanket assumptions. A copy of the guidance is attached.

    Where a person lacks capacity to make decisions about their care or treatment, the Mental Capacity Act makes clear that doctors must act in the best interests of patients. Doctors must take account as far as possible of the known wishes of the person and consult with relatives and colleagues as appropriate to help inform their decision.

    Departmental officials have recently contacted the Trust about recent media coverage concerning an incident when Down’s syndrome was listed as a reason to issue a Do Not Resuscitate order. The Trust confirms it accepts that it failed to consult with the family and has apologised unreservedly for this isolated incident by a junior doctor.

    In regards to any disciplinary action taken against the doctor this would be an operational issue for the Foundation Trust. We have written to Ms Nikki Cole, Chair of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust informing her of the Noble Lord’s enquiry. She will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made with providing Jobcentre Plus advisor support in schools.

    Priti Patel

    Jobcentre Plus support for schools was launched on 14 January in Birmingham. The remaining nine pathfinders will be launched in this academic year before national rollout by March 2017.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria are used to define challenging behaviour as used in the 2012 School Admissions Code.

    Nick Gibb

    It is for admission authorities to agree with their local authorities what they regard as challenging behaviour, based on the circumstances of each case.

    Each local authority is required to have a Fair Access Protocol in place, to ensure that – outside the normal admissions round – unplaced children are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible and that no school is asked to take a disproportionate number of children with challenging behaviour or children excluded from other schools.