Category: Speeches

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of benefit sanctions have been reinstated after mandatory reconsideration in (a) Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency and (b) Wales in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is available at:

    https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

    Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

    https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started—SuperWEB2.html

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the appropriateness of the length of time junior doctors will be off shift following a nine or 10 hour night shift in the illustrative rotas for junior doctors, published by NHS Employers on 18 February 2016.

    Ben Gummer

    The new safeguards around shift working are based upon the UK Working Time Regulations, which set out minimum rest requirements between shifts. The new contract goes significantly further than these requirements. It reduces the number of consecutive shifts of nine or 10 hours length to eight from the current 12, with a 48 hour rest break, with further restrictions on consecutive long shifts or night shifts. This was agreed as reasonable with the British Medical Association. The illustrative rotas reflect these safeguards.

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moynihan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government between which dates the current President of the World Anti-Doping Agency was a consultant to UK Anti-Doping; how much he was paid; and what his responsibilities were.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Sir Craig Reedie was appointed a Special Advisor to UK Anti-Doping in 2009. The role was created to provide expert advice to UK Anti-Doping, primarily during its formative phase, as and when required. Under this appointment, Sir Craig Reedie was not commissioned to provide any expert advice and therefore received no payment from UK Anti-Doping. He formally stood down from this role on his appointment to President of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2014.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish Government plans to deploy armed officers from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary to support territorial police forces and to use the military to backfill such officers in civil nuclear establishments.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Civil Nuclear Constabulary and territorial police forces offer mutual support through individual agreements. As the Prime Minister said in his statement to the House of Commons on 23 November [23 Nov 2015: Column 1051], plans are in place to enable military personnel to support the Police in the event of major terrorist incidents in the UK. Military personnel will be able to fill a number of operational tasks. For national security reasons, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on these detailed operational agreements.

  • Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Crawley on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many pregnant women have been deported from the UK in the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office will not necessarily be aware that a woman is pregnant unless she chooses to make this known to us and a woman may not know herself that she is pregnant when she is detained. It may not always be appropriate for healthcare professionals to disclose information that the patient has asked not to be disclosed.

    Subject to these limitations, management information for 21 June 2016 shows that there were no pregnant women detained under Immigration Act powers at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre.

    Information on the number of pregnant women deported from the UK in each of the last five years is not held centrally and providing it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to review their policy of freezing state pensions of British citizens residing in overseas countries, where there is no existing reciprocal social security arrangement in place.

    Lord Freud

    The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so – for example in countries where a reciprocal agreement is in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this or to assess the impact of British citizens’ choosing to retire abroad.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much he expects Buckinghamshire to be eligible to apply for from the High Speed 2 (a) Community and Environment Fund and (b) Business and Local Economy Fund.

    Andrew Jones

    We have announced an indicative allocation of £15 million from both the Community and Environment and Business and Local Economy funds for the central area of the HS2 Phase One route, which includes relevant areas in Buckinghamshire. Awards from both funds will based on receiving high quality bids from eligible community or business groups.

  • David Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that crustaceans being sold in UK retail or wholesale premises are not still alive and sealed in plastic bags.

    George Eustice

    There are no proposals to introduce controls on the packing of live crustaceans for purposes of animal welfare. The UK Sea Fish Industry Authority advises they should be handled carefully, stored at consistent temperatures, not allowed to dry out and never dropped. Lobsters should be kept cool and if wrapped, perforated material should be used.

  • Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the General Medical Council on amending guidance related to the prescription of off-label drugs and subsequent personal liability.

    George Freeman

    The Government has made no such assessment and has not had discussions with the General Medical Council (GMC) on amending their guidance related to the prescription of off-label drugs and subsequent personal liability. The GMC is responsible for the assessment of its national guidance and this is kept under review as part of GMC’s normal internal governance arrangements.

    As part of its response to the Off-Patent Drugs Bill, the Government has discussed a range of issues around off-label prescribing with a wide range of stakeholders, including the GMC. Working with the Department of Health, the GMC has recently published a Hot Topic on ‘Prescribing unlicensed medicines.’ This on-line tool explains GMC’s prescribing guidance and assures doctors of the clinical appropriateness of unlicensed and off-label prescribing. A copy of this is available at:

    http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/28349.asp

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the conduct of the first round of the general elections in the Central African Republic.

    James Duddridge

    I welcome the holding of presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic on 30 December. The people of the Central African Republic showed a strong determination to move towards a democratic future by turning out to vote in large numbers. The holding of elections, which passed off peacefully, is a huge achievement. It was however unacceptable that many refugees, largely from Muslim communities, were unable to vote in the elections.

    We will work with international partners and the newly elected President to ensure that an inclusive government is appointed which is representative of Central African Republic groups, regions and refugees.