Category: Speeches

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on reforming the law on surrogacy.

    Jane Ellison

    A search of the Department’s central correspondence system shows that, since November 2015, the Department has received 31 representations that made direct or indirect reference to reforming the law on surrogacy. I have also answered four Parliamentary Questions in this session about this issue.

    The Government has no current plans to change the legislation in respect of surrogacy arrangements.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 36039, on fertility: medical treatments, which criteria set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 fertility services do not meet in order to be centrally commissioned.

    Jane Ellison

    The Health and Social Care Act 2012, part 1, Section 15, 3B (3), about services that the Secretary of States can require the Board (NHS England) to commission, states:

    “(3) In deciding whether it would be so appropriate, the Secretary of State must have regard to:

    (a) the number of individuals who require the provision of the service or facility;

    (b) the cost of providing the service or facility;

    (c) the number of persons able to provide the service or facility;

    (d) the financial implications for clinical commissioning groups if they were required to arrange for the provision of the service or facility.”

    The Clinical Advisory Group, which advised Ministers about the services that should be regarded as specialised and commissioned nationally by NHS England, took the view that fertility services would not meet (a) and (c) of these listed factors.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to accelerate negotiations to leave the EU to ensure that they are completed before July 2017 when the UK is due to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has no such plans.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role her Department plays in Government plans to ensure a higher rate of prosecution for knife crimes.

    Sarah Newton

    The decision whether or not to bring a prosecution is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

    The Home Office works closely with the CPS, other Government departments, and the police to tackle knife crime and ensure that offenders are dealt with effectively.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people referred to the Work Programme since 2011 who had no classable qualifications at the time of their referral achieved a job outcome at any stage during their time on the Work Programme.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested, in the above three questions, is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18554, on housing benefit: social rented housing, what proportion of the estimated 80,000 claimants referred to in that answer are in receipt of (a) disability and (b) in-work benefits.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The estimated 80,000 claimants referred to in Question 18554 are not disabled for the purposes of the shared accommodation rate exemption. Above this figure there are some disabled claimants within this category who were identified as having rents above the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate. However as these are exempted from the policy they were not included in the original response.

    Of the estimated 80,000, around 31% have self-declared disabilities which are not exempt from the shared accommodation rate. Of these around 18% are in receipt of disability benefits (DLA/PIP/AA) and around 13% are in receipt of either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and are in work.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how long on average the Office of the Independent Adjudicator took to close a case in 2015.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Office of the Independent Adjudicator’s Annual Report (2014), which contains the latest published figures available, states that it took an average of 207 days to close a complaint from the time the student first submitted a complaint form. Provisional figures indicate that improvements have been made since then and the 2015 Annual Report is likely to show a significant reduction in this figure.

    The European Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution, which came into force on 9 July 2015, now requires dispute resolution bodies such as the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) to issue complaint outcomes within 90 days of receiving the full complaint file, unless the case is highly complex. The OIA and other alternative dispute resolution bodies are required to report to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, which is monitoring compliance with the Directive.

  • Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many grey squirrels were culled on the public estate in each Forest District of England and Wales in each of the last three years; and how many were culled by (1) trapping, and (2) shooting, in each of the years in each of the Districts.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Forestry Commission does not hold records of the numbers of squirrels killed on the public forest estate in England. The Forestry Commission ceased to operate in Wales on 1 April 2013 with the creation of Natural Resources Wales and we do not hold any information on grey squirrel culling on the Welsh Government woodland estate.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey to be published.

    Alistair Burt

    The 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey is currently scheduled to be published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in September 2016.

  • Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues in (a) her Department and (b) other Departments on establishing a new national centre of expertise on tackling child sexual abuse.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual abuse is a top priority for this Government and good progress is being made on delivering the commitments made in “Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation” – the Government’s response to address on a national scale the failures that had been seen in Rotherham and elsewhere. We are working collaboratively across Whitehall to deliver on our commitments and will publish an update to the “Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation” report later this year. This will set out our progress to date on what we have achieved in tackling offending, reducing vulnerability and supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. It will also set out what future steps the government plans to take.

    As part of this work, we have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat, providing a clear mandate for police forces to safeguard children and to share intelligence and best practice. We have also rolled out to all UK police forces Child abuse image database (CAID) which provides law enforcement with effective tools to search seized devices. We have delivered a £7 million uplift in funding over the financial years 2014 – 15 and 2015 – 16 for non statutory organisations which support victims and survivors of sexual abuse and have announced that the same amount will be available in 2016 – 17.

    In January this year we launched a new national whistle-blowing helpline, operated by the NSPCC, for any employee who wants to raise a concern about how their organisation is dealing with a concern about a child. The establishment of the Centre of Expertise has formed part of discussions held at the Inter Ministerial Group on Child Sexual Abuse, and we are currently working towards its procurement. In terms of the Centre working with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the Inquiry is independent of Government, but the Government is, and will, continue to fully co-operate with it.