Category: Speeches

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent finding of the UNOCHA that more than 21.2 million people, including 9.9 million children, were in need of humanitarian aid in Yemen.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Yemen. According to UNOCHA, there are more people in need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen than in any other country. However, because of the conflict, it has been difficult for the UN to access all parts of Yemen to carry out humanitarian assessments. The UN data on the overall number of people and children in need are therefore estimates and should be treated accordingly.

    Over the last year, the UK has doubled its humanitarian commitment to Yemen to £75 million in 2015/16. This is providing vital medical supplies, water, food, malnutrition and emergency shelter, including specifically to children through our programmes with UNICEF, Save the Children, and CARE.

  • Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Manzoor on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Carer’s Allowance claimants have a claim linked to a Personal Independence Payments daily living award.

    Baroness Altmann

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • 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 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the funding for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services since 2010 has been spent on training and development of people working in such services.

    Alistair Burt

    All National Health Service trusts are required take account of and involve patients and the public in the way they plan and provide services. Transforming Participation in Health and Care, published September 2013, sets out the legal duties on NHS Commissioners to both involve patients in their own care and to involve the public in the way they commission services. The Commissioning organisation should ensure that providers they commission to provide services have suitable arrangements in place to involve patient and the public.

    In addition NHS foundation trusts have specific responsibilities to involve their members and local communities usually through the appointment of Governing Body members. Trusts have their own arrangements as to how they make arrangements to involve their patients, carers and communities. Details of the arrangements would usually be available on the trust website.

    Health Education England (HEE) has responsibility for training new therapists and high intensity training. In 2015/16, the budget was £22.0 million to support 1,031 trainees. These trainees provide supervised practice alongside college attendance. There may also be some workforce development funding used to further develop people working in such services, however, HEE does not code its workforce development expenditure to the degree of detail to separately identify this.

    Data is not collected centrally on the number of psychological therapists employed by the NHS who experienced workplace-related stress in each of the last five years.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any plans to expand the scope of the Register of Consultant Lobbyists to include in-house lobbyists.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Register complements the existing government transparency regime whereby Ministers and Permanent Secretaries proactively publish quarterly details of their meetings with external organisations and individuals. While it is clear whose interests are being represented by other individuals and organisations when they meet with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries, that was not the case for consultant lobbyists. That is why the Register was created. The Government has no plans to increase the scope of the register.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many cases have been received by the Housing Ombudsman in each year since 2009-10.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Housing Ombudsman is an independent body whose objective it is to resolve disputes involving tenants and leaseholders of social landlords and their voluntary members.

    The levels of complaints and enquiries have increased year on year since 2006 and there was a 64% increase between 2012-13 and 2014-15, which is due to an extension of The Housing Ombudsman’s remit to cover local housing authorities. The total number of enquiries and complaints received by the Housing Ombudsman are provided in the table below:

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    8,360

    8,643

    9,010

    9,958

    12,782

    16,337

    15,984

    The majority of these cases are resolved informally but the following table shows the number of formal determinations made by the Housing Ombudsman each year.

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Within jurisdiction

    458

    559

    501

    543

    520

    579

    976

    Outside jurisdiction

    108

    73

    104

    100

    160

    240

    125

    Total

    566

    632

    605

    643

    680

    819

    1101

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2016 to Question 33406, when the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 will come into force in its entirety.

    Karen Bradley

    The commencement regulations for the Psychoactive Substances Act were laid on 5 May 2016 and the Act will come into force on 26 May 2016.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings he plans to hold with (a) Health Education England, (b) the General Medical Council, (c) the Care Quality Commission and (d) the leadership of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust to discuss the standard of treatment in that hospital’s emergency department.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS Improvement (NHSI) is working alongside NHS England and the local health and care system to both improve patient care in the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust and to assure Health Education England (HEE) and the General Medical Council that patients are safe and that trainee doctors receive adequate support.

    Ministers in the Department have held regular discussions and received updates from NHSI, NHS England and HEE and will continue to do so.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the likelihood that (a) Syria and (b) Iraq refer Daesh acts of genocide to the International Criminal Court for an investigation without the need for UN Security Council approval; and what discussions his Department has had with representatives of each of those countries on that subject.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Neither Iraq nor Syria are State Parties to the Rome Statute. The International Crimininal Court (ICC) therefore has no territorial jurisdiction over crimes committed on their soil. In order for Daesh’s crimes to be investigated by the ICC, Iraq and/or Syria would have to declare their acceptance of the Court’s jurisdiction. We have seen no indication that either intends to do so at this time.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her oral contribution of 18 October 2016, Official Report, 301WH, whether she plans for the UK’s participation in Natura 2000 to continue; and if she will make a statement.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Government is currently considering the impacts of leaving the EU, including future arrangements for existing legislation. This will include future arrangements for the Natura 2000 suite of sites.

  • Lord Ahmed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2015-11-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of statements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding minority communities in India including Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits, and how in the light of those statements Prime Minister Modi’s visit to London will enhance community cohesion.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    India is a country with a strong history of democracy and pluralism, which guarantees human rights within its constitution. During the press conference with the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), Prime Minister Modi was clear in his commitment to and respect for India’s core values of tolerance and freedoms, as well as reaffirming the importance of social harmony and inclusive development.

    Mr Modi repeated these messages in his address in Parliament and at Wembley Stadium, where 60,000 British Indians of all faiths turned out to welcome Prime Minister Modi to the UK.