Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to place unaccompanied refugee children from European countries with foster families or in local authority care homes.

    James Brokenshire

    As announced on 4 May we will be consulting closely with local authorities to find suitable places within the UK for these children.

    Local authorities will be required to provide the right support, care and accommodation to meet the child’s specific needs. Statutory agencies at a local level are best placed to understand and meet the needs of all children and will continue to make decisions about the right accommodation and support services for those who are looked after.

    Unaccompanied children will be eligible for foster care if it is considered that that this placement type will provide appropriate support and best meet their individual needs.

    The UK has well-established and effective safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of children who come to the UK.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the average time between veterans applying for the Legion d’Honneur and subsequently receiving the award.

    Mark Lancaster

    Following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) on 6 June 2016 to Question 38675, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has received approximately 5,200 applications for the Legion d’Honneur between June 2014 and June 2016. We are unable to provide a breakdown by month. As at 24 June the MOD had submitted 3,750 cases to the French authorities. We are not automatically advised when awards are issued, but a list provided by the French authorities on 13 May 2016 showed that 3,200 awards had been made.

    It is not possible to give a meaningful figure for an average waiting time for veterans to receive their awards, as this has reduced steadily, from over a year for initial applications to the current time of around two to three months owing to changes in the processing. Some priority cases, particularly where there are health concerns, are processed much more quickly.

    The Department is working closely with the French authorities and we are doing our best to ensure that all awards are issued as soon as possible and at the maximum rate at which they can be produced.

  • Pat McFadden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Pat McFadden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pat McFadden on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children receiving free school meals obtained five GCSEs, including English and mathematics in each local authority area in England in the latest year for which figures are available.

    Edward Timpson

    The percentage of pupils who are eligible for free school meals and obtained five GCSEs, including English and mathematics, in each local authority area in England is published in table LA8 as part of the “GCSE and equivalent attainment by pupil characteristics 2015” statistical first release (SFR)[1].

    [1] KS4 SFR 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/493475/SFR01_2016_LA_Tables.xlsx (Table LA8)

    “

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) men and (b) women by (i) age and (ii) incident have been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer; however data on the number of people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is not currently available. Pilot work undertaken in April 2012 in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis to the National Cancer Registration Service (NCRS). In order to drive up data completeness for the submissions to the NCRS, monthly reports on data quality and completeness of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset are made available to all acute providers.

    Since the completion of the pilot project the NCRS in PHE has been working with all acute National Health Service providers in England to improve the reporting of breast cancer recurrence. The collection of this particular item of data remains challenging because relapsed patients may represent in many different ways and through many referral routes.

    Further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s target is for time taken to respond to letters and emails from hon. Members; what the average time taken by her Department to respond to such letters and emails is; and how many such letters and emails received between 1 January and 30 September 2015 remained unanswered after eight weeks.

    Karen Bradley

    Target times for replying to correspondence from hon. Members differ in operational and non-operational areas of the Home Office. Information for the period 1 January to 30 September 2015 is included in the attached table. Across the department correspondence unanswered after eight weeks is approximately 0.3% of that received.

    Volume

    Target

    Average response time

    Unanswered after 8 weeks

    UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force

    25,111

    20 working days

    9 working days

    21

    Home Office HQ

    4,608

    15 working days

    11 working days

    78

    HM Passport Office

    2,522

    15 working days

    12 working days

    2
  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice and guidance has been provided by Public Health England in relation to the commissioning and performance management of prison healthcare service for prisoners diagnosed with Hepatitis C or identified as being at risk of developing Hepatitis C.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE), NHS England and the National Offender Manager Service (NOMS) have worked together to improve the diagnosis of blood-borne viruses (BBVs) (including Hepatitis C) among people in prison and to provide access to treatment and care for those infected through collaborative implementation of the BBV opt-out testing programme, published in the National Partnership Agreement in 2015. A copy of the Agreement is attached.

    PHE has published detailed expert advice to commissioners and prison healthcare services on all aspects of implementation of BBV opt-out testing, including testing and treatment algorithms. Further, PHE has supported dissemination of guidance through a programme of training and engagement events in partnership with the voluntary sector. PHE has co-developed with NHS England and NOMS a set of performance metrics called the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs) to provide data on the number of people tested, the number requiring treatment and those referred for treatment which supports commissioners in performance management of prison healthcare services.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help small and medium-sized enterprises protect themselves against cyber-attack.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government’s National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) aims to tackle cyber crime and make the UK the safest place in the world to do business in the world. This includes the Cyber Essentials Scheme to protect businesses against common cyber threats and the cyber streetwise campaign which offers simple cyber security advice to small businesses and consumers. In addition to the £860 million investment under the NCSP between 2011-2016, in November 2015 the Chancellor announced a new five year £1.9 billion investment in cyber security to make the UK one of the best protected countries in cyber space.

  • Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on smaller bus operators of local authorities franchising bus services; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    I want to ensure that smaller bus operators, who drive innovation and invention, form part of the mix of bus service providers in any future franchising model. The Department’s assessment of the effects of franchising on smaller bus operators will be set out in the Impact Assessment which will accompany the introduction of the Bill.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many harassment warning notices were issued by police forces in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many people who received such notices were subsequently prosecuted for harassment offences.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested is not collected centrally. The issuance of Police Information Notices (PINs) is an operational matter for police forces. Responsibility for the publication of information relating to PINs rests with Chief Constables.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36490, for what reason information on the number of (a) EU and (b) non-EU nationals refused entry to the UK in each year prior to 2004 is not available.

    James Brokenshire

    Data on passengers initially refused entry to the UK were not collected by the Home Office prior to 2004.