Category: Speeches

  • 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, if she will undertake a national review of the operation of admissions procedures and the School Admissions Code.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education is intending to make changes to the School Admissions Code to improve the admissions system for parents and schools. This will be subject to a full public consultation to allow anyone with an interest to provide their views. It will also be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Details of the consultation will be announced in due course.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing prefabricated new accommodation for service personnel.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has assessed the merits of providing pre-fabricated or modular constructed Single Living Accommodation (SLA). The advantages include simplicity and consistency of design, quality of manufacture in a controlled environment, speed of on-site construction and certainty in manufacturing cost.

    The MOD has used modular construction extensively in respect of around 12,000 bed spaces in its Single Living Accommodation Modernisation (SLAM) Project. These have proved to be of good quality and durable.

  • Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department plans to assist with the implementation of new refractive surgery standards being drawn up by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

    Alistair Burt

    Refractive eye surgery is regulated through providers being registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and doctors carrying out the surgery must be registered with the General Medical Council.

    Once the Royal College of Ophthalmologists refractive surgery standards are published, the General Medical Council would expect a doctor to be aware of them. When carrying out inspections and assessments of services, the CQC would also expect a provider to be following best practice guidance, which would include the standards published by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

    These processes are well established and so the Department would not have a direct role in assisting in the implementation of the refractive surgery standards. However, the Department will maintain an interest in the consultation and the work of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in this area.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for the future level of funding for researching the causes of and treatments for endometriosis.

    George Freeman

    The usual practice of the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and of the Medical Research Council is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available.

    The Department’s NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including endometriosis. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity. The NIHR has funded a number of studies relevant to the condition.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date the emergency timetable for Southern rail services to be introduced by Govia Thameslink Railway from 11 July 2016 was agreed by his Department; and what consultation his Department undertook on that timetable prior to its agreement.

    Claire Perry

    It is not for the Department to approve changes to the timetable. GTR has informed us of their intention to change the timetable in order to provide a more reliable timetable for passengers.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to increase the number of Departments of Community Mental Health.

    Mark Lancaster

    The provision of mental healthcare to the Armed Forces is kept under regular review, to ensure that it continues to meet the demands placed on it in the light of changes to the size and location of the UK Armed Forces.

    Following a recent review of the Defence Mental Health Services, we are in the process of reshaping the current network of Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) into a "hub and spoke" model. Once implementation is complete, we will have moved from a total of 16 DCMHs in the UK (plus satellite centres overseas), to 11 "hub" DCMHs located in main centres of military population, plus "spoke" Mental Health Teams (MHTs) serving a further eight locations, making 19 sites in total. Regular visiting clinics will also be held at other military centres around the country.

    Focussing on fewer but larger DCMHs will enable us to provide greater resilience and a more consistent range of clinical and operational capabilities, while the additional of MHTs will increase accessibility and provide a more robust support for delivery to Cyprus, the North West and Wales, as well as improving access for eligible reservists and veterans.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken, and what action they plan to take, to put pressure on Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to cut off financing for terrorist organisations.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We work with regional and international partners, including all Gulf States, to tackle the threat posed by terrorist organisations, including by working to counter terrorist financing. We urge all international partners to implement UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2161 (on Al Qaida sanctions), UNSCR 2199 (on countering Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) finance) and UNSCR 1373 (on threats to international peace and security), and work to further combat the financing of ISIL through the Counter-ISIL Finance Working Group (Saudi Arabia is the Chair, Kuwait and Qatar are active members).

    The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) is the global standard setter for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing. Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are members of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (the regional grouping of FATF) which conducts mutual evaluations of its members to assess compliance with the international standard. A FATF report on terrorist financing published on 16 November 2015 noted that since 2010, Saudi Arabia had achieved the highest number of terrorist financing convictions out of the 33 jurisdictions who had achieved a conviction.

  • would be identified as coasting on their (a) 2014 – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    would be identified as coasting on their (a) 2014 – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by would be identified as coasting on their (a) 2014 on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, on the current definition of coasting”

    Earl of Courtown

    No school can be defined as coasting under the government’s proposed coasting definition until after the 2016 results are available. The definition of coasting is determined by performance over a three year period.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from farmers on the price of fertilisers and other chemicals used on farm land and its relationship to the price of oil.

    George Eustice

    I have received no specific queries about price of fertilisers and other chemicals and their relation to the price of oil. The Government does have regard to the impact of prices for agricultural inputs on farmers and publishes the Agricultural Price Index (API), which is a set of indices of the prices paid and received by UK farmers for agricultural goods and services.

  • Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2016 to Question 26162 on free schools: Luton, whether she plans to publish details of the repayments made by Luton Girl’s Academy or people associated with its application, by date, in March 2016.

    Edward Timpson

    Total pre-opening revenue costs for Luton Girls’ Academy will be published by end March 2016. This will take into account a repayment of grant which was made by the Trust in July 2015.

    In line with the Government’s transparency agenda the Department’s policy is to publish expenditure data in a manner helpful to the public. With that in mind we publish the full pre-opening revenue cost of cancelled or withdrawn free school projects once the amount of expenditure, taking into account any repayments, has been finalised.