Category: Speeches

  • David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for a visitor’s visa have been (a) received and (b) refused in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The information requested for the last 5 calendar years is published in table vi_01_q (visa data tables volume 1) in ‘Immigration Statistics, April – June 2016’, available from the Home Office website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2016/list-of-tables#visas

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people aged 18 to 21 in receipt of housing benefit also received tax credits in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the effect on those people of planned reforms to tax credit.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government is committed to achieving a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare economy. That means more emphasis on support to working families on low incomes through reducing tax and increasing wages, than on topping up low wages through tax credits.

    The Chancellor is listening to concerns raised by colleagues and will announce in his Autumn Statement how he plans to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits and saving the money we need to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.

  • Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average response time to dwelling fires was for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

    Information on average response times to dwelling fires for each fire and rescue service and for each year is available in Table 3b of the Department’s Fire incidents response times: England publication at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2014-to-2015

    “

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

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of attempted suicide there were in prisons in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    The national statistics on safety in custody use the category of self-harm incidents, defined as “any act where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves irrespective of the method, intent or severity of any injury”. They do not include a separate category of “attempted suicide”, because the intent of the prisoner is often unknown. Some incidents are more likely to result in a fatality than others, but the point at which a self-harm incident becomes an attempted suicide is unclear.

    Summary statistics on self-harm in prison custody are published quarterly, and the latest annual figures, for the ten years to June 2015, can be found in Table 3 of the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/472712/Safety-in-custody-summary-q2-2015.xls

    “

  • Baroness Grey-Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Grey-Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Grey-Thompson on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much NHS England spent on the purchase of wheelchairs in England in the last year for which figures are available.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Information on the cost of operating wheelchair services in England is not available centrally. Such information as is available is from reference costs, which are the average unit costs to National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services to patients. The total cost of operating wheelchair services reported in 2014-15 reference costs was £143.4 million.

    NHS England advises that as clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning wheelchair services, it does not collect data on how much is spent on the purchase of wheelchairs. NHS England is however supporting improvement in wheelchair services and has just established a new national data collection. This will enable tracking at local and national levels of issues such as the number of wheelchair users, the costs of services and the length of time people have to wait.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Rapid Review Panel process can be extended to medical device technology, and if not, why not.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Rapid Review Panel’s (RRP) primary remit is the evaluation of products for potential use in the National Health Service, to support claims of improved efficiency or efficacy of infection prevention and control interventions i.e. products that could reduce healthcare associated infections. The RRP, however, does not have the remit to regulate the safety of therapeutic products such as medical devices.

    Due to the requirements of safety assurance and regulation of therapeutic products, which are verified through Notified Bodies applying a Conformité Européenne (CE) marking, medical device technology falls within the remit of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA’s Innovation Office is set up to assist companies in the regulation of novel medical devices.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what advice his Department has sought from the Swiss government on best practice in concluding a trade deal with (a) Japan, (b) China and (c) other non-EU states.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not sought advice from the Swiss government on these matters.

  • Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests from his Department for evidence to inform a personal independence payment assessment were (a) made and (b) responded to by GPs and other professionals in each year since the introduction of the personal independence payment; and what the professional discipline was that each of those requests were made to.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the findings of the report of the International Development Committee, UK implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, HC103, published on 8 June 2016, on the need for a cross-government approach in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on those goals.

    Justine Greening

    I have discussed the government’s approach to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. This will be a cross-government effort with individual Secretaries of State accountable through their Single Departmental Plans. There will continue to be regular discussions involving all relevant departments across Government. The Government will respond to the IDC report.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to end payment of the operational allowance to armed forces personnel serving in South Sudan.

    Mark Lancaster

    We review eligible locations every six months as standard but Ministers have no plans to change the qualifying criteria.