Category: Speeches

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Public Health, Jane Ellison, on 1 June (HC38011 and HC38012), why the content of the personal email exchange between Professor Grifo and a member of the expert panel had to be provided in confidence to the expert panel convened by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority if wider disclosure of such unredacted information would not breach patient confidentiality; and why the relevant information in question was not sought from Professor Grifo until sometime after the third Scientific Review of the safety and efficacy of methods to avoid mitochondrial disease in 2014.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As the noble Lord is aware, the email exchange between Professor Grifo and the Expert Panel member was private and provided in confidence. That email will not, therefore, be made public. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that the information in question was not sought in the previous reviews because the abstract published by Professor Grifo was not submitted to the Authority as part of any formal calls for evidence.

  • Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust response times for stroke victims for whom 999 emergency services are requested.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    This is a matter for East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, working with its commissioners and other local partners and supported by NHS Improvement.

    The Trust intends to deliver improved performance for all patients, including patients who have had a stroke. This includes increasing the resources available to respond to patients by recruiting more frontline staff and investing in new ambulances to increase the fleet size. The Trust is also working with the local acute hospitals and commissioners to help reduce the delays experienced by ambulance crews when handing over patients at hospitals and reviewing its stroke care practice to ensure that stroke patients are taken to specialist centres within the ideal timeline.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ring-fence funding for walking and cycling.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is committed to the principle of devolution and decisions being made at the appropriate level. Local Authorities are responsible for local roads and are best placed to determine the need for cycling and walking infrastructure in their own areas. By not ring-fencing funding for cycling and walking, local authorities have the freedom and flexibility to choose how they spend their transport funding, including on cycling and walking, if they choose to do so. However, for spending for which the Government is responsible, in the five years 2011/12 to 2015/16 the Department has increased its spend on cycling in England from £1 per head to £3 per head, and more in the eight Cycle Ambition Cities.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will meet the Leader of the House to discuss when the Government will next convene the Northern Ireland Grand Committee.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I would be happy to meet my Rt hon Friend the Leader of the House to discuss convening a meeting of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee if there is cross-party support for me doing so.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the School Direct programme is ensuring a sufficient supply of teachers for schools in England.

    Lord Nash

    Teaching continues to represent an attractive choice for top graduates and career changers – last year we recruited over 1,000 more secondary teachers than the previous year, and we exceeded our target for new primary teachers.

    Our best schools have a crucial role to play in training the next generation of outstanding teachers. That is why we introduced the School Direct training programme, which gives schools the opportunity to recruit and select their own trainee teachers, and to play a central part in both the design and delivery of teacher training. School Direct is only one of a range of routes through which new teachers can choose to train.

    We initially piloted the School Direct programme with a cohort of 351 trainees in the academic year 2012/13; thanks to its popularity with schools the scheme rapidly expanded to deliver 6,676 training places the following year. This has continued to rise each year, and provisional data show that 10,252 trainees have commenced School Direct programmes in the current academic year. This represents 39 per cent of all postgraduate teacher training places in the current year, and makes a significant contribution to the 51 per cent of all postgraduate training places that are now school-led.

    We recognise that recruitment to teacher training is becoming increasingly challenging as the economy improves and the graduate labour market strengthens. That is why we are giving schools greater direct involvement in selecting and training the high-quality teachers they need.

  • 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 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on Principle 1.1 of the coalition document The Compact of the new Cabinet Office policy on charitable campaigning for charities in receipt of government grant funding, published on 6 February.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The new clause is compatible with the Compact because it does not restrict the rights of charities to campaign on behalf of their beneficiaries. What it rightly prevents is this being done with a government grant funded by taxpayers’ money, and given for a different purpose.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her (a) ministerial colleagues and (b) the European Commission on the potential effects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on (i) animal welfare standards, (ii) environmental protection and (iii) food standards.

    George Eustice

    The Secretary of State has regular discussions on a range of trade matters with Ministerial colleagues.

    BIS Ministers lead UK engagement on TTIP supported by Defra on issues including animal welfare standards, environmental protection and food standards. The Food Standards Agency considers issues around food safety. These subjects were considered during Cabinet agreement of the UK’s priorities for TTIP. I have held discussions about TTIP with the European Commission and other Member States at Council meetings.

    Ministerial colleagues and I addressed environmental protection issues in detail in the Government’s written evidence to the recent House of Common’s Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into TTIP.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

    Mark Lancaster

    This information is not held in the format requested.

    In April 2010 and January 2016 there were less than 10 Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian personnel employed at locations within the Unitary Authority of Cheshire East.

    Full details of how the planned reductions in MOD civilian staff numbers announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 will be profiled over the next five years are not yet available and will be developed as programmes mature.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37441, what the name is of each of the 27 hospitals supported by the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team.

    Ben Gummer

    The following 27 health systems and the hospitals within these are supported by the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team via the Emergency Care Improvement Programme:

    – Stoke & Staffordshire: County Hospital; Royal Stoke University Hospital

    – Shropshire: Royal Shrewsbury Hospital; Princess Royal Hospital

    – North Northamptonshire & Corby: Kettering General Hospital

    – Coventry & Rugby: University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire

    – Worcestershire: Worcestershire Royal Hospital; Alexandra Hospital

    – Wirral: Arrowe Park

    – Lincolnshire: Lincoln County Hospital; Grantham District Hospital; Pilgrim Hospital

    – Hull & East Riding: Hull Royal Hospital; Castle Hill Hospital

    – North Cumbria: Cumberland Infirmary Carlisle; West Cumberland Infirmary

    – York & Scarborough: York Hospital; Scarborough Hospital

    – Wakefield & North Kirklees: Pinderfields Hospital; Pontefract Hospital; Dewsbury and District Hospital

    – Kernow: Royal Cornwall Hospital

    – Kingston: Kingston Hospital

    – Bromley Lambeth & Southwark: King’s College Hospital – Denmark Hill; King’s College Hospital – Princess Grace

    – Wandsworth Sutton & Merton: St George’s Hospital; Queen Mary’s Roehampton

    – Cambridge & Ely: Addenbrooke’s Hospital

    – Portsmouth & South East Hampshire: Queen Alexandra Hospital

    – Western Devon: Plymouth Dereford Hospital

    – North Somerset & Medway: Weston General Hospital

    – Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest & Newham: Royal London Hospital; Whipps Cross Hospital

    – Brent & Harrow: Northwick Park Hospital

    – Mid Essex: Broomfield Hospital

    – Herts Valley & West Herts: Watford General Hospital

    – North East Essex: Colchester General Hospital

    – Brighton & Hove: Royal Sussex County Hospital

    – East Kent: Kent and Canterbury Hospital; William Harvey Hospital; Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital

    – Medway: Medway Hospital

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they plan to make to the government of Israel in the light of remarks by the UN Secretary General following his visit to Israel on 28 June urging the Israeli Prime Minister to work towards a negotiated two-state solution.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government believes that a negotiated two-state solution is in the interests of both Israel and the Palestinians. While we do not plan to make specific representations to the Government of Israel about the remarks by the UN Secretary General, we will continue to work with our international partners, including the UN, in support of a two-state solution.