Category: Speeches

  • Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed new junior doctors’ contract on ensuring safe working hours.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The new contract includes stronger limits on working hours and patterns of work and a robust oversight mechanism to ensure that prompt action is taken if needed. This will be an integral part of how trusts meet their statutory obligations to keep staff and patients safe. Required action includes a review of work schedules to ensure safe working, payment for additional work done and fines where the limits in the contract are breached. There are no such protections under the current contract. For instance, at present, junior doctors can be asked to work up to 91 hours a week, up to seven night shifts in a row and every weekend under the current contract. The Guardian of Safe Working Hours will be tasked with ensuring that rotas reflect the hours that juniors work and they are within the new contractual limits.

    These limits under the new contract are a maximum of 72 hours per week (compared to 91 currently), and the limit on average weekly hours will remain 48 hours (and be limited to 56 hours where a doctor opts out of the Working Time Regulations).

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the rate of suicide among members of the fire service; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce such numbers.

    Greg Clark

    We do not hold information on the rate of deaths by suicide of firefighters. Individual fire and rescue authorities as employers are responsible for the health and welfare of firefighters, including their mental health. In October last year the Government announced the allocation of nearly £10 million to help support 200,000 emergency services personnel and volunteers, funded through LIBOR fines. Of this funding up to £4 million was allocated to mental health charity MIND to develop a programme of targeted mental health support and information for all emergency services personnel across England. The programme includes an anti-stigma campaign, a confidential advice line for emergency service staff, training for leaders and line managers, peer learning events and resources to promote better mental health in the work place. I encourage fire and rescue authorities to engage with this important programme.

  • Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all parents with a child admitted to a neonatal unit have access to psychological and bereavement support.

    Alistair Burt

    The NHS locally is expected to ensure that appropriate facilities and services are in place to support parents following the illness or death of a newborn baby. NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that “the service will deliver the aim to improve both life expectancy and quality of life for newborn babies by:

    – Delivering care in a family-centred way that seeks to minimise the physical and psychological impact of neonatal care on the baby and their family, for example by improving psychological outcomes and breastfeeding rates

    – Providing an environment where parents are enabled to make informed decisions about treatment and become involved in the care of their baby / babies, thereby minimising the psychological trauma of premature or sick term babies.”

    The MBRRACE-UK report on the confidential enquiry into term antepartum stillbirths, published on 19 November 2015, found a good standard of bereavement care documented as being given to parents immediately following birth. However, several areas for improvement were identified including the finding that there was wide variation in the availability of a specialist bereavement midwife, with only one third of case notes showing evidence of their involvement.

    Following that report, and following a debate in the House of Commons on 2 November, (Official Report, columns 844-852) the Department is looking at the number of bereavement suites around the country and will engage with the NHS to reaffirm the importance of putting into practice existing guidance on bereavement including through mandated accountability processes.

    Health Education England is working with partners to ensure that pre and post registration training in perinatal mental health is available to enable specialist staff to be available to every birthing unit by 2017.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had on increasing the number of armed response (a) officers and (b) vehicles in the West Mercia police force area.

    Mike Penning

    It is for Chief Officers in conjunction with Police and Crime Commissioners to determine the number of armed response officers and vehicles in their areas based on a thorough assessment of threat and risk. As announced in the Police Grant Report for England and Wales Written Ministerial Statement on 17 December 2015, this Government will provide £34 million in 2016-17 to enable a national uplift in armed policing capability and capacity to respond more quickly and effectively to a firearms attack. Decisions over where this money will be distributed are yet to be made, however for reasons of national security we do not publically disclose the detailed allocation of funding for counter terrorism by force area or by capability.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress NHS England has made on improving cancer survival rates.

    Jane Ellison

    Cancer survival rates are at a record high and continue to improve. However, we know that we have to strive to be better. The Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes (July 2015), recommends improvements across the cancer pathway, and set a clear ambition for further improvement of survival rates.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the Taskforce’s recommendations and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. A new cross-system Cancer Transformation Board has been established to oversee the implementation of the strategy, and this met for the first time on Monday 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that the six item cognitive impairment test is properly used to diagnose dementia.

    Jane Ellison

    The diagnosis of dementia is a clinical decision and one which needs to be made by suitably trained clinicians. The six item cognitive impairment test is one of a number of tools used to help and support clinicians when assessing individuals who are considered to have the early signs of dementia. Different tests and diagnosis tools are used by clinicians, dependent on the circumstances which are presented to them.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage Sudan and South Sudan to engage in dialogue to overcome disputes relating to the border between the two countries.

    James Duddridge

    I am concerned at the recent increase in tensions between Sudan and South Sudan. As part of our ongoing discussions with the governments of both countries, we have consistently stressed that dialogue is the only means of resolving the border-related disputes. We have also raised our concerns about recent tensions in the UN Security Council and continue to support the efforts of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel to encourage both sides to re-engage in negotiations.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of cybercrime attacks and their impact on the UK economy.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The most recently published crime statistics for England and Wales show that in the year ending December 2015 of the 617,618 fraud offences reported to the National Fraud Investigation Bureau, 14,347 (2.3%) were recorded under the Computer Misuse Act (i.e. cyber-dependent offences). This figure represented a 6% decrease compared to the year ending December 2014.

    While overall crime has fallen by more than a quarter since 2010, it is also changing. An accurate national picture is critical to informing our response to cyber crime. That is why the Office for National Statistics have now published, for the first time, initial experimental estimates of the numbers of cyber crimes committed.

    Based on a preliminary field trial, ONS estimate 5.1m fraud incidents and 2.5m incidents of computer misuse crime per year. Following the success of this trial, new questions relating to fraud and cybercrime were introduced onto half the survey sample from October 2015 and will be reported on a quarterly basis from later this year.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Bahraini counterpart on restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain, and call on the Bahraini Government to act proportionately in all such cases to protect the universal rights of freedom of expression and assembly. I most recently raised the issue of human rights on 2 June when I met with the Bahraini Foreign Minister at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

    Rory Stewart

    Yemen is one of the most serious and complex humanitarian crises in the world. The United Nations (UN) estimates that 21.2 million people in Yemen require humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs for food, water, sanitation, and healthcare, or protect their fundamental rights. Yemen is also experiencing an economic crisis, which has driven up food and other prices, and reduced people’s purchasing power.

    Ultimately, only an end to the conflict will address the humanitarian crisis. The UK is working closely with other countries to de-escalate the conflict and is providing significant support to UN-led peace talks. The UK is also working with the UN and other countries to improve commercial and humanitarian access to and within Yemen. We are providing desperately needed humanitarian aid to Yemen and have so far committed to spending £72 million in Yemen this year.