Category: Speeches

Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department gives to children with tuberous sclerosis complex.

George Freeman

The commissioning of most health services for children is the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups. NHS England has the role of commissioning the specialised services which patients with tuberous sclerosis access. In addition clinical policies are developed for new treatments that potentially change the impact of the disease.

NHS England has approved, as an in year service development, the routine commissioning of Everolimus for angiomyolipomas associated with tuberous sclerosis. The policy statement will be published in the next few days which will define the clinical criteria for which access is supported.

A full clinical policy for the use of Everolimus for subependymal giant cell astrocytoma is currently out for public consultation. This policy proposition will be considered for investment in the annual prioritisation round in June 2016.

01/01/2023

Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) median and (b) mean wage is of (i) male and (ii) female employees of (A) his Department, (B) Network Rail, (C) Highways England, (D) HS2 Ltd, (E) the Office of Rail and Road, (F) the DVLA, (G) the Driver Vehicle Standards Authority and (H) the VCA on the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The median and mean wages levels for male and female employees are as follows:

Median wage


Organisation	Male	Female
DfT(c)	£45,747	£42,103
Network Rail	£33,781	£32,000
Highways England	£24,054	£27,455
HS2 Ltd	£51,552	£38,928
Office of Rail and Road	£58,152	£40,900
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	£19,155	£19,155
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	£25,328	£25,162
Vehicle Certification Agency	£36,565	£25,758

Mean wage


Organisation	Male	Female
DfT(c)	£51,012	£45,335
Network Rail	£36,789	£36,073
Highways England	£31,608	£30,974
HS2 Ltd	£65,130	£44,650
Office of Rail and Road	£56,597	£45,445
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	£22,197	£20,649
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	£26,108	£24,826
Vehicle Certification Agency	£36,798	£25,918

The central Department and its Agencies have historically had differences in mean and median pay levels of male and female staff. In 2014, pay, terms and conditions were modernised, including shortening the lengths of pay ranges. As a result of this, and the 2015 pay strategy, the differences in mean and median pay levels of male and female staff have decreased. The central Department and its Agencies are committed to continuing to reduce the differences over the next few years.

01/01/2023

Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many additional staff are being recruited to attend to and treat unaccompanied children coming to the UK from refugee camps (1) in Europe, and (2) outside Europe.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The United Kingdom has been operating resettlement schemes for many years and we already have established and effective networks to accommodate and support resettled people. The increase in numbers will require an expansion of current networks and the impact on local communities and infrastructure will need to be managed carefully. That is why we are working with a wide range of partners to ensure that people are integrated sensitively into local communities and that we have the right support in place for unaccompanied refugee children who arrive in the UK from Europe whilst ensuring we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK.

The guidance, Statutory Guidance on Promoting the Health and Well-being of Looked After Children, sets out the health duties for local authorities, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and NHS England. The guidance sets out that local authorities and the National Health Service should take account any particular needs of the child, including if they are unaccompanied asylum seekers. This guidance is attached.

Whilst there are a range of health care professionals, for example youth workers and teachers, who deliver interventions and support for children and young people with mental health conditions, clinical need should be determined by a specialist initial assessment in line with guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Local areas have published Local Transformation Plans that set out how mental health services will be delivered for their population. As part of their plans, local areas were asked to set out how they planned to meet the needs of more vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied refugee and asylum seeking children (UASC).

NHS England ensures that all commissioners of health services have appropriate arrangements and resources in place to meet the physical, emotional and mental health needs of looked-after children, including UASC. They will work with local commissioners to raise awareness of the Resettlement Programme and highlight the additional numbers of children who will require their attention and support.

Decisions about the resources needed to meet the mental health and other health needs of all children and young people, including UASC, are taken at a local level by CCGs. This may include decisions to recruit additional staff where necessary.

01/01/2023
Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of withdrawal from the EU on the UK’s role in global affairs.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UK referendum made a decision to leave the EU, not to turn our backs on Europe, let alone the world. Throughout the referendum debate, campaigns on both sides rejected any notion that a “Leave” vote would signal any kind of retreat from the world. The UK will remain a major player, fully engaged in world affairs, including through our membership of multilateral organisations. We are a Permanent member of the UN Security Council; the second largest contributor to NATO; a key member of the Commonwealth, of the G7 and the G20. We also remain committed to renewing the nuclear deterrent. Our voice will always be prominent – but we will perhaps have to work a little bit harder to ensure that our voice carries the same authority it did before.

01/01/2023
Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with officials of the Egyptian government on the killings in Rabaa in June 2013.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK Government was deeply concerned by the clearance of the sit-ins on 14 August 2013, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of protestors and a number of police officers. We raised our concerns with the Egyptian Government at the highest levels, as well as in the EU Foreign Affairs Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council. The then Foreign Secretary, Lord Hague of Richmond, issued a statement at the time of the violence, in which he condemned the use of force in clearing protests in Egypt and called on the security forces to act with restraint. I personally raised this issue with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on 9 September 2015.

01/01/2023
Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to increase access to green space as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

James Wharton

The Northern Powerhouse is about bringing together northern cities and regions to maximise the potential of the North and help drive UK economic growth.

We will do this by investing in science and technology, transport, digital and innovation, culture and tourism across the region, alongside devolving power to give the North a powerful new voice, investment and decision-making powers to meet these ambitions. Improving the environment could be a consideration in how we take forward these investments and activities.

01/01/2023
Lord Teverson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they have of misuse of the Enterprise Investment Scheme for community energy projects that contributed to their decision to withdraw the scheme for those purposes.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The purpose of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes is to encourage investment into smaller, higher risk companies that would otherwise struggle to access the funding they need to develop and grow.

Changes have been made to the schemes over time to ensure that asset-backed activities, as well as those that benefit from predictable and reliable income streams, do not qualify, since these often represent lower-risk investments that should be able to secure finance without the need for tax relief. For example, different types of energy generation were excluded from the schemes in 2012, 2014 and 2015, due to clear evidence that such investments were particularly low-risk products offering return of capital, and were being explicitly marketed as such.

Community energy projects in receipt of other government support were not excluded at the time of these previous changes. However, since then the government has become aware of significantly increased interest in the use of community energy for low-risk tax planning purposes. The number of community energy schemes registered as community interest companies (CICs) or community benefit societies has increased from about 5 in 2014 to about 200 by October 2015. The marketing material of these investments suggests that the level of investment risk for community energy, including solar, is comparable to that of activities that were previously excluded.

The government announced at the Summer Budget 2015 that it would monitor the use of the venture capital schemes by community energy organisations to ensure that there was continued value for money for the taxpayer and that they were not the subject of misuse. The government subsequently announced the exclusion of subsidised renewable energy generation by community energy organisations on 26 October 2015, taking effect for investments made on or after 30 November 2015, providing a notice period of five weeks. At the same time, the government announced the exclusion of activities making reserve energy generating capacity available, also with effect for investments made on or after 30 November 2015.

The government believes that the notice period given provided a good balance between the provision of notice to potential investors who might wish to take advantage of the tax reliefs provided through the schemes and the financial risk to the Exchequer that a longer notice period would carry.

To further ensure the venture capital schemes remain well-targeted and deliver value for money, the government announced at Autumn Statement 2015 the exclusion of all remaining energy generation activities from the schemes with effect for investments made on or after 6 April 2016. The new exclusions will apply to both non-renewable and renewable sources of energy generation and apply irrespective of whether a subsidy is received or of the nature of the company carrying on the activities.

01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22946, what action he will take to deal with clinical commissioning groups found not to have arrangements in place to offer mental health patients a choice of provider.

Ben Gummer

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are required, as part of their statutory obligations, to ensure patients can exercise their legal rights to choice for a first elective referral, including for mental health services.

Choice is an important feature of the Sustainability and Transformation Plans that CCGs have been asked to put in place through the recently-issued NHS Planning Guidance.NHS England is providing guidance and support to help them meet these requirements and will monitor and assure their implementation including through a new Assessment Framework.

If providers or patients have concerns about CCGs ensuring that rights to choice are being appropriately upheld, Monitor as the sector regulator may investigate and specify improvement action by the CCGs, where necessary.

01/01/2023
Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to improve biosecurity on farms.

George Eustice

A joint government and industry bovine TB biosecurity campaign was launched in November 2015 and will run for 12 months. It aims to increase the number of farmers implementing TB biosecurity measures on their farms and whilst trading cattle. The biosecurity campaign already includes a TB Hub bringing together information, advice, guidance and research material on how to prevent TB through biosecurity and risk based trading, an information bTB website allowing farmers to view information on TB breakdowns in their area on an interactive map and a Five Point Plan setting out good practice for TB biosecurity. Several further steps in the biosecurity campaign are being launched throughout 2016.

More generally, on-farm biosecurity is part of a wider landscape of measures to provide effective protection from animal and plant disease. Defra’s wider activities on biosecurity contribute to improving the resilience of the system as a whole.

The Rural Development Programme animal health projects have a focus on tackling exemplar diseases in cattle, sheep and pigs sectors through improved farm disease risk management practices. It is intended that this will have a wider benefit in improving farm biosecurity practices.

01/01/2023
Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to reduce the number of dogs used for medical experimentation.

Karen Bradley

Our annual statistics show that in 2014 less than 0.1% of animals used in research in Great Britain are dogs. Dogs are primarily used in procedures for regulatory testing. They are also used in other procedures such as nutritional studies and to better understand naturally occurring diseases and to develop treatments for dogs themselves.

The Home Office is responsible for regulating the use of dogs in research under the Ani-mals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Dogs are a specially protected species under the Act and the Home Office will grant a project licence for a programme of work using dogs only where the purpose of the programme of work specified in the licence can be achieved only by their use; or where it is not practicable to obtain other suitable animals.

Since 2010 the number of procedures performed on dogs has dropped nearly 30% from 5,782 in 2010 to 4,107 in 2014.

01/01/2023