Category: Speeches

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in each parliamentary constituency have been diagnosed with epilepsy; and what the average time taken was for someone to receive a diagnosis of epilepsy in the last 12 months.

    Jane Ellison

    Information concerning the number of people diagnosed with epilepsy in each parliamentary constituency and waiting times for diagnosis is not collected.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) best practice guideline The diagnosis and management of the epilepsies in adults and children in primary and secondary care, updated in 2012, estimates that epilepsy affects between 362,000 and 415,000 people in England. The guidance states that people having a first seizure should be seen by a specialist as soon as possible in order to ensure precise and early diagnosis and initiation of treatment. NICE recommends that referrals should be urgent, with patients being seen within two weeks if possible.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of places available in local authority maintained nurseries in (a) Dartford and (b) Kent.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare and early education places, and make this report available and accessible to parents. The Department does not hold borough-level estimates centrally of the number of places in local authority maintained nursery schools. However, the number of pupils attending local authority maintained nurseries can be found in the statistical first release and underlying data published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015

    The Local authority and regional tables: SFR16/2015 (Table 7b)[1] indicates that 90 pupils were registered as attending local authority maintained nursery schools in Kent in 2015.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445755/SFR16_2015_LA_tables.xlsx

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  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Children’s Act 1989 to protect children from the effects of Parental Alienation syndrome and implacable hostility.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Guidance on Parental Alienation Syndrome is not issued to family court judges as the ‘syndrome’ is not recognised as such by many professionals in this country.

    The Children Act 1989 contains adequate provisions to protect against the effects of parental alienation or implacable hostility. These include the requirement for the court to ascertain the wishes and feelings of a child who is the subject of a parental dispute, commensurate with that child’s age and level of understanding and the power to request Cafcass to prepare a welfare report into any matters relevant to the child or the family.

    Cafcass practitioners are aware of the potential for children to be influenced or alienated by parental views and are alert to this possibility throughout the case.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that customers are able to receive utility and other bills in paper form on request.

    George Freeman

    My Department does not intervene in the billing arrangements of individual businesses in the regulated utilities.

    But I understand that most utility and other providers give customers the option to receive bills in paper form if they so request.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the number of people in the UK with high-level specialist skills in data science.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government recognises the need to increase the number of people with high-level skills in data science for the benefit of the UK, and is taking a range of measures to boost the supply of people with these skills.

    The Alan Turing Institute is a £67 million joint venture between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and five leading UK Universities (Cambridge, Edinburgh, Oxford, UCL and Warwick). It is the UK’s national institute for data science, and training the next generation of researchers is a key part of its mission.

    Other institutes supported by the Research Councils include the Hartree Centre (a centre of excellence in High Performance Computing), the Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, and the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge, which are all helping researchers to develop their skills to make better use of data.

    The Research Councils are taking other steps to increase the supply of researchers with data skills, for example all Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council-funded doctoral students are required to be trained in informatics, data analysis and computational methods as a core part of their training. They support numerous Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) involved in data analysis, including the University of Edinburgh’s Data Science CDT, and the Big Data and Cloud Computing CDT at the University of Newcastle. And the £19.5 million Q-Step programme is designed to promote a step-change in quantitative social science training in the UK.

  • Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much was paid by the Department for International Development to green energy campaign groups between 2010 and 2015 (1) in the UK, and (2) internationally, both as a total and as a percentage of the Department for International Development’s development expenditure.

    Earl of Courtown

    DFID does not fund any green energy campaign groups in the UK. DFID’s Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) funding to Civil Society enables organisations to achieve international development outcomes. Some organisations may choose to use DFID funding for advocacy efforts, including on climate, within the countries in which they work

  • Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support the Government has provided for the Waterfront regeneration project in Dundee.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Museum of Design, V&A Dundee will be a key central feature of the Dundee Waterfront Regeneration project. The Heritage Lottery Fund has contributed almost £14 million to the museum. The project is yet another example among many of a major national museum supporting culture outside London.

  • Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19049, if he will ensure that there will be no gaps in capability between the decommissioning of HMS Ocean and its role being taken over by other ships.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We will ensure that other ships are available to provide support to amphibious operations.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a security assessment has been made of the potential use of non-HM Passport Office (HMPO) sites for interviews when HMPO plans to replace face-to-face interviews with video-link interviews.

    James Brokenshire

    When commissioning new video interview sites, a security risk assessment is undertaken and the service has to be suitably accredited. Video interviewing, using this approach, has been used successfully for customers in other locations since 2007.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the effect of the fluctuation in the market price of crude oil on the continued operation of waste oil collection services.

    Rory Stewart

    The changes referred to do not amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. The changes made are to the ‘Environmental Guidance On Waste Incineration’, which now clarifies that small waste oil burners used to burn waste oil must meet the requirements of Chapter IV of the Industrial Emissions Directive or switch to non-waste fuels. This guidance can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-permitting-guidance-the-waste-incineration-directive/environmental-permitting-guidance-waste-incineration.

    A consultation on the changes to the guidance was undertaken between 14 September and 26 October last year. A summary of responses can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487892/waste-incineration-consult-sum-resp.pdf.

    The impact assessment for the changes to this guidance considered some sensitivities on the price of crude oil with regard to collection fees only. The impact assessment can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487895/waste-incineration-consult-ep-ia.pdf.

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