Category: Speeches

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to page 169 of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s report, Economic and fiscal outlook March 2016, to which partners the £800 million loans will be disbursed in 2016-17; what assessment she has made of the comparative utility of loans and grants for effective development projects; how repayments of those loans will affect the level of recorded Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend; and what assessment she has made of the effect of the growing proportion of capital departmental expenditure limits (DEL) ODA spend and a declining proportion of resource DEL ODA spend on her Department’s effectiveness.

Justine Greening

DFID is planning to invest around £400m in loans in 16/17 rather than the £800m figure erroneously reported in the Office for Budget Responsibility figures. The precise breakdown of those loans has not been finalised.

01/01/2023

Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers for what reasons have taken long-term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous

Long-term sick leave is defined within the Civil service as periods of absence of more than 28 calendar days. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers to have taken at least one period of long-term sick leave in each of the last five years for which information is available is shown in the table below.

Table: Number of Band 3-5 Officers who had an incidence of sick leave of 28 or more days, by type of sickness, 2010/11 to 2014/15

Type of Sickness	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Blood and Blood-Forming Organs	~	~	~	10	10
Circulatory System	120	130	120	120	110
Digestive System	150	140	140	110	90
Ear and Mastoid Process	20	10	20	10	10
Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases	10	20	20	20	~
Eye and Adnexa	20	20	20	10	20
Genitourinary System	60	60	50	70	60
Infective and Parasitic Diseases	50	40	50	40	50
Injury and Poisoning	300	310	300	380	380
Mental and Behavioural Disorders	840	850	850	960	920
Musculoskeletal System	920	800	730	610	550
Neoplasms	40	40	40	40	40
Nervous System and Sense Organs	60	70	70	60	50
Pregnancy Complications	50	40	40	30	30
Respiratory System	50	50	60	40	40
Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue	20	20	30	20	10
Symptoms Ill-Defined	670	750	790	790	680
Not Recorded	80	80	90	80	160
Grand Total	3490	3430	3410	3390	3200

Where an officer has more than one period of long-term absence within a year for the same reason, they are counted once. Where multiple absences were for different reasons they are counted more than once.

All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time, to ensure consistency of reporting. However the database itself is dynamic, and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate, and to present unrounded figures would be to overstate the accuracy of the figures. Rounding to 10 accurately depicts the level of certainty that is held with these figures.

Totals are formed from unrounded parts prior to rounding. For this reason, rounded totals may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.

~ denotes suppressed values of 5 or fewer. Low numbers are suppressed, in conjunction with the rounding policy to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998.

01/01/2023

Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what additional qualifications are required to teach Careers Education in schools.

Lord Nash

We want schools to build the skills and expertise required to plan strategically for the provision of careers education and guidance, embedding careers and employability skills in the curriculum and engaging external partners in the delivery of high quality, inspirational support. The careers strategy, to be published later this year, will set out further details of how we will support schools to achieve this. The strategy has been developed in consultation with key partners across the education and careers sectors.

Pupils can gain confidence and motivation from the opportunity to explore career ideas through individual, face-to-face discussions with a range of people. The careers statutory guidance sets out the main qualifications for careers professionals: the Qualification in Career Guidance (QCG) (which replaced the earlier Diploma in Careers Guidance) and the Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development. The statutory guidance also provides information about the register of careers professionals, developed by the Career Development Institute, which schools can use to search for a career development professional who can deliver a particular service or activity.

01/01/2023
Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the link between a family and their social worker in the event of a failed submission for a Care Protection Order.

Edward Timpson

No assessment of the effectiveness of the link between a family and their social worker in the event of a failed application for a Care Order has been made by my Department. It would be for the local authority to determine what action to take following a failed application for a Care Order, including whether or not a change of social worker is necessary and whether the child remained at risk of harm and/or the family needed support.

In these circumstances, a further assessment of need should be undertaken by a social worker to decide whether the child and/or their family should receive services as a child in need, or if a child protection plan is needed.

01/01/2023
Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the causes of delays to work on doubling the rail line between Rossett Junction and Saltney Junction, and when they expect the work to be completed.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As this scheme is sponsored by the Welsh Government, we have made no such assessment.

01/01/2023
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there are sufficient data to create an accurate baseline of soil quality in the UK from which to measure improvement or degradation.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The 2007 Countryside Survey measured changes in soil organic matter content of soils in Great Britain. It also measured bulk density and a number of other physical and chemical characteristics of soil. A new baseline survey for soil carbon was carried out in 2009 as part of the EU Land Cover and Land Use Statistics (LUCAS) exercise. The 2015 LUCAS soil samples are currently being analysed.

Defra does not routinely monitor national rates of soil loss (erosion), but we are funding research to pilot a national soil erosion monitoring framework for monitoring soil erosion in England and Wales.

Defra also funded a survey of soil compaction levels in grasslands in England and Wales in 2011.

No formal assessment has been made of the sufficiency of the baseline data from which to measure changes in soil quality.

The Government recognises that soil is essential for underpinning a range of benefits, including food production, but also biodiversity, carbon storage and flood protection.

While the future direction of soils policy will be considered as part of the development of the 25 year plans for Food and Farming, and Environment, government is already taking action to improve soil quality.

This includes new rules underpinning cross compliance which anyone claiming Common Agricultural Policy payments must comply with. The rules require a minimum level of soil cover, prevention of erosion and measures to protect the organic matter levels of soil. The new rules take an outcome based approach, instead of the previous paper-based system, thereby focussing on environmental improvements while reducing burdens for farmers. The Government will continue to monitor the implementation of the new rules.

No single body or institution has responsibility for measuring and analysing soils in the UK. Soil testing is carried out by a mix of commercial laboratories and Public Analyst labs. Typically laboratories are accredited and adhere to British Standards on testing procedures. However, there are no regulations governing soil testing procedures themselves.

There are existing soil maps for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which use different soil classifications. There are currently no plans to produce a new UK soil map, and we have not explored options for private sector investment.

01/01/2023
Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that pharmacists are trained to understand autism.

Alistair Burt

In 2015, new statutory guidance building on the 2010 Autism Strategy, and the 2014 Think Autism update, set out expectations for local authorities and the National Health Service in relation to autism training. It is the responsibility for the General Pharmaceutical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, to ensure newly qualified pharmacists and health visitors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. The Department has worked the Royal College of Nursing, and Skills for Health and Skills for Care, to develop autism training material. Health Education England is also working with the Royal Colleges and other stakeholders to increase awareness and knowledge of autism for NHS health professionals.

The Department has also provided financial support to the Royal College of General Practitioners’ clinical priorities programme on autism which is undertaking practical work on autism awareness and training for general practitioners (GPs). GPs should be aware of what the local arrangements are for making referrals for autism diagnosis and how to access appropriate post-diagnostic interventions.

NHS England has commenced a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to identify and share good practice in accessing timely autism diagnosis and post diagnostic support. NHS England with support from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services is to visit a selection of areas to talk to CCGs and local authorities about their Autism Diagnostic Care Pathways. A report on the work will be completed by the end of April 2016.

We know that people with autism can experience common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as other mental illnesses. Over £400 million has been invested in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies to ensure access to talking therapies for those who need them, including those with autism.

01/01/2023
Corri Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Corri Wilson on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what charges the Government plans to levy for connection to the National Grid on the proposed interconnector cable from Iceland.

Andrea Leadsom

My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a UK/Iceland taskforce to consider the potential for interconnection between the two countries. The taskforce is considering a high-level assessment of the costs and benefits and will make recommendations to Government in May as to whether to continue with a more detailed stage of discussions. This will include an assessment of the impact of the interconnector on system costs.

01/01/2023
Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to use big data in healthcare.

George Freeman

The pace of technological advance and digitisation of healthcare is transforming the way healthcare systems use data and informatics to provide individual care, system safety and performance, and research for new treatments and cures. The Government is committed to complete the digitisation of the National Health Service and, through the National Information Board and implementation of the Personalised Health and Care 2020 Strategy, to deliver a series of important digital milestones on the road to a paperless NHS by 2020.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre has set up a new Centre of Excellence for big data and data science under the Government’s Data Science Programme to support the use of big data and data science. Patient trust, confidentiality and consent is crucial to delivering the better use of data which is why the Government has commissioned Dame Fiona Caldicott to advise on the right approach to patient consent and ensuring confidentiality.

01/01/2023
Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to establish an Infrastructure Police Force to replace the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police.

Mike Penning

The Strategic Defence and Security Review made a commitment to “integrate infrastructure policing further and to review the options to do this” and this review is underway.

01/01/2023