Category: Speeches

Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding per head has been allocated for childcare in (a) the Enfield North constituency, (b) Enfield and (c) London for the financial years (i) 2016-17 and (ii) 2017-18.

Caroline Dinenage

Funding for the free early years entitlements is allocated on a local authority basis. In 2016-17, the relevant hourly funding rates per child for local authorities in London (including Enfield) were as follows:

Local authority	Three and four year old entitlement	Two year old entitlement
Enfield	£4.16	£5.28
Greenwich	£5.29	£6.07
Barking and Dagenham	£4.27	£5.28
Barnet	£4.80	£5.53
Bexley	£3.97	£5.28
Brent	£6.24	£5.53
Bromley	£4.10	£5.28
Croydon	£4.80	£5.28
Ealing	£5.95	£5.53
Harrow	£4.55	£5.53
Havering	£4.19	£5.28
Hillingdon	£5.16	£5.53
Hounslow	£3.98	£5.53
Kingston upon Thames	£3.93	£5.53
Merton	£4.10	£5.53
Redbridge	£4.34	£5.28
Richmond upon Thames	£3.79	£5.53
Sutton	£4.72	£5.53
Waltham Forest	£5.14	£5.28
City of London	£7.87	£7.08
Camden	£9.17	£6.07
Hackney	£7.50	£6.07
Hammersmith and Fulham	£6.62	£6.07
Islington	£8.41	£6.07
Kensington and Chelsea	£6.73	£6.07
Lambeth	£7.86	£6.07
Lewisham	£6.12	£6.07
Southwark	£8.64	£6.07
Tower Hamlets	£8.21	£6.07
Wandsworth	£5.19	£6.07
Westminster	£7.20	£6.07
Haringey	£5.63	£5.28
Newham	£5.17	£5.28

All funding rates for three and four year olds are exclusive of the Early Years Pupil Premium which is an additional funding stream for disadvantaged children.

We have recently consulted on a new early years national funding formula, and our proposed formula from 2017-18 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/early-years-funding-changes-to-funding-for-3-and-4-year-olds

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01/01/2023

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the representations from the GMC and other health regulators that the Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive does not provide sufficient safeguards to ensure that doctors who provide temporary and occasional services in the UK have the right knowledge, skills and behaviours to practise safely.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department supports the principle of free movement for healthcare professionals that the Directive helps provide for and the benefits this can bring. Temporary and occasional provision of services in particular provides important benefits in terms of movement of professionals around the European Union and is not a new concept in the Directive.

The Department has worked with the General Medical Council and other health regulators extensively over a number of years, including during the negotiations with other Member States, as part of the revision of the Directive. The United Kingdom secured positive changes to the requirements placed on individuals seeking to provide work on a temporary and occasional basis. The changes include the requirement for professionals to provide the regulatory body with a declaration of their knowledge of language and an attestation confirming the absence of temporary or final suspensions and criminal convictions; these supplement the existing requirements, such as providing proof of legal establishment in their home Member State, proof of nationality and evidence of professional qualifications.

In addition, individual employers ensure that the people they employ or contract with have the required knowledge and skills for the posts for which they are applying.

01/01/2023
Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Falkner of Margravine on 2015-12-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the failure of London, Leeds, and Birmingham to maintain nitrogen dioxide levels within legal limits over the past five years, what assessment they have made of whether relaxing emissions standards for cars is compatible with public health and legal requirements to control urban pollution.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is committed to taking action on vehicle emissions testing that restores consumer confidence and delivers our wider air quality and climate objectives. We strongly support the current Real Driving Emissions agreement, which is expected to significantly reduce average real world NOx emissions from new diesel cars from 2017. It makes type approval requirements for diesel vehicles significantly more stringent by requiring manufacturers to ensure real-world emissions are maintained below 2.1 times the laboratory-testing limit in 2017 and at or below the laboratory-testing limit by 2020 (with a margin for measurement uncertainty). Issues relating to vehicle emissions are considered in the context of the UK Government’s plans for air quality. More detail is set out in the air quality plans published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the 17^th December.

01/01/2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 22 January (HL4827), what are the contents of those statements by the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, and where those statements are published.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Statements made by the Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect are published on the UN website.

The statements cover a range of issues including incitement to violence in Syria on religious grounds; urging against rhetoric that escalates the risk of violence against religious communities; expressing concern about the on-going threat to the safety of minority groups in Syria; expressing outrage at speeches and media articles that dehumanise Alawites and Christians; expressing alarm at reports of the abduction of 1,500 Yazidi, Christian and Shabak women and girls; expressing concern at the situation of religious and other minorities, noting that members of the Christian community were fleeing the northern city of Mosul following the Daesh-led invasion; urging leaders in the wider region to refrain from using or condoning any language that may escalate sectarian tension; calling on all actors to condemn hate speech that could constitute incitement to violence against communities based on their religious affiliation.

The complete statements are attached to this response, and the link to the website is provided below for your ease of reference: http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/statements.shtml

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01/01/2023
Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s policy is on junior doctors who whistleblow about safety concerns in the NHS.

Ben Gummer

The Department supports National Health Service staff who wish to raise concerns and is implementing a range of measures to support the development of a culture in which staff are able to raise concerns without fear of repercussion or reprisal. The Department has made clear to NHS organisations that they should have policies and procedures to support and encourage staff to raise concerns, and that those concerns should be acted upon.

Junior doctors are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, as they are employees of the NHS trusts at which they are based.

Junior doctors along with other NHS staff will benefit from a national network of Freedom to Speak Up ‘local guardians,’ led by the National Guardian Dame Eileen Sills, who was appointed on 7 January 2016.

The National Guardian will lead, advise, and support the ‘local guardians’ in carrying out investigations on how concerns are being handled, share good practice, report on national or common themes, and identify any barriers that are preventing the NHS from having a truly safe and open culture.

In addition we are also introducing a new Guardian of safe working appointed jointly with junior doctors.

01/01/2023
Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV is on the list of drugs being referred to NHS England’s Clinical Priorities Advisory Group for decision.

Jane Ellison

NHS England does not now consider pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV is suitable for prioritisation of specialised commissioning spend as it is a preventative measure. However given the potential benefits in this area, NHS England wants to build on the work to date and will be making available up to £2 million over the next two years to run a number of early implementer test sites. These will be undertaken in conjunction with Public Health England and will seek to answer the remaining questions around how PrEP could be commissioned in the most cost effective and integrated way to reduce HIV and sexually transmitted infections in those at highest risk.

01/01/2023
Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the implementation of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy, published in April 2014.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Government has invested heavily in basic digital skills. For example, BIS continues to fund a programme to help people gain the skills needed to access employment, education and wider opportunities. The Future Digital Inclusion programme aims to support 1 million people, including those with low skills, the unemployed and people with disabilities and learning difficulties. It indirectly supports SMEs and sole traders. Since September 2014 it has supported 482,000 individuals. Last year, Arts Council England oversaw government investment of £2.7m for more than 1,000 libraries to ensure that free WiFi is now available in over 99% of libraries in England.

Increasing the level of digital engagement in the UK requires commitment from all sectors. To date, 93 organisations have signed up to collaborate with government departments to increase digital engagement in the UK. This commits them to working together to join up their efforts where relevant, to scale up good ideas and to devise new and innovative solutions. A wide range of activities and programmes have been delivered by partners across the UK.

01/01/2023
George Kerevan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Kerevan on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports the Government has received on involvement by the China National Nuclear Corporation in the illegal supply of 5,000 ring magnets to Pakistan of a type suitable for use in gas centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

There were media reports in the mid-1990s of a transfer of 5,000 ring magnets by the China National Nuclear Corporation to Pakistan. China strongly denied government awareness or involvement. In 2004 China joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group, of which the UK is also a member, which agrees guidelines for the transfer of potentially sensitive nuclear-related technologies and material between states.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many staff of his Department will be based in (a) Brussels and (b) Strasbourg; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker

A number of staff have joined the Department from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the UK Permanent Representation to the EU (UKRep) will report through DExEU as well.

01/01/2023
Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has made of how transparently (a) insurance companies and (b) other providers of a public good (i) formulate the price of their products and (ii) ensure any pricing structure is not affected by the consumer’s ethnicity.

Caroline Dinenage

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society and sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone. There are specific exceptions for providers of financial services such as insurance companies, which allow them to use a person’s age as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products. However, insurers are not able to use a person’s race as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products.

The pricing of risk is a commercial decision for individual insurers, and differences in premiums reflect different insurers’ experience of claims and other industry-wide statistics. While insurers are not required by the Financial Conduct Authority to be transparent about pricing decisions, it expects firms to comply with relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010, and can undertake its own enquiries to better understand what the firm is doing and whether any of its regulatory requirements have been breached.

01/01/2023