Category: Speeches

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to develop the model of co-location of urgent and emergency primary care service with accident and emergency departments.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    In August 2015, NHS England published Safer, faster, better: good practice in delivering urgent and emergency care. A copy is attached. This provides guidance to help frontline providers and commissioners re-design urgent and emergency care services, including considering locating urgent care centres in emergency departments.

    Safer, faster, better notes that urgent care centres co-located with emergency departments provide an opportunity to stream patients with less serious illnesses and injuries to a service that is resourced to meet their needs, while reducing crowding in emergency departments. It also sets out that to preserve flow, urgent care centre staff and cubicles must wherever possible be entirely separated from the majors/admission stream and that where urgent care centres are co-located with emergency departments, there must be appropriate integration, with shared governance arrangements and clearly defined protocols for the two-way transfer of patients.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people in Bristol West constituency have taken more than 60 days to process in the last 12 months.

    Karen Bradley

    The number of applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) from people living in the Bristol West constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in the last 12 months (for which data is available) is listed in the table below.

    Month

    Number of certificates issued by DBS to applicants in Bristol West

    Applications that took longer than 60 days

    February 2015 – January 2016

    12,934

    392
  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23756, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of funds within NHS organisations to eradicate backlog maintenance repairs which are considered to be high risk.

    George Freeman

    National Health Service organisations are locally responsible for the quality of their estate and the management of their own backlog maintenance. They decide on the investment needed to reduce backlog maintenance levels based on their own local plans and financial situation. Capital investment by NHS providers continues to be financed locally through income and/or through access to external financing.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the position taken by the European Parliament that products containing glyphosate should be banned where alternative weed killers exist, and for use in public parks and playgrounds.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government recognises the importance of effective pesticides and believes that they should be authorised where the scientific evidence shows they do not pose unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.

    The European Food Safety Authority concluded that glyphosate met these standards and UK experts agree. We therefore consider that glyphosate should be approved. If this happens, all authorised products which contain glyphosate will be individually re-assessed at a Member State level to ensure that they also meet safety standards.

    The scientific assessment carried out so far does not suggest that blanket restrictions to prevent certain uses across the EU are justified. The Government therefore does not favour the inclusion of such restrictions in any future approval of glyphosate. It should be for Member States to consider whether restrictions are needed for particular glyphosate products in particular circumstances. This would form part of the normal product re-assessment process.

  • Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Earl Attlee on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether draft regulations will be made available under Clause 5 of the Bus Services Bill [HL] relating to the provision of relevant information that a franchising authority may obtain from local bus operators, and if so, when.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government will work closely with both local authority stakeholders and bus operators to develop sensible proposals that both meet the needs of franchising authorities and do not place unnecessary burdens on local bus operators.

    Policy discussions with key stakeholders were started in May, and policy scoping notes, setting out the policy intent of each of the regulations, were circulated to Noble Peers on 15th June. Our intention is to continue to engage with bus operators and local authorities to produce draft regulations for consultation in the autumn.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the disclosure by Equal Justice of details of six new discrimination claims involving race, sex and gender against the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), what action they are taking to ensure that MPS black and ethnic minority groups are able to work in an environment that is safe and free from abuse.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Government takes allegations of unlawful discrimination in the police very seriously and is firmly committed to ensuring the highest possible standards in policing. Such allegations must be investigated thoroughly and, when and where required, perpetrators must be dealt with robustly.

    We are reforming the police disciplinary system to ensure it delivers greater transparency and accountability. We are implementing the recommendations of the Chapman Review to make the police disciplinary system less adversarial with a greater focus on rehabilitation, development and improvement where possible, whilst ensuring the most serious matters are dealt with appropriately and robustly through the police conduct system.

    It is essential that the actions and behaviour of racist police officers are not allowed to undermine public confidence in the police’s ability to respond to, investigate and fight crime, or to tarnish the reputation of the police and the majority of officers who work closely and effectively with people from all communities.

    The public must also have trust that the police represent the communicates they serve, and the proportion of police officers who are from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds has now risen to its highest level ever with forces taking important steps to attract staff from a diverse range of backgrounds.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many strategic rail freight interchanges have been granted planning permission since 2000; and of those granted permission how many have been built.

    Paul Maynard

    Since 2000, development consent has been given for ten Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges across Great Britain. The Department for Transport does not monitor progress in constructing these sites. However we understand that not all of these interchanges have yet been constructed.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times noise quotas at each London airport have been breached in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There have been no breaches of the night noise quotas in the last 10 years. For the night period (23.30 to 06.00), there is a limit on the number of movements (an aircraft landing or taking off) and noise quotas (each aircraft is given a noise quota according to the noise produced) at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted for the summer and winter seasons.

    There are, and have been, no penalties for breaching the movement and noise quota limits. Details on these limits are set out in the London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London Stansted Airports Noise Restrictions Notices.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to protect civilians in Syria in its strategy to tackle ISIL.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Ultimately the best way to protect civilians in Syria from Daesh’s brutality and inhumanity is by defeating Daesh and establishing peace and stability in the region. We are the second largest bilateral donor of humanitarian aid to Syria and the region. Many of our projects are aimed at protecting civilians – such as support to civil defence and search and rescue teams throughout Syria.

    By joining Coalition airstrikes in Syria, the UK is bringing the most advanced forms of targeting and precision weaponry, possessed by only a small number of international actors. We observe rigorous targeting protocols. These have meant that in more than a year of strikes against Daesh targets in Iraq, there have been no reports of civilian casualties resulting from UK operations. We are bringing these same protocols in our work in Syria.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the ease by which UK SMEs can access the export market.

    Anna Soubry

    Increasing exports is a key factor in the Government’s long-term economic plan and, through the GREAT campaign, it continues to promote the support available to those UK businesses looking to take advantage of overseas opportunities.

    According to data from the Office of National Statistics, since 2010 UK exports have increased from £444.4bn to £513.5bn per annum. At the same time, the number of UK exporting businesses has increased from 188,000 in 2010 to over 221,000 in 2014. The Government commitment is to increase this figure to over 288,000 UK exporting businesses per annum by 2020; an increase of 100,000 on the 2010 figure.