Category: Speeches

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the protection affordable from the public purse for the procurement and commercial arrangements for the Type 45 Destroyer; and whether those arrangements permit appropriate designation of responsibility for design and performance failures.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Standard terms governing the allocation of liabilities were put in place for the Type 45 programme. All six Type 45 Destroyers have now passed the point in time from which these terms ceased to apply. A number of early modifications were implemented under the Type 45 Destroyer Contract for Availability arrangement with BAES Systems at no additional cost to the Ministry of Defence.

  • Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans (a) his Department and (b) NICE has to reform the process for the appraisal of cancer drugs.

    George Freeman

    NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently consulted on draft proposals for the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) including changes to the approach for the appraisal of cancer drugs. The consultation outlines a new system, fully integrated into the NICE appraisal process, where the CDF becomes a transitional fund – with clear criteria for entry and exit. The consultation closed on 11 February 2016 and a consultation report will be published on NHS England’s website in due course.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 34 of the report, Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates, published on 16 March 2016, which producers will be exempt from the soft drinks industry levy.

    Mr David Gauke

    The levy will not apply to small operators under a certain volume threshold. We will consult on the level of the threshold and whether and how to apply a tapered relief.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the press notice, entitled Nuisance calls: funding available for innovative solutions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Small Business Research Initiatives competition for generating solutions to address the problem of nuisance calls.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition has resulted in six successful feasibility studies for innovative call blocking technology to tackle nuisance calls. Further funding is required to test and develop these products before they can be launched on the open market. We will work with our delivery partners to consider how best we can support the next phase of this work.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many representations he received from his (a) Yemeni and (b) Saudi Arabian counterparts in each of the last 12 months on the conflict in Yemen; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) is in regular contact with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Al Jubeir regarding the situation in Yemen. During his recent tour of the Gulf, the Foreign Secretary held constructive discussions with all six GCC countries, underlining the UK’s commitment to finding a peaceful resolution and working in partnership with key regional actors to achieve this. I also regularly engage with the UN Special Envoy for Yemen and President Hadi to encourage commitment to the political process and the UK Special Envoy to Yemen, Sir Alan Duncan, visited the region in April and May to deliver messages to key Yemeni and regional interlocutors. Yemen remains a top priority for the UK Government and we are committed to working towards a durable peace.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the population in (a) Birmingham, Northfield constituency and (b) Birmingham city was homeless in each year since 2010.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Total numbers of households, numbers of households accepted as homeless and in priority need, and numbers of homeless households in temporary accommodation, have been published for each local authority in England, for the years 2004/05 to 2015/16, in live table 784:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness

    Constituency level information on homelessness is not collected.

    “

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the (a) Chinese and (b) Indian authorities on the damming of rivers in Tibet and the effect of that action on water supplies to India.

    Alok Sharma

    ​We have had no discussions with the Chinese or Indian authorities on the damming of rivers in Tibet.

    The UK supports sustainable economic development in Tibet. Decisions about the management of shared regional resources, like water, are best taken in consultation with neighbouring countries.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the time the DVLA takes to process reapplications for a driving license after a suspension of that license for medical reasons.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not hold specific information about the processing times for driving licence applications, which were submitted following the revocation of a licence for medical reasons.

    The DVLA aims to complete 90% of all cases that require further medical investigations within 90 working days and is working hard to identify ways of improving the time taken to deal with these cases. Additional caseworkers and medical advisers have been employed and new processes introduced to speed up the time it takes to receive the necessary information. Longer term, the DVLA is considering digital solutions to improve the service it provides in this area.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21142, when (a) the provisional data referred to will be finalised and (b) the next set of data will be released.

    Alistair Burt

    My response to Parliamentary Question 21142 included data on attendances at accident and emergency departments covering January to September 2015 with data covering the period April to September 2015 labelled as provisional. However, my officials have advised me that data for the period January to March 2015 is also classed as provisional as the finalised data for this period is yet to be published. Provisional data is subject to change and allows for any revisions to be made throughout the year. The differences between provisional and finalised data are small, with variations of less than 1% on most figures extracted from Hospital Episode Statistics data.

    Finalised data for 2014-15 will be published on January 28 2016. Finalised data for 2015-16 is expected to be published in January 2017, however, there is no approved schedule for final publication of these data as yet.

    The next set of monthly provisional accident and emergency quality indicators data for October 2015 will be available on January 26 2016.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the proposed Politics draft AS and A level subject content published by her Department contains no substantive references to feminist ideology or the political achievements of women.

    Nick Gibb

    The final politics A level content will give all students the opportunity to study the core ideas of feminism, and will set out the female theorists whose work students should study. The consultation on the draft politics A level content closed on 15 December 2015; awarding bodies are currently making changes to the content to respond to the views expressed. The Government will publish its response to the consultation shortly.