Category: Speeches

  • Lord Grocott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Grocott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grocott on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries have expressed an interest in applying for membership of the EU.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that any European State which respects its values and is committed to promoting them may apply to become a member of the Union. The Council currently recognises five candidates for EU membership: Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Serbia. Turkey, Montenegro and Serbia have started accession negotiations. Albania and Macedonia have Candidate Status but have not started accession negotiations. Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted its membership application on 15 February 2016. The General Affairs Council will revert to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application once it deems that sufficient progress in the implementation of the Reform Agenda has been achieved. Kosovo is recognised as a potential candidate and has signed and concluded a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU. Iceland started negotiations in 2013, but last year requested that it no longer be considered a candidate country.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which EU intelligence-sharing agreements the UK is part of; and which intelligence-sharing agreements the UK has with other EU countries.

    Mrs Theresa May

    I cannot disclose specifics of agreements relating to National Security. However, the UK works closely with European counterparts in the common goal of preventing and disrupting terrorist activity. We work with Member States’ intelligence services on a bilateral basis and through the Counter Terrorism Group. We also collaborate with European partners through bilateral policy and law enforcement exchanges on counter-terrorism and exchange threat assessments and information on our respective approaches to counter terrorism. I regularly raise at Justice and Home Affairs Councils the need for better intelligence cooperation and information sharing among Member States to support our CT investigations.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make additional funding available to expand access to habilitation training for young people with sight loss.

    Alistair Burt

    In 2013, Blind Children UK, previously the National Blind Children’s Society, received funding through the Department’s Voluntary Sector Investment Programme (Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development Fund) for their three year project `Children and Young People’s Habilitation Service’.

    At a national level, the Department for Education has funded a partnership of charities through the National Sensory Impairment Partnership to help local authorities to compare their services, learn from the best in the country and make sure that services for blind children and their families (as well as those with other sensory impairments) are effective and meet local needs.

    My Department will consider with the Department for Education, which has responsibility for children’s social care, and where appropriate, with training and regulatory bodies, how we can highlight the value of habilitation workers.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to reply to the letter of 27 April 2016 from the hon. Member for Redcar and the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland on the All Party Parliamentary Group on Steel.

    Mr David Cameron

    A reply has been sent.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department’s policy is on whether it should be mandatory for price comparison websites to show the cheapest energy deals available.

    Jesse Norman

    It is vital that customers trust price comparison websites, as they offer real opportunities for improving competition and I expect price comparison websites to be clear to consumers when they are not providing a whole market tariff comparison.

    Ofgem are currently consulting on proposals to allow price comparison websites to only show those tariffs that consumers can switch to through the price comparison website as a default, but they must also provide quick and easy access to a webpage showing all tariffs available on the market. The consultation closes on 28 September and is available online at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/08/whole_of_market_consultation.pdf

    “

  • Lucy Powell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to include training on selective mutism and other speech, language and communication needs in initial teacher training.

    Nick Gibb

    All initial teacher training (ITT) courses must ensure that trainee teachers can meet the Teachers’ Standards in full. The standards require trainees to have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Teachers must also be able to adapt teaching to the needs of all pupils, and have an understanding of the factors that can inhibit learning and how to overcome them.

    In July 2016, the Government published a new framework of core content for ITT, developed by an expert group chaired by Stephen Munday CBE. The new framework includes detailed content on SEND training, with emphasis on speech language and communication needs (SLCN). It specifies that: “Providers should ensure that trainees understand the principles of the SEND Code of Practice, are confident working with the four broad areas of need it identifies, and are able to adapt teaching strategies to ensure that pupils with SEND (including, but not limited to, autism, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sensory impairment or speech, and language and communication needs (SLCN)) can access and progress within the curriculum.”

    The new framework of content will help to ensure that all trainee teachers are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level.

    The new framework of core content for ITT can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536890/Framework_Report_11_July_2016_Final.pdf.

    “

  • John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Pugh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many heads of academies are paid more than the Prime Minister.

    Nick Gibb

    The data provided to the Department by schools in the November 2014 School Workforce Census shows that 52 head teachers in academy schools in England were paid a salary of £142,500 or more.

    Of the other roles within the scope of the School Workforce Census, there were fewer than five teachers in academies receiving a salary of £142,500 or more.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact assessment his Department has carried out on the effects of reductions in universal credit work allowance on (a) incentives to work and (b) the number of hours worked.

    Priti Patel

    The impact of the work allowance change cannot be considered in isolation – it is part of a broader package of measures announced at the Summer Budget, such as the increase to the personal tax allowance and introduction of the national living wage, which strengthens incentives to find work and better paid jobs.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what economic benefits are attributed in the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs document of October 2015 Creating a River Thames fit for our future: An updated strategic and economic case for the Thames Tideway Tunnel to (1) the Lee Tunnel, and (2) the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Lee Tunnel and the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT) are key aspects of a wider improvement scheme for the Thames Tideway designed to meet the environmental standards set for the Tideway and achieve the environmental requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

    The updated assessment of October 2015 provided a cost-benefit analysis focused on the TTT in isolation, to inform Government’s decision on whether to proceed with that project as the last major phase of the wider Tideway environmental improvement works. Research set out in this assessment showed that the Lee Tunnel, while having significant local benefit, would not in itself deliver the wider environmental outcomes sought from the overall Tideway improvement scheme. The 2015 assessment therefore assumed no benefits are secured by the Lee Tunnel on its own. It demonstrated the benefits of the TTT, based on an assessment of people’s willingness to pay, to be in the region of £7.4 billion to £12.7 billion (at 2014 prices).

    Defra carried out two sensitivity tests on this assumption (published alongside the main results in the cost-benefit annex to the Strategic and Economic case), to ensure the robustness of that decision. One test factored in the cost of the Lee Tunnel to the cost-benefit analysis for the TTT, and the second assumed that the Lee Tunnel reduced the benefit attributed to the TTT by 40%. In neither test did the economic case for the TTT become unfavourable.

  • Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mawson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they or NHS England have made of the effectiveness of minor ailments services provided by community pharmacies in reducing pressure on GP practices and other parts of the NHS, and what assessment they have made of the impact of their planned pharmacy cuts on such services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England has taken account of the potential impact of a pharmacy minor ailments service on general practitioner services and other parts of the National Health Service. The findings of the Minor Ailment Study (MINA), conducted by the University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with NHS Grampian and the University of East Anglia, on behalf of Pharmacy Research UK in 2014, were considered. The study’s main conclusions were:

    – consultations for minor ailments continue to be a burden on high cost service providers but there needs to be consensus amongst healthcare professionals regarding what constitutes a minor ailment suitable for treatment in the community pharmacy setting;

    – the evidence considered suggests that community pharmacy-based minor ailment schemes are an effective and cost-effective strategy for managing patients;

    – health professionals and patients need to be confident in the ability of pharmacists and their staff to manage minor ailments; and

    – future initiatives to shift demand from high cost settings to community pharmacy should adopt an interdisciplinary approach to explore and address patient decision-making behaviour.

    In addition, evaluations of local minor ailments schemes have continued to inform decision-making about local commissioning of such schemes.

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the NHS and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

    We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, other pharmacy bodies and patient and public representatives on our proposals. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

    Local commissioning and funding of services from community pharmacies, such as minor ailment services, will be unaffected by these proposals.