Category: Speeches

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria are used to define challenging behaviour as used in the 2012 School Admissions Code.

    Nick Gibb

    It is for admission authorities to agree with their local authorities what they regard as challenging behaviour, based on the circumstances of each case.

    Each local authority is required to have a Fair Access Protocol in place, to ensure that – outside the normal admissions round – unplaced children are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible and that no school is asked to take a disproportionate number of children with challenging behaviour or children excluded from other schools.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel in each location are accommodated in twin rooms.

    Mark Lancaster

    This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government has taken in response to the Palliative Care Funding Review, published in July 2011.

    Ben Gummer

    In response to the Review recommendations, the Government established a large-scale two year data collection exercise to find out more about palliative care costs, with the aim of working towards a fairer, more transparent funding system for palliative care.

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for this work. The data collection concluded in 2014 and NHS England published a palliative care development currency in February 2015. Over 2015/16 the currency has been tested and refined in a number of local areas around the country. During 2016, NHS England will engage with key stakeholders on the results of this testing and make a definitive set of currencies available for use in April 2017. The currencies will allow commissioners and providers of specialist end of life care to ensure the best services are being provided to meet people’s needs regardless of care setting.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposals for the future of community pharmacy on care for vulnerable patients.

    Alistair Burt

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service. We want to see a high quality community pharmacy service that is properly integrated into primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View.

    We want to make pharmacists a pivotal part of primary care for all patient groups, including the elderly and vulnerable, by increasing the number who bring their skills to general practitioner (GP) practices, care homes, urgent care and public health settings. We have consulted on how best to introduce a Pharmacy Integration Fund to help transform how pharmacists, their teams and community pharmacy will operate in the NHS, bringing clear benefits to patients and the public.

    Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    The community pharmacy proposals for 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered in respect to the public sector equality duty, the family test and relevant duties of the Secretary of State under the NHS Act 2006.

    An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Govia Thameslink Railway on the threshold for (a) planned and (b) unplanned train service cancellations since February 2016.

    Claire Perry

    We monitor GTR’s performance and we have ongoing discussions with them over the delivery of their train services.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2016 to Question 46027, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the provision of Compass accommodation to asylum seekers is not let from property (a) where the landlord has lost registered social landlord accreditation and (b) deemed unsuitable for human habitation by the local authority.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Providers are monitored closely and accommodation is inspected frequently to ensure that accommodation for asylum seekers is contractually compliant and of the correct standard. We work closely with any local authority that raises concerns about asylum accommodation and dispersal to help address those concerns.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent comments by European Council President Donald Tusk that Russian military action in Syria is increasing the number of refugees to Europe; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the US-led coalition’s military action on the number of Syrian refugees.

    Baroness Verma

    We continue to closely monitor the humanitarian impact of Russian airstrikes in Syria. We are particularly concerned at UN reports that Russian-backed regime offensives have caused the displacement of at least 140,000 people in Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib governorates since 5 October. We are currently not aware that the flow of refugees has increased as a result of Russian military action. However with displacement on such a scale we cannot rule out that it will have an impact on refugee flows.

    Unlike the Assad regime and its allies, who are bombing indiscriminately, Coalition military efforts in both Iraq and Syria are specifically designed to minimise civilian casualties in line with International Humanitarian Law.

    We continue to call upon all parties to the conflict to uphold International Humanitarian Law and protect civilians.

  • Lord Hutton of Furness – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Hutton of Furness – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hutton of Furness on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been given to UK banks regarding business and personal financial transactions between UK individuals or UK-registered companies and Cuban counterparties based in Cuba.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Cuba has previously been subject to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s on-going Global AML/CFT Compliance Process due to concerns over strategic deficiencies in its systems for anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting terrorist financing (CTF). HM Government notifies the financial sector of FATF’s decision to list countries and the risks associated with transactions with identified countries. In October 2014, the UK welcomed Cuba’s significant progress in improving its controls and noted that Cuba was no longer subject to the FATF’s monitoring process. This was also communicated to industry.

    There are no UK, EU or UN sanctions regimes restricting transactions between the UK and Cuba. The US has economic sanctions against Cuba. EU legislation (Council Regulation (EC) No 2271/96) provides protection against and counteracts the effects of the extra-territorial application of US Cuba sanctions within the EU. The Government does not provide advice on sanctions regimes outside UK jurisdiction and does not intervene in the decisions of banks or other financial firms when made on the basis of their internal risk assessments.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to ensure that local authorities which find a dog dead or injured scan the dog’s microchip and contact its owners.

    George Eustice

    Following a debate in the Westminster Hall on 2 March 2015, the then Minister of State, for the Department of Transport undertook to instruct the Highways Agency to make it their policy to ensure that it collects and identifies every animal that is killed on the strategic road network and to contact the owners by whatever practicable means. The Minister also wrote to all local highway authorities and Transport for London to draw attention to the Government’s policy and reflect on their own policy. It is established good practice for all authorities, including local authorities and dog rescue centres that come into contact with a stray, injured or deceased dog to scan it for a microchip so that the dog’s keeper can be traced. To assist this process, the Kennel Club has donated microchip scanners to every local authority in England and Wales. The compulsory microchipping of all dogs in Great Britain comes into force on 6 April 2016.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of identified violations of the Schools Admissions Code since 2014 related to failure to properly prioritise looked-after and previously looked-after children.

    Nick Gibb

    Of the 271 admission objections determined since January 2014, 6% were found to have non-compliant elements relating to provisions in the School Admissions Code concerning looked after and previously looked after children.