Category: Speeches

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of how many Daesh operatives there are in Yemen; and what steps his Department is taking to monitor that group’s activities.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to work with regional and international partners to tackle the threat posed by terrorist organisations including Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Daesh-Yemen. For operational reasons we cannot comment in detail on this activity.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the amount lost to cyber fraud in the public sector in each year since 2010.

    Matthew Hancock

    We are unable to provide an estimate of the loss to cyber fraud in the public sector each year since 2010. We have considered the information available to us and do not have any data available to help inform such an estimate.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has access to the Government Car Services.

    Ben Gummer

    Further to the question asked by the Hon Member of 7 September 2016, Official Report, Column 321, I would add that my Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Derbyshire Dales, is a Minister of the Crown and a member of the Cabinet. He will attend a number of Cabinet Committees, which will be published in due course, and has duties directly related to the Duchy of Lancaster. The List of Ministerial Responsibilities will also be published in due course. He does not receive a Ministerial salary from public funds. Details of Private Office staff will be accounted for as part of the regular transparency data on gov.uk. The Government publishes on a quarterly basis details of Ministerial visits overseas. All Ministers have access to the Government Car Service for official travel.

    My Rt Hon Friend also serves as the Party Chairman of the Conservative Party. Such arrangements are no different from the likes of Charles Clarke, Ian McCartney and Hazel Blears, all of whom held the posts of Minister Without Portfolio and Labour Party Chair under the last Labour Government.

    I would also observe that under the Thatcher and Major Governments, senior figures such as Norman Tebbit, Kenneth Baker and Chris Patten served as both Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

  • Michael Dugher – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Michael Dugher – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will provide a list of diplomats at Minister-Counsellor rank serving in the Qatar embassy to the United Kingdom (a) currently and (b) for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    Until 2014, the London Diplomatic List was published annually, listing diplomats of foreign and Commonwealth countries in London. The information in the the London Diplomatic List is supplied by diplomatic missions and is now available on-line at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-embassies-in-the-uk. FCO records show that two diplomats hold the rank of Minister-Counsellor at the Qatari Embassy in London and have done so since late 2013. According to our records and the LDL there were no Minister-Counsellors at the Qatari Embassy in London from 2010 to November 2013.

  • Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the illegal transport of farmed puppies from the Republic of Ireland and southern Europe into the UK.

    George Eustice

    All movements of puppies into the UK that are not covered by the Pet Travel Scheme are subject to the provisions of the Council Directive 92/65/EEC (Balai Directive). This is implemented by the Trade in Animal and Related Products Regulations 2011. Commercial movements of puppies may be subject to a post-import check at the place of final destination by the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

    Responsibility for enforcing the Trade in Animal and Related Products Regulations 2011 falls to local authorities. They are also responsible for enforcing welfare in transport legislation which makes it an offence for anyone to transport animals or cause animals to be transported in a way likely to cause injury or unnecessary suffering to them.

    The act of smuggling puppies in contravention of the animal health and welfare requirements may give rise to the commission of a number of different criminal offences depending on the circumstances of the illegal import. Defra is working with interested parties with a particular interest in improving the collection, analysis and use of intelligence relating to this illegal trade. We are also aware that some EU countries, such as the Republic of Ireland, have recently tightened up their regulatory requirements for puppy breeding, which we hope will also have a positive impact on the problem of illegal trade.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-15.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will amend the Memorandum of Understanding of 25 November 2014 under section 2(2) of the Justice and Security Act 2013 to enable the Intelligence and Security Committee to review documents related to the military action against Reyaad Khan in Syria.

    Mr David Cameron

    I discussed the scope of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s (ISC) Inquiry with the Chairman, my Right Honourable Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve) and we have reached agreement on the disclosure of material to the ISC that will enable them to conduct a robust review of the threat posed by Reyaad Khan. The ISC have received contemporaneous intelligence assessments of Khan and will take further evidence in the coming weeks.

    The Chairman of the ISC has written to the Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, the right hon. Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), to set out the Committee’s views and this has been published on the ISC’s website. I understand that the letter makes it clear that the ISC’s remit is intelligence not military action.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents at height have taken place in each prison in each month since March 2014.

    Andrew Selous

    The vast majority of incidents are minor in nature and resolved quickly and professionally without injury, damage or disruption to the running of the prison. Each incident is investigated fully to ensure lessons are learnt and best practice in managing incidents is shared across NOMS.

    Many incidents at height are relatively short in duration, lasting less than 15 minutes, and take place on netting or over railings. Hostage incidents are relatively rare and in many cases of hostage taking collusion between the perpetrator and victim is suspected. We do not tolerate violence or disorder in our prisons. Prisoners who take part in violent incidents can be referred to the police for prosecution or receive additional time on their sentences following internal adjudication.

    The tables attached provide numbers of incidents at height and hostage incidents in each month between March 2014 and December 2015 and broken down by establishment.

    Note: These figures have been drawn from the NOMS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last case the figures may not be accurate to that level.

  • 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 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of refugees and asylum seekers who require mental health treatment.

    Alistair Burt

    No estimate has been made of the proportion of refugees and asylum seekers who require mental health treatment as this data is not routinely collected.

    Both refugees and asylum seekers are offered health assessments which include consideration of mental health issues, however we do not hold data on the outcome of these.

    NHS England and clinical commissioning groups are committed to ensuring fair and equitable mental health care services for all, which includes all Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, including vulnerable migrants, in particular, refugees and those seeking asylum.

    NHS England recently launched the Five Year Forward View Mental Health Task Force Report which clearly outlines action to be taken nationally, regionally, and locally to help improve mental health services for BME communities in England.

    The full report is available via the following link:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mental-Health-Taskforce-FYFV-final.pdf

    NHS England supported MIND to co-produce the Guidance for commissioners – ‘Commissioning mental health services for vulnerable adult migrants’ September 2015 launched February 2016. The Guidance aims to ensure National Health Service commissioners and providers provide timely and good quality mental health services for vulnerable migrants in particular refugees and those seeking asylum. The full report is available at:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/gov/equality-hub/migrants/

    “

  • 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 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) trusts that have breached the national price caps for NHS agency staff and (b) times those price caps have been breached since their introduction.

    Alistair Burt

    Information on temporary staff fill rates is not collected centrally.

    NHS Improvement has calculated that since the introduction of the price caps, agency spending by National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts has fallen from £303 million in October 2015 to £287 million in February 2016.

    Monitor has previously released information on the number of trusts reporting using shifts in excess of the price caps from 23 November to 28 December 2015. This can be accessed here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497353/FOI_agency_staff_payments.pdf

    “

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce variation across the UK in access to surgical and transcatheter interventions for heart valve disease.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is working with professionals across the healthcare system to look at ways in which services and outcomes for patients with heart valve disease can be improved further, for example, by encouraging practitioners to follow clinical guidelines.

    Service specifications and policy for the surgical and interventional treatment of heart valve disease are published by NHS England’s Cardiothoracic Clinical Reference Group. These define what NHS England expects to be in place in order for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. NHS England is working on the next iteration of the specifications, which will include important standards relating to mitral valve surgery.

    In addition, NHS England is holding a clinical summit on 15 June 2016, which will bring together cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to examine the issues relating to heart valve disease, including variation. Outputs from discussions will be used to inform the future commissioning approach within specialised commissioning.

    Information on the number of people with an undiagnosed heart valve condition is not collected centrally.