Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will request that NICE work with the manufacturers of nivolumab to ensure patients with lung cancer can access that medicine at the earliest opportunity.

    George Freeman

    No such assessment has been made. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising nivolumab (Opdivo) for squamous non-small cell lung cancer and has not yet issued its final guidance.

    In developing its technology appraisal guidance, NICE works closely with stakeholders, including manufacturers. NICE’s consultation on its draft guidance closed on 19 January 2016.

    In the absence of NICE guidance, it is for commissioners to make funding decisions based on the available evidence.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the independent power and propulsion system performance review of the Type 45 Destroyer of March 2011.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    A copy of the report entitled ‘Type 45 Destroyer – Independent Power and Propulsion System Performance Review’, redacted in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.

  • 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 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether any national guidance has been issued relating to the use of opt in letters sent by health trusts to patients on mental health service waiting lists.

    Alistair Burt

    Guidance on the use of opt-in letters for patients who are asked to opt-in to adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services is published in “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Waiting Times Guidance and FAQ’s”. This guidance can be found at the following link:

    http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/iapt-wait-times-guid.pdf

    “

  • 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 paragraph 2.19 of the report, Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates, published on 16 March 2016, which technologies his Department is considering (a) adding and (b) removing from the list of qualifying technologies for the first-year allowance scheme for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial technologies.

    Damian Hinds

    At Budget 2016, the Government announced changes to 100 percent enhanced capital allowances for energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial (water-efficient) technologies.

    Each autumn, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consult manufacturers and suppliers. DECC and Defra then recommend to Treasury Ministers updates to the schemes.

    Details of the changes will be set out in Treasury Order 2001/2541 for energy and 2003/2076 for water in the next few months. As is routine, an impact assessment will be published alongside the Order.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to promote an international antiquities code of conduct to prevent the illegal trade in such objects.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The UK welcomes steps towards developing a collaborative approach to tackling the illicit trade in antiquities and plays a key role in supporting international initiatives on this matter.

    The Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 makes it a criminal offence to deal dishonestly in tainted cultural property from anywhere in the world. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has issued guidelines to the relevant UK sectors.

    In addition, in the UK, trade associations for dealers in antiquities have codes of conduct for their members. For example, the Antiquities Dealers Association’s Code of Conduct obliges its members to ensure to the best of their knowledge and belief that all objects sold are genuine and as described and legal.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent progress has been made on the case of Andargachew Tsege and efforts to ensure proper legal and consular access for Mr Tsege and visitation rights for his family.

    James Duddridge

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised Mr Tsege’s case with the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during his visit to Ethiopia on 1 June 2016. The Foreign Secretary received assurances that Mr Tsege will be allowed access to independent legal advice to allow him to discuss options under the Ethiopian legal system. We will continue to press the Ethiopians as necessary to ensure that Mr Tsege has legal representation. As a result of sustained lobbying by the British Government, we now have more frequent consular access to Mr Tsege. He has been visited by UK Government officials on 10 occasions, most recently by both Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and by the FCO’s Africa Director on 1 June 2016. Mr Tsege is also receiving regular visits from his family in Ethiopia, and the FCO continues to provide consular support to Mr Tsege’s family in the UK.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-09-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to monitor and regulate the liquidity ratio on property funds.

    Simon Kirby

    The monitoring and regulation of property funds is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority. Action by the government and the Bank of England over the last six years has substantially strengthened the resilience of the financial system.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the Somaliland government’s work on reconciliation between the communities in the Sool and Sanaag regions of Somaliland; and what support the Government is providing in assisting with those efforts.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​The UK welcomes the recent dialogue between the Somaliland Government and representatives from the Eastern regions of Sool and Sanaag. This is a Somali-led and Somali-owned process which we hope will result in a more inclusive political settlement and enhance stability in the region. On 16 September, with international partners, we made a statement calling for the Somaliland President urgently to set out a clear process, with timelines, to achieve this.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will support calls for the establishment of a full, international, independent investigation by the UN into claims of genocide against the Rohingya in Burma.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    These and other disturbing reports from Rakhine State make clear that the Rohingya are being persecuted and denied the most basic rights. We welcome the work of a highly effective UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, who has shone a spotlight on violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine. She has not characterised the treatment of the Rohingya as genocide, and neither did the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide in his 4 November Statement on Burma’s elections.

    However, any judgement on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for international judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. A UN investigation would require high level international support for which we assess there is little prospect of agreement at this stage. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, irrespective of whether or not they fit the definition of specific international crimes. British Government Ministers take every appropriate opportunity, both publicly and in private, to press the Burmese authorities to take urgent steps to address the situation of the Rohingya. Most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did so with the Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in September in New York.

  • 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, how many people in England and Wales are on long-term prescriptions of more than four weeks for benzodiazepines.

    Alistair Burt

    The National Health Service Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) has advised that, in December 2015, it initiated a project to improve the storage of transaction level prescription data, including the age of patients and to enhance reporting capability against this data. The NHS BSA anticipates having the capability to provide patient level prescription information towards the end of the 2016-17 financial year. This should contain primary care prescribing information for the full range of medicines, including anti-depressants.

    This should also allow the reporting on long-term prescriptions for medicines, including benzodiazepines, which is not currently possible.