Category: Speeches

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Nigerian authorities about any action being taken to support the integration of traumatised women and girls who are freed from Boko Haram and face mistrust and suspicion when they return home.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are pleased that a number of women and children have been rescued, and regularly stress to the Nigerian authorities the importance that they are provided with appropriate support to deal with the trauma they have faced, including to reintegrate into their communities. I personally raised the importance of challenging the social stigma faced by women and girls freed from Boko Haram with Nigerian ministers and military officials during my visit to Nigeria last month. Challenging negative attitudes on sexual violence is a key element of this.

01/01/2023

Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff currently work at the marine offices in (a) Tyne, (b) Plymouth, (c) Beverley, (d) Orpington, (e) Harwich and (f) Norwich; and how many unfilled vacancies exist at each such location.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The table below shows the current level of staffing (Headcount and Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)), current full complement and vacancies at each of the six locations listed:

Marine Office	Full Complement (FTE)	Current Headcount	Current (FTE)	Vacancies (FTE)
a	Tyne (includes Ensign Unit)	23.60	18	15.90	7.7
b	Plymouth	8.27	9	6.94	1.33
c	Beverley	19	16	14.66	4.34
d	Orpington	12	11	10	2
e	Harwich	4	3	3	1
f	Norwich	5	5	5	0

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01/01/2023

Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the budget reduction for community pharmacy in 2016-17 on high street vacancy rates.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service 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. Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close or what the effect on high street vacancy rates might be because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the NHS or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.

We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and others, including patient and public representatives, on our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2016 to Question 39089, on railway signals, what the scope of work covered by the installation programme is for the (a) Wales and (b) Romford Rail Operating Centre.

Claire Perry

The scope of works covered by the installation programme at the two Rail Operating Centres includes:
- procurement & installation of hardware and software
- training simulator
- maintenance support
- interface with train control
01/01/2023
Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to renew the capabilities provided by the former RFA Diligence for repair and maintenance of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels.

Harriett Baldwin

The Forward Repair Ship, RFA DILIGENCE, is one part of a system providing support facilities to deployed ships and submarines. This support is regularly supplemented by commercial arrangements and international agreements and, when bespoke afloat capabilities are required, these are contracted on the open commercial market.

We continue to consider all our capability requirements depending on the operational task.

01/01/2023
Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress her Department has made on implementing the recommendation of the findings paper of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, People in prisons: Gypsies, Romany and Travellers, published in February 2014, on recording the number of young people of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma background in secure training centres.

Dr Phillip Lee

The Youth Justice Board currently records the ethnicity of young people in Secure Training Centres (STC) using the 2001 Census categories.

The Youth Justice Board commissions HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) to carry out an annual survey, ‘Children in Custody’, to monitor Gypsy, Romany and Traveller children in youth offenders’ institutions (YOIs) and secure training centres (STCs).

The YJB keep their data collection systems, including on ethnicity, under regular review.

01/01/2023
Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of drugs available on the NHS for the treatment of people diagnosed with (a) MS and (b) Alzheimer’s disease.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body which makes decisions on the clinical and cost effectiveness of drugs based on a thorough assessment of the best available evidence. National Health Service commissioners are required to fund drugs and treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisals.

NICE has recommended a number of drugs as treatment options for multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease and further information is available at:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/conditions-and-diseases/neurological-conditions

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01/01/2023
Julie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether people over the initial postgraduate loan age cap of 30 will be able to apply and receive a postgraduate loan of up to £10,000 for the 2016-17 academic year.

Joseph Johnson

The Government is committed to enhancing its support for postgraduate study and wants more people to have the opportunity to build on their academic success through access to a higher level qualification.

The new Postgraduate Loans for Master’s study are intended to be available for eligible students studying in academic year 2016/17.

The Government announced on 25 November that the new Postgraduate Loan for Master’s study will be available to individuals up to age 60. Further information is available via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/postgraduate-study-student-loans-and-other-support

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01/01/2023

Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-11.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the maximum permitted spending by each campaign will be during the final weeks of campaigning on the referendum on EU membership; and what steps the Electoral Commission plans to take to ensure that spending by each campaign is subject to the same limit.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) sets out the spending limits that apply during the regulated referendum period at UK-wide referendums. The duration of the referendum period for the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union will be set out in secondary legislation.

PPERA does not set total spending limits for each of the referendum outcomes; rather it applies spending limits to individual campaigners that take part in the debate.

The Commission is already monitoring the campaigning activities of potential referendum campaigners so that it can identify any emerging issues and offer advice and guidance to those that intend to campaign at the referendum. Once the rules come into force, the Commission’s campaign monitoring will inform the use, if necessary and appropriate, of its enforcement and sanctioning powers where the rules are not followed.

For the EU Referendum, Parliament increased the limits set out in PPERA to take account of inflation. The limits for political parties that register to campaign in support of a particular outcome are allocated according to the party’s share of the vote at the last UK Parliamentary general election. Campaigners that do not register with the Commission are limited to spending £10,000. The new limits are set out in the table below:

	EU Referendum Bill spending limits for a referendum held before 31 December 2017	2015 UK general election vote share
Limits for designated lead campaigners	£7,000,000	–
Limits for political parties with:
>30% share of the vote	£7,000,000	Conservative (36.8%)
>20-30% share of the vote	£5,500,000	Labour (29%[1])
>10-20% share of the vote	£4,000,000	UKIP (12.6%)
>5-10% share of the vote	£3,000,000	Liberal Democrat (7.9%)
	£700,000	SNP (4.7%) Green (3.8%) DUP (0.6%) Plaid Cymru (0.6%) Sinn Fein (0.6%) SDLP (0.3%) UUP (0.4%) Plus all other parties that stood at least one candidate at 2015 UKPGE
Limits for other registered campaigners	£700,000	–

[1] Labour Party share of the vote is adjusted because votes cast for joint candidates are divided by the number of parties the candidate is standing for i.e. Labour / Co-op candidates (PPERA Sch14, para 1(4))

01/01/2023

Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in devolving transport powers to local authorities, it is their intention also to grant authorities the power to implement part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 so that they become responsible for tackling rising congestion and poor air quality or urban roads, and to promote more efficient bus operation.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government will continue to work with local authorities to consider whether there are powers that would be appropriate to devolve as part of their devolution deals.

01/01/2023