Category: Speeches

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the financial saving to the NHS of the policy to no longer routinely fund second stem cell transplants for blood cancer patients who have relapsed.

    David Mowat

    Decisions are taken by NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group that leads on the annual prioritisation process. The prioritisation process includes an impact assessment that compared the cost of a second transplant to alternative treatment pathways for relapsed disease.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Development Consent Orders for energy projects his Department considered in each region in each year since 2009-10; and how many such Orders were (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

    Jesse Norman

    The attached table sets out the number of applications for new Development Consent Orders (“DCO”) for energy infrastructure projects which the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the former Department of Energy and Climate Change considered in each year since the Planning Act 2008 system for nationally significant infrastructure projects came into force on 1 March 2010. The year given is the year when the decision was made. The region given is the region in which the Planning Inspectorate classifies the project.

    The former Infrastructure Planning Commission made one decision to grant an energy infrastructure DCO before its abolition (2011 – East of England, not included in the table).

    One application was originally refused consent before being granted consent on redetermination. That is included as a grant of consent only in the table.

    The Department is currently considering one application for a DCO (not included in the attached table).

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will discuss with Virgin Trains its replacing the ageing Voyager fleet rolling stock.

    Claire Perry

    The Voyager fleet was introduced in 2001/2 to provide high speed services on routes which could only be served by Diesel Trains and is primarily operated by Virgin on routes to Chester and Holyhead. We will consider train fleet options as part of the upcoming ICWC franchise competition.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they and the EU will place targeted human rights sanctions on individuals suspected of crimes against humanity in North Korea.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain deeply concerned by the appalling human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Without security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the denuclearisation of the DPRK we are unlikely to see genuine improvements in the human rights situation within that country. This is why the British Government’s priorities of an improved human rights situation and denuclearised DPRK are pursued in parallel. Following the nuclear test of 6 January, we are working closely with other members of the UN Security Council on a robust, and united, international response to the DPRK’s latest violation of existing UN Security Council Resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087 and 2094. These negotiations are on-going and we expect any new resolution to contain further measures that send a clear signal that DPRK’s actions will no longer be tolerated. We will continue to consider a range of available options, whenever we discuss DPRK with international partners.

    We will continue to deliver the same strong messages on human rights directly to the regime through our Embassy in Pyongyang and in the UK where, most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), told the DPRK Ambassador on 7 January, that DPRK resources would be better directed toward improving the lives of its citizens rather than recklessly pursuing its development of nuclear weapons. We also work multilaterally on human rights, through the EU and the UN, where we support the annual UN Third Committee resolution on DPRK Human Rights.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the cost to the tourist industry in Keswick, Cumbria, of the closure of the A591 due to recent flooding.

    David Evennett

    No assessment has been made by DCMS of the direct cost of the closure of the A591. Work is currently underway to repair the major route between Grasmere and Keswick, and the Department for Transport has announced that the A591 is set to reopen by the end of May.

    In Cumbria on the 28th January the Prime Minister announced a £1m PR campaign to support businesses ready to receive visitors, and this is part of a wider package of immediate measures to help the area.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of laser pen attacks were recorded on road vehicles in the last five years.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England do not keep specific records of laser pen attacks. However, their records currently show that one incident involved the use of a laser pen.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31078, on immigration officers, whether (a) her Department, (b) the Interception of Communications Commissioner and (c) any other body has reviewed the use of the power of immigration officers to carry out property interference since 2013.

    James Brokenshire

    The Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC) provides independent oversight of the use of property interference powers by law enforcement, including immigration officers. The Police Act 1997 was amended in 2013 to enable immigration officers to carry out property interference. The OSC regularly inspects law enforcement use of the power and scrutinises all individual property interference authorisations. A statutory code of practice for covert surveillance and property interference which can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/384975/Covert_Surveillance_Property_Interrefernce_web__2_.pdf

    applies to all agencies with property interference powers.

    The Investigatory Powers Bill will provide enhanced safeguards for the use of equipment interference, including the requirement that equipment interference warrants are subject to the double-lock authorisation safeguard. The Bill will also create a new and more powerful Investigatory Powers Commissioner who will keep the use of this important power under close and regular review. A new Equipment Interference Code of Practice was published in draft alongside the Investigatory Powers Bill. This Code will provide further guidance on the use of equipment interference powers to all relevant agencies.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 23 February 2016, Official Report, column 82WH, on the Motability car scheme, whether the ability to walk 20 metres is one of the assessment criteria for enhanced mobility.

    Justin Tomlinson

    As with all the activities, a claimant should be assessed as satisfying a descriptor only if the reliability criteria have been fully considered. The reliability criteria are a key protection for claimants being assessed for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and are a new introduction that did not apply under Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Claimants who cannot walk 20 metres reliably are guaranteed to receive the enhanced rate mobility component.

    PIP has also introduced a new criteria around the ability to plan and follow a journey, which is designed to recognise the mobility challenges of non-physical conditions and ensure these claimants also have access to the highest level of support where appropriate.

    Further information on how the reliability criteria should be applied can be found in the PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals carrying out assessments.

    This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449043/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

    “

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of people whose asylum application has been transferred for consideration by the Government under the Dublin III Regulation as part of quarterly immigration statistics.

    James Brokenshire

    The information published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics is kept under review, taking into account the needs of users, burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. There are currently no plans to publish data relating to asylum applications transferred under Dublin III Regulation.

  • Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of dehydration on the (a) safety and (b) health of elderly people living in care homes; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mowat

    In 2014 the Government updated the requirements of regulation with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide greater clarity about how the nutritional and hydration needs should be met. The new requirements are set out in Regulation 14 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, which came into force on 1 April 2015. The CQC can prosecute for a breach of this regulation if a failure to meet the regulation results in avoidable harm to a person using the service, or a person using the service is exposed to significant risk of harm.