Category: Speeches

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with mental health charities on the potential effect of the removal of mental health quality premium measures in NHS England’s Quality Premium Guidance 2016-17 on mental health outcomes.

    Alistair Burt

    The 2016/17 Quality Premium (QP) scheme has been designed to support the delivery of the major priorities for the National Health Service, as set out in the Five Year Forward View and in the NHS Mandate. The QP scheme is reviewed annually, with the intention of having a range of high impact measures addressing a range of priorities across the Five Year Forward View.

    However, there is scope for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to focus on mental health, if this is a local priority area in 2016/17. Each CCG is expected to select three local indicators from a menu of suitable measures aligned to the Right Care programme, which sets out a clinically led methodology for improvement and reducing variation in care. This menu includes 17 mental health indicators.

    The QP scheme is a part of NHS England’s wider incentive system, including the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme, which includes an incentive focussing on improving the physical health for patients with severe mental illness.

    As the QP will be retaining mental health as an indicator there has been no new assessment of the effect of removing.

    While there have not yet been any formal meetings with mental health charities about this, following the Mental Health Taskforce report, NHS England are keen to work with stakeholders-including mental health charities- to develop a new and robust mental health indicator for potential inclusion in the 2017/18 QP. This will align with the additional funding to drive improvements in ‘Improved Access to Psychological Therapies’ access from April 2017.

  • Nadine Dorries – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nadine Dorries – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s policies to tackle bank fraud and scams; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government takes all types of fraud, including those targeted at banks’ customers, extremely seriously.

    The Home Office is the lead Government department on crime, including fraud, and crime prevention overall. In February 2016, the Home Secretary announced a new Joint Fraud Taskforce. The Taskforce is a collaboration of banks, law enforcement and Government. This is the first time these organisations have come together to tackle fraud, and particularly to focus on those issues that have been considered too difficult for a single organisation to manage alone. The Taskforce seeks to identify the issues that will make the biggest difference to our collective fight against fraud.

  • Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to become a founding donor of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies at its launch at the World Humanitarian Summit, and how much they intend to donate in 2016.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has played a leading role in the development of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23rd May. The UK has committed to provide £30 million in support over two years to the new fund as a founding donor, which was announced by the International Development Secretary at the fund’s launch event at the World Humanitarian Summit.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with credit card companies on steps to support people who have large credit card debts related to shopping.

    Simon Kirby

    The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

    The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. The market study is investigating three areas, one of which is the extent of unaffordable credit card debt. On 3 November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers. However, the FCA expressed concern about the scale of potentially problematic debt in this sector, and the incentives for firms to manage this.

    The interim report also included the FCA’s early thinking on potential remedies which include measures to give consumers more control over their credit limits, measures to encourage customers to pay off debt quicker when they can afford to, and proposals that firms do more to identify earlier those consumers who may be struggling to repay and take action to help them manage their repayments. The FCA is currently asking for feedback on the findings and potential remedies.

    The Government is looking forward to the final report in Q3 2016, and would encourage interested parties to give their views to the FCA to assist it in addressing the issues it has identified.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department expects an updated Strategic Noise Map for Edinburgh Airport to be available.

    Mr John Hayes

    As noise is a devolved matter, the UK Government is not able to answer questions on noise mapping for Scottish airports. This is the responsibility of the Scottish Government and they will be able to advise on this matter.

  • Bill Esterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Bill Esterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 14066, what accountability mechanisms are in place for the Criminal Cases Review Commission; and if he will meet the hon. Member for Sefton Central to discuss the case of James Thompson.

    Mike Penning

    As I stated in response to Question 14066, although the Criminal Cases Review Commission is funded by my Department, it is entirely independent of Government, and Ministers cannot, and should not, intervene in its reviews or decisions. Since there is no action I can take, I do not believe a meeting with the Hon. Member would be helpful.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will direct HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary to investigate Kent Police’s handling of a complaint of alleged corruption within the BBC in Tunbridge Wells made by a constituent of the hon. Member for North Norfolk.

    Mike Penning

    The role of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) is to inspect the efficiency and effectiveness of forces. If an individual is unhappy with the way a force has handled a specific matter, then they are able to make a complaint, either through the force directly, or via the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) or the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The Home Office does not intervene in individual complaint cases. It would be for the force to determine whether a complaint should be subject to a local investigation or referral to the IPCC under part 2 of the Police Reform Act 2002. The handling of police complaints must be customer focused, simple to understand and transparent throughout. Through the Policing and Criminal Justice Bill we will increase accountability and transparency in the complaints system by strengthening the role of directly-elected PCCs, and by reforming the IPCC to ensure that it has the powers it needs to secure public confidence and investigate complaints effectively.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to his Department’s helpline in 2015 related to universal credit; and what proportion such calls were of the total number of calls.

    Priti Patel

    There is no single Departmental helpline. The latest available figures showed that 47 million calls were answered across all DWP telephony service lines during 2015. In the same period, 400k calls were answered by Universal Credit Agents, equating to 0.9% of total calls.

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

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England’s workplan for 2016-17 will include developing a policy for the effective delivery of care for people with tuberous sclerosis complex.

    George Freeman

    Most services for patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups. There will only be very specific items relating to TSC included in NHS England’s clinical commissioning priorities for 2016/17. NHS England is currently identifying its clinical commissioning priorities for all services or conditions that fall within its commissioning responsibility for 2016/17; work which we are advised will be completed in April 2016.

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

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is from referral for an autism diagnosis in Lancashire.

    Alistair Burt

    This data is not collected centrally.