Category: Speeches

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in conjunction with UK allies, they plan to increase the level of military activity against British jihadis fighting for ISIL in Iraq and Syria; and whether their objective is to kill such individuals on the battlefield before they return to the UK as potential terrorists.

    Earl Howe

    UK military action in Syria and Iraq is against Daesh targets, regardless of nationality, as December’s Parliamentary motion made clear. As part of the global coalition, the UK is making a substantial air contribution to the campaign to defeat Daesh in both countries and providing training to Iraqi (including Kurdish) security forces taking the fight to Daesh on the ground. The Secretary of State for Defence (Michael Fallon) announced in June that we would deploy up to 250 personnel to the Al Asad Air Base in Iraq to increase our training contribution.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Emma Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which of her Department’s projects have received funding under the European Marine Fisheries Fund 2007 to 2013; what the location is of each such project; and how much each such project received.

    George Eustice

    Details of English projects which have received support under the European Fisheries Fund in the period 2007-13 are publicly available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/448524/European_Transparency_Initiative.pdf.

    “

  • Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) rates of admission to hospital, (b) total hospital bed-days per population and (c) rates of admission to hospital from a nursing home or residential care home for patients with a secondary diagnosis of dementia and aged over (i) 65 and (ii) 75 years of age for each clinical commissioning group in England were in each month of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    Information on (a) the rates of admission to hospital, (b) the total hospital bed-days per population and (c) the rates of admission to hospital from a nursing home or residential care home for patients with a secondary diagnosis of dementia who are aged (i) over 65 and (ii) over 75 for each clinical commissioning group (CCG) in England for the each month in the past five years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    We have provided data attached which shows patients with a secondary diagnosis of dementia by CCG of residence for individuals aged (i) over 65 and (ii) over 75, for 2013-14 showing:

    (a) the rates of admission to hospital per age group population,

    (b) the total hospital bed-days per age group population and

    (c) the rates of admission to hospital from a nursing home or residential care home per age group population.

    Please be aware that the 2013-14 data supplied by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) in November 2014 was provisional at the time. HSCIC have since published the 2013-14 data. Further information can found through this link:

    http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=17192&q=diagnosis+hospital+2013-14&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both#top

    Note that some patients who live in nursing homes or residential care may have their source of admission recorded as ‘usual place of residence’ by the hospital staff but we cannot identify these.

    “

  • Andy Burnham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Burnham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Burnham on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff there were in the UK Border Force and its predecessor in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13, (e) 2013-14, (f) 2014-15 and (g) 2015-16; and what the UK Border Force’s planned total staff complement is for 2016-17.

    Mrs Theresa May

    The Border Force workforce is drawn from two precursor organisations: Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Immigration Service. Border Force was established in its current form in March 2012 and since that time the workforce has ranged from approximately 7800 – 8100 in full-time equivalents.

    The detailed breakdown requested is as follows (all figures are full-time equivalents):

    March 2010 4506 – UKBA

    4639 – HMRC (transferred to UKBA 1st April 2010)

    March 2011 8269 – UKBA

    March 2012 7846 – Border Force

    March 2013 8123 – Border Force

    March 2014 8044 – Border Force

    March 2015 8153 – Border Force

    Workforce numbers for FY16/17 have not yet been finalised.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Bahraini counterpart on Mr. Hassan Mushaima and the provision of medical assistance for his condition.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of the case of Hassan Mushaima and we have raised it with the Government of Bahrain. We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments and to appropriately address all reports of ill-treatment of detainees. We also encourage all those with concerns about their treatment in detention to report these directly to the Ombudsman.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of his Department’s (a) Senior Civil Servants and (b) core policy civil servants are based in London.

    Jane Ellison

    75% of Senior Civil Servants in the Department are based in London. Some Departmental team responsibilities are strictly policy matters and others may include, or exclusively involve, operational or corporate business activities. The Department does not impose an artificial distinction between ‘policy’ teams and operational or business teams as many teams will be active in both aspects of Government to varying degrees. The titles and topics covered by all the teams making up the Department can be found in the most recent Departmental organograms / structure charts at:

    http://reference.data.gov.uk/gov-structure/organogram/?dept=dh

    “

  • Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination Systems, or equivalent systems, can be viewed and updated by all those involved in the provision of end of life care services, in particular social care organisations, by April 2018, as outlined in the review What’s important to me: A review of choice in end of life care.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are committed to ensuring that everyone at, or nearing, the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care, tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

    The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care, which will be published shortly, will set out our vision for high quality, personalised care and the steps we will take to achieve this. The response will also address each of the Review recommendations, including on care coordination; improving the quality, availability and responsiveness of care; improving the quality and use of data; care planning and the use of digital care records; and the involvement of family members and carers in discussions about care.

  • 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 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information he holds on the number of people in the UK with undiagnosed heart valve disease; and if he will estimate the potential cost to the NHS of treating such people.

    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. Patients with undiagnosed heart valve disease, once diagnosed, may require a range of treatments, including surgery. Therefore it is not possible to estimate what the aggregate costs might be.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the time taken to process counter-terrorism checks for job applications in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) other constituent parts of the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    Counter-terrorism checks conducted by the Home Office form part of the national security vetting process required for employment in the Home Office.

    We continue to reduce the processing time for all national security vetting checks. Processing times will vary from case to case and are not broken down by constituent parts of the UK.

  • Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of visa applications involving the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, and Imperial College London, were successful in each of the last three years.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Visa refusal rate data is produced for internal use only and is not intended for publication.

    The data requested provides sensitive information about sponsors’ compliance with their immigration requirements and by extension how likely they are to retain their sponsor licence. As this information could potentially impact their reputation and ability to attract international students, and therefore their commercial viability, we are unable to provide the information requested on the basis of commercial confidentiality.