Category: Speeches

Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) number and (b) proportion of civil servants will be affected by the Government’s proposed exit payment cap.

Matthew Hancock

To remain the best in the world, the Civil Service needs to respond to both the challenges and opportunities of our times. The Civil Service continues to require new and different skills to respond to the fiscal environment, global competition and changes in technology, whilst at the same time delivering better services more efficiently: in short, doing more for less.

The numbers of civil servants affected by the Government’s action to end six figure pay outs in the public sector will depend upon the terms applicable when the staff leave and which staff are exited.

01/01/2023
Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that approved personalised medicines are available to patients with colorectal cancer.

George Freeman

On 24 September, the NHS England Board agreed the development of a Personalised Medicine Strategy for the National Health Service. Personalised medicine is a move away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the treatment and care of patients with a particular condition. It uses emergent approaches in areas such as diagnostic tests, functional genomic technologies, molecular pathways, data analytics and real time monitoring of conditions to better manage patients’ health and to target therapies to achieve the best outcomes in the management of a patient’s disease or predisposition to disease. The high-level vision and strategy is to create a Personalised Medicine service in the NHS embracing four overarching principles: the prediction and prevention of disease; more precise diagnoses; targeted and personalised interventions; and a more participatory role for patients.

The independent Cancer Taskforce’s five-year strategy for cancer, Achieving World-Class Outcomes (July 2015), recommends improvements across the cancer pathway, with the aim of improving survival rates.

NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. She has set up a new Cancer Transformation Board to implement the strategy, and this met for the first time on Monday 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.

The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to transformative new medicines and technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include personalised medicines for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

01/01/2023
Lord Shinkwin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Shinkwin on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible effects of normalising cell-free DNA, non-invasive prenatal testing techniques, in particular with regard to enabling sex-selective abortions.

Lord Prior of Brampton

There is a long established Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (NHS FASP) that prospective parents can choose whether to participate in. The UK National Screening Committee recommendation on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) does not change the choices available to prospective parents within the NHS FASP. Guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists makes it clear that women and their partners should receive appropriate information and support from a properly trained multidisciplinary team, who must adopt a supportive and non-judgemental approach.

NIPT testing as part of the NHS FASP will not be used to determine the sex of the foetus. Abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33618, what the new contract arrangements are which he refers to; what assessment was made of the potential use of contract arrangements similar to those new contract arrangements with Pearson Professional Assessments Ltd referred to; and for what reasons the contract was not put out for full tender.

Andrew Jones

(a) The ‘new contract arrangements’ is a reference to the two-year contract extension granted in 2013 to Pearson Professional Assessments Ltd as part of an agreed settlement following its legal challenge to the theory test service procurement of that time.

(b) Those new contract arrangements were bespoke to the settlement at that time.

(c) As indicated in response 162377, Pearson Professional Assessments Ltd will continue to provide the driver theory test services. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency have now agreed a contract variation to extend the contract for a period of 4 years. Their contract would otherwise have ended on 4 September. The contract for them to continue to provide the services has not been put out to tender because there is insufficient time to conduct an open competition and have a new provider ready to start in time. This extension allows us time to conduct a thorough procurement exercise and explore options for alternative delivery models.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to regulate the level of bank account charges in the last 12 months.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is clear that consumers must be able to access clear and transparent information about the charges that may apply to financial services products, including bank accounts. In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority requires firms to be clear, fair and not misleading when giving information to consumers, including on fees and charges.

Following extensive Government negotiations with the banking industry on basic bank accounts, in January 2016 the UK’s nine largest banks and building societies implemented an agreement to end bank charges on those accounts when a direct debit or standing order fails. Basic bank accounts are now truly fee-free, helping people to manage their money without fear of running up an overdraft.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently investigating the retail banking market, including personal current accounts. In its May 2016 provisional decision on remedies, the CMA proposed requiring banks to take steps including: a monthly maximum charge for unarranged overdrafts; alerts to help customers avoid unarranged overdraft charges; improving comparisons by allowing customers to share data on transactions with other banks and trusted third parties; and regular prompts for customers to check that they are getting good value from their banking provider. The CMA will publish its final report on the retail banking market investigation by 12 August 2016. The Government stands ready to take action once the final report is published.

01/01/2023
Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to prepare for the UK to leave the EU since 23 June 2016; and what further such steps her Department plans to take in the remainder of 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Following the referendum, internal structures have beeen put in place to coordinate the Home Office’s contribution to UK’s exit from the EU.

The Home Office International Directorate is coordinating the Home Office’s approach both to ongoing EU business and the forthcoming UK exit negotiations. Alongside this work, the Home Office will continue to work with the Department for Exiting the EU in reaching the best deal for Britain.

01/01/2023
Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he is taking to ensure that Wales receives the maximum funding possible from the EU before the UK leaves the EU.

Alun Cairns

The Government is taking a practical approach to EU funding. As my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor has made clear, structural and investment funds projects signed before the date of exit will be fully funded by the Treasury even where payments fall after we leave the EU; in keeping with the devolution settlement, it will be for the Welsh Government to decide the conditions used to assess projects within its devolved competence.

01/01/2023
Philip Hollobone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has for replacement of the HST 125 trains on the Midland mainline.

Claire Perry

The Department considers that franchisees are normally best placed to procure the rolling stock that they require to deliver the necessary levels of service and capacity. We expect the competition for the next East Midlands long-term franchise to deliver those improvements to the rolling stock that are required.

01/01/2023
Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on the academic performance of sixth form students of the use of unconditional offers of places by universities.

Nick Boles

It is for individual higher education institutions to determine their own admission arrangements. No assessment has been made of the effect on the academic performance of sixth form students of the use of unconditional offers of places by universities.

01/01/2023

Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on purchasing bearskins and other associated headgear containing real fur in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not buy bear pelts; it buys ceremonial caps direct from suppliers who source pelts from animals culled as part of a programme to manage the wild population licensed by the Canadian government. Animal welfare standards relating to the bear cull are a matter for the Canadian government.

The MOD also purchases coney skin (rabbit fur) for the Royal Engineers’ and Royal Signals’ busby and fox fur for the Royal Horse Artillery, Kings Troop Officers’ busby. The current contract requires a commitment to sustainable procurement.

Depending on usage and maintenance, bearskin busbys can last for up to 50 years. The coney skin and fox fur busbys have indefinite lifespans if properly maintained.

Calendar Year	Cost of Bearskin Busby Headgear (£)	Financial Year	Cost of Coney Skin Busby Headgear (£)	Cost of Fox Fur Busby Headgear(£)
2005	Not held	2005-06	1,532	0
2006	Not held	2006-07	0	1,472
2007	Not held	2007-08	0	0
2008	31,319	2008-09	9,173	406
2009	148,891	2009-10	0	0
2010	131,886	2010-11	0	0
2011	90,822	2011-12	0	861
2012	126,087	2012-13	1,779	861
2013	65,108	2013-14	0	0
2014	136,671	2014-15	10,257	1,899
2015	149,379	2015-16	2,558	0

All figures are rounded to the nearest pound.

Calendar Year	Number of Bearskin Busby Headgear	Financial Year	Number of Coney Skin Busby Headgear	Number of Busby Headgear made of Fox Fur
2005	Not held	2005-06	4	0
2006	Not held	2006-07	0	2
2007	Not held	2007-08	0	0
2008	35	2008-09	22	1
2009	195	2009-10	0	0
2010	158	2010-11	0	0
2011	99	2011-12	0	1
2012	126	2012-13	4	1
2013	63	2013-14	0	0
2014	127	2014-15	20	2
2015	122	2015-16	5	0

Historically the MOD has undertaken a number of trials on synthetic alternatives to bear skin but none of these matched the properties of the natural material. No trialling has taken place since 2007. Information about costs of these trials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In 2012 the Ministry of Defence loaned a sample bearskin to the animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, to aid its research and development programme on a synthetic alternative.

There has been no research and development carried out to find a synthetic alternative to coney skin or fox fur.

01/01/2023