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Category: Speeches

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the merits of including GPs on the occupation shortage list.

    Ben Gummer

    There have not been any specific discussions with the Home Office about the merits of including general practitioners (GPs) on the national shortage occupation list.

    In 2014 the Department of Health commissioned the Centre for Workforce Intelligence to engage with stakeholders and report to the Migration Advisory Committee in response to their call for evidence. Although the Centre for Workforce Intelligence report recommended the inclusion of GPs on the 2015 shortage occupation list, the Migration Advisory Committee concluded that there was insufficient evidence at that time.

    International recruitment of GPs under Tier 2 of the immigration points-based system continues to be an option for employers where genuine and continued difficulties exist in meeting demand from domestic and European Economic Area supply.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on its work on an open address register.

    Chris Skidmore

    The 2016 Budget announced that government would develop options for an authoritative address register that is open and freely available. It is critical that we make wider use of more precise address data and ensure it is frequently updated to unlock opportunities for innovation.

    Since the Budget, officials from across government have been exploring a range of potential options for the creation of an Open Address Register and I will look to update the House once this work has been concluded.

  • Keir Starmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Keir Starmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of (a) the effect of the drought in the Horn of Africa on Eritrea and (b) the response of the Eritrean government and the international community to that drought.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Official food security and nutrition data for Eritrea for this year has not yet been released, but the late onset of rains, relatively low volume of rainfall, and significant soil moisture deficits are likely to have had a negative impact on both farming and pastoral communities. The country and regional offices of the World Food Programme and UNICEF are monitoring the situation closely.

    DFID is funding nutrition support activities in areas affected by El Nino in the Horn of Africa through UNICEF’s regional programme, which covers Eritrea

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools in deprived areas have adequate money in their budgets to take children on school trips connected to the curriculum.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    At the last Spending Review, the Chancellor announced that the Government would meet its manifesto commitment to protect the core schools budget throughout this Parliament. We have also protected the pupil premium at its current rates, worth £2.5 billion annually. Additionally, all local authorities must include a deprivation factor in their local funding formulae, through which they distribute funding to schools in their locality. It is for individual schools to decide how best to use their funding to raise the attainment of pupils, including those from deprived backgrounds, which can include visits in support of the curriculum.

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

    Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mancroft on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress Operational Delivery Networks have made in establishing services for prisoners diagnosed with hepatitis C.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England, Public Heath England, the National Offender Management Service and other organisations including the Royal College of General Practitioners have developed resources to support prison healthcare teams in delivering a blood-borne virus (BBV) opt-out testing programme. This covers all aspects of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C (HCV) and other BBVs including testing, managing positive and negative test results, providing advice on harm minimisation and supporting prisoners into treatment.

    Specialised HCV Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) ensure specialist oversight of HCV services in order maximise uptake and completion of HCV treatment. NHS England has linked every prison to the relevant ODN and a service specification for ODNs directs specialist service providers to accept patients from prisons.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have stopped smoking cigarettes because they have switched to e-cigarettes in each of the last three years.

    Jane Ellison

    Prescriptions for e-cigarettes will be charged like any other medication and normal exemption arrangements will apply including for those on low incomes.

    In August 2015 Public Health England published a report that outlined evidence that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking. Data from local stop smoking services shows that 2/3 of smokers are successful in their quit attempts when combining e-cigarettes with behavioural support. Data from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) suggests in 2015 there were 2.6 million e-cigarette users of which nearly 2 out of 5 no longer smoked tobacco products. This data is available at ASH ‘Use of electronic cigarettes (vapourisers) among adults in Great Britain’, 2015.

    http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_891.pdf

    “

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are in place to upgrade trains and services on the Sunderland to Nunthorpe line.

    Andrew Jones

    Services between Sunderland and Middlesbrough will benefit from additional morning and later evening trains. The line between Whitby and Middlesbrough (including Nunthorpe) will benefit from an earlier morning arrival from Whitby into Middlesbrough and the provision of Sunday services all year round.

    All trains on the franchise will be upgraded and fully refurbished to include improved seating, repainted interiors, Wi-Fi, real time passenger information screens and improved lighting. In addition, all the existing Pacer trains will be withdrawn by the end of 2019.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the Work and Health Programme meets the needs of people with arthritis.

    Priti Patel

    Development of the Work and Health Programme design is well underway, including engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. The Department has commenced the commercial process for the programme by releasing the Prior Information Notice for potential providers on 28 April.

    Decisions on what the information reporting requirements will be for people with a disability or health condition are yet to be made.

  • Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the three-day interval between the notification and arrival of forest reproductive material in preventing damage to, or infection of, existing forestry.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Forest Reproductive Material (Great Britain) Regulations 2002 regulate the marketing of forest reproductive material (FRM). There is no notification period for the introduction of FRM so no such assessment has been carried out.

    The Plant and Tree Notification System requirements relates to the movement of certain tree species from other EU member states and extends to oak, plane, sweet chestnut, pine, elm, prunus and ash trees (although no movements of ash trees are permitted at present, due to ash dieback restrictions).

    The scheme is intended to help the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate build intelligence about particular trades, particularly those where there is a risk of introducing harmful organisms, and to help arrange targeted inspections of such trees. The information is also valuable in the event of an outbreak, to facilitate tracing of trees which may be implicated, and to help inform the development of Defra policy. The scheme is not restricted to trees intended for forestry purposes.

    Notification of importation of plants and trees should be before or within 5 days of the arrival of the consignment, detailing the planned destination in England or Wales.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many amendments to the proposed junior doctors’ contract the (a) British Medical Association and (b) management side accepted during negotiations on the November 2015 contract offer.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The British Medical Association (BMA) have made five concessions overall. The management side have made 107 concessions overall. These concessions included a number of substantial shifts of position to meet concerns expressed by the BMA including for instance increasing the additional pay received for working at weekends.

    (a) The BMA made one concession in relation to the November 2015 offer during the initial ACAS talks, before the commencement of negotiations which ended in February 2016 with no agreement. This was to accept a move from incremental progression to a nodal pay system.

    They made further concessions (including in relation to the March 2016 contract), in the agreement reached in May 2016. These were:

    (i) Agreement to the extension of plain-time working by two hours per day, with a system of weekend allowances based on the frequency of weekend working for those working more than six weekends a year;

    (ii) Accepting the principle of fidelity to the National Health Service, offering locum work at an agreed hourly rate;

    (iii) Agreeing a change to the March 2016 contract to reduce from 48 to 46 hours rest period after consecutive night shifts, amended to improve work life balance and continuity of care; and

    (iv) Agreeing to remove the rule in the March 2016 contract preventing consecutive weekend working – while retaining a rule that the frequency of weekend working can be no more than 1 in 2 weekends – to allow greater flexibility for doctors and employers.

    (b) The November 2015 offer itself had included two concessions in relation to the recommendations made by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. In the ACAS agreement, the BMA accepted this November offer as the basis for negotiations. The management side then made a further 105 concessions: four during ACAS talks, 61 during negotiations that ended in February 2016, six after those negotiations ended, and 34 during negotiations in May 2016.