Category: Speeches

  • Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assumptions they have made about the increase in demand for social care in calculating that the new 2 per cent council tax levy and the £1.5 billion for the Better Care Fund, announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, would meet future demand; and whether they will list the assumptions made and the projected increase in demand for each year from 2015 to 2020.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Spending Review decisions take into account a range of financial and economic factors as well as changes in demand. Our analysis of adult social care demand drew on:

    ‒ academic modelling of future demand for services;

    ‒ projections and data on pay including the National Living Wage from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care;

    ‒ gross domestic product deflators for inflation; and

    ‒ consideration of the potential for efficiencies and savings, based on a range of sources.

    That analysis informed the decision to provide a settlement which means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament, including:

    ‒ The social care precept which puts money raising powers into the hands of local areas who understand the need in their area and who are best placed to respond;

    ‒ From 2017-18, social care funds for local government, rising to £1.5 billion by 2019-20, to be included in an improved Better Care Fund; and

    ‒ More than double the funding for the heavily oversubscribed Disabled Facilities Grant to over £500 million per annum by 2019-20.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the use of illegal sub-contracting employment arrangements in Colombia.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Her Majesty’s Government has not received official reports on the scale of illegal sub-contracting employment in Colombia.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23012, which options the Government is discussing with the Mayor; and what information his Department holds on the potential effect of other ways of influencing the private hire vehicle market that do not require new legislation.

    Andrew Jones

    On 20 January 2016 the Mayor of London announced his plans for modernising and enhancing London’s private hire vehicle industry. In these plans the Mayor recognised the need to investigate ways to address the congestion and air quality impacts of the increasing number of private hire vehicles in London without capping numbers. The Government will discuss with the Mayor any options that are proposed.

    The Government supports competition and growth in the taxi and private hire sector although we are aware of a range of factors that could affect the private hire market in London, including raising standards and removing exemptions from the Congestion Charge. The Department’s Best Practice Guidance for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing advises licensing authorities that licensing requirements which are unduly stringent will tend unreasonably to restrict the supply of taxi and private hire vehicle services.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that rail companies improve their passenger safety procedures.

    Claire Perry

    Britain is known for having one of the safest railways in Europe for both passengers and for workers, but we cannot be complacent.

    The Office of Rail and Road’s duty is to ensure that those responsible for keeping Britain’s railways safe for passengers and providing a safe place for staff to work do so.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by how much he plans that his Department’s contribution to public sector pensions will increase in 2019-20 and future years.

    Mark Lancaster

    The full valuation of the public service pension schemes will commence in April this year. Following that full valuation process, which will take into account the new discount rate set in the Budget, the new employer contribution rates for the Armed Forces and Civil Service Pension Scheme will be set.

  • Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Government has not yet implemented its policy to increase the Pension Protection Fund compensation cap for service over 20 years; and when he plans to implement that policy.

    Justin Tomlinson

    I refer the hon.Member to the answer I gave on 1 February 2016 to 24981

    “

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 6 June (HL Deb, col 625), what factors make it difficult to estimate the cost to the taxpayer of the failure of BHS; and in what ways those costs can be covered by existing BHS resources.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    It is too early to determine the cost to the taxpayer of BHS’ insolvency.

    When a company becomes insolvent, redundancy costs are paid from the National Insurance Fund, up to legal limits, as part of a statutory guarantee scheme administered by the Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service. The Redundancy Payments Service then becomes a creditor in the insolvency and can recover some of the debt should any assets be sold as part of the insolvency process. If an employee has a claim over and above the statutory amount paid by the Redundancy Payment Service, then they can also claim as a creditor in the insolvency.

    Therefore, the cost to the Government depends on the number of people made redundant, the amount paid to them and the amount recovered from the insolvency as a creditor.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which magistrates’ and Crown courts have separate waiting rooms for victims of domestic violence and those accused of assaulting them.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    All Crown Court Centres have separate waiting facilities for victims and witnesses, including victims of domestic violence.

    97% of magistrates’ courts have some kind of separate witness waiting facility. For those courts that do not have this facility, special arrangements will be put in place providing the court is notified in advance.

    There are separate secure facilities for those accused that are held in custody. The accused who are remanded on bail, do not have designated waiting rooms.

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the budget deficits are at the (a) Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital NHS Trust, (b) St Helens and Knowsley Hospital Services NHS Trust, (c) Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, (d) Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, (e) Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust and (f) Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The latest financial positions of individual National Health Service trusts are published in NHS trust Board papers, available on NHS trust websites.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he had with Monitor on South East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust’s project relating to the prioritisation of NHS 111 calls in winter 2014-15 before Monitor announced it was taking action on that matter.

    Jane Ellison

    Departmental officials were first notified of a project which was run between December 2014 and February 2015 in the south of England on 23 October 2015 by Monitor, the independent health sector regulator.

    We are advised that Monitor is taking action with South East Coast Ambulance Service Foundation Trust regarding concerns about the project and the regulator is working with the Trust now to identify the negative impact this project could have had on patients. It is Monitor’s function to undertaken such investigations independently of the Department where there are no immediate patient safety issues. Monitor and Departmental officials regularly discuss such issues on a routine basis.

    As part of regulatory action, Monitor advises it has asked the trust to carry out a detailed independent review of the impact the project had on patients. Monitor has asked the Trust to do this with the help of an external expert, who the regulator will select. The full details of what the review will look at and how long it will take are being worked on by the trust and Monitor, including consideration of publication of the review finding.

    In March, NHS England convened a risk summit meeting involving all partners following the suspension by South East Coast Ambulance Service of their unofficial call-handling project. It was agreed that NHS England would undertake an external investigation. The report of the investigation was published by NHS England today and is attached.