Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question 36578, what the findings relevant to Tibet were of her Department’s-funded assessments of glacial melt and rivers in the Himalayas.

    Rory Stewart

    As noted in the Answer of 13 April 2013 to Question 151281, DFID funded two assessments on glacial melt in the Himalayan region. It has since piloted a method of assessing glaciers in the region using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The studies indicate that the Himalayan glaciers have been shrinking overall at 0.4-0.5% per year since the 1950s. The studies are available on DFID’s Research for Development website.

  • Pauline Latham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Pauline Latham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pauline Latham on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of mining companies that are registered in the UK.

    Chris Skidmore

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend free use of the (a) Mersey Gateway and (b) Silver Jubilee Bridge to residents and UK firms across Merseyside; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    As announced at the Summer Budget, we have asked the Department for Transport to look at extending the Mersey Gateway local discount scheme to residents of Chester West & Chester and Warrington, as well as looking at help for small businesses. This work is ongoing.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his foreign counterparts on preventing the sale of Daesh-controlled oil; and what steps are being taken to prevent such sales.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has led efforts at the UN to make it illegal for any state, company or individual to trade in oil or oil products with Daesh, including co-sponsoring UN Security Council Resolution 2199 in February 2015. This resolution requires all states to prevent the transfer of economic resources to Daesh. We work closely and continually with allies, particularly in the region, to ensure Resolution 2199 is implemented.

    In addition to UN measures, we have worked to ensure that individuals involved in brokering oil deals between Daesh and the Assad regime have been sanctioned by the EU.

    We have held bilateral and multilateral discussions, including within the Global Coalition’s Counter ISIL Finance Group on this issue. The UK is expanding its work to help regional partners enforce sanctions and stop smuggling. We are also working with the private sector to ensure it takes seriously its responsibilities to ensure Daesh cannot access the spare parts and fuel additives it needs for its oil industry to function.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training and professional development is given to (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) mental health professionals on managing their own stress levels.

    Ben Gummer

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This may include training on conflict resolution, empathy, mental self-care and managing own stress.

    Health Education England has a leadership role in ensuring the service continues to invest in the ongoing education and training of all staff and a shared responsibility for investing in continuing professional development to promote service innovation and transformation. However, employers are ultimately responsible for continuing professional development of their employees.

    Employers also have a responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of their staff.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department’s policy is on investing in drug detection technology to tackle illicit substances being brought into prisons; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. NOMS continues to explore new methods of preventing drugs coming into prisons and body scanners are seen as a valuable part of this strategy.

    An independent expert panel is assessing the use of a body scanner at HMP Wandsworth, as required by the Justification of Practices Involving lionising Radiation Regulations 2004.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations on employment support and the housing benefit cap on page 81 of the Mental Health Taskforce report, published in February 2016; and what steps he plans to take to implement those recommendations.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We welcome the Mental Health Taskforce Report, which sets out how important employment can be in supporting people with mental health conditions, and how to improve current services. We have already gone some way to implementing the recommendation on employment and are improving support by developing a new Work and Health programme, which will be providing employment support to claimants with a health condition or disability and the very long term unemployed. We are investing £43 million in a range of trials to develop our evidence base on what works for those with mental health conditions; and investing in increasing employment support in therapy services. The Prime Minister also recently announced over £50m investment to more than double the number of employment advisors in IAPT services, so that they are linked in to every talking therapy service in the country.

    We will publish a White Paper later this year that will set out reforms to improve support for people with health conditions and disabilities, including exploring the roles of employers, to further reduce the disability employment gap and promote integration across health and employment.

    We work closely with the supported housing sector to ensure they are supported as effectively as possible, and highly value the work they do. As part of this we have commissioned an evidence review of supported housing. The results of this research will determine our future policy development and any appropriate exemptions.

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of building the new general purpose frigate class in parallel with the Type 26 programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence has commenced pre-concept work on the new class of light General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) which will help inform the overall approach to the surface maritime programme following Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

    As this work is in its very early stages it is not possible to make an assessment of the feasibility of building the GPFF in parallel with the Type 26 Global Combat Ships, or what the potential merits of that approach would be.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions the Government has had with (a) UK companies and (b) the Malawian government on oil exploration around Lake Malawi.

    James Duddridge

    Our High Commissioner to Malawi met a representative of UK oil exploration firm Surestream, who are now a minority shareholder of an exploration licence for one of the oil exploration blocks in Lake Malawi, on 29 February. Last month the High Commissioner also discussed with the Malawi Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining his desire for assistance to develop legislation and agreements that would conform to global good governance standards and protect Malawi’s national interests.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve end-of-life care over the next five years.

    Ben Gummer

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

    The Government will shortly publish its response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care which will set out actions to improve quality, choice and personalisation of end of life care in the context of delivering the NHS Five Year Forward View throughout this Parliament.