Category: Speeches

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many North Korean refugees have approached the British Embassy or Consulate in China for safe passage or asylum in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We do not have any record of refugees from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea approaching Our Embassy in Beijing or our Consulates in China to claim safe passage or asylum in the last 10 years.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the number of UK firms based in the East Midlands that trade with other EU member states; and how many people are employed by each such firm.

    Anna Soubry

    HMRC Regional Trade Statistics on the number of firms trading with the EU are publically available through the UKTradeInfo website.

    HM Treasury has published estimates of the number of UK jobs linked to EU exports broken down by region. These are available through the GOV.UK website.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 2.256 of Budget 2016, when he plans to take a decision on the details of the Government’s support for the UK bid to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup; and if he will do so in time for the Rugby Football League to meet the deadline of 30 June 2016.

    David Evennett

    Pursuant to my answer of 13 April 2016, my officials have been working closely with the Rugby Football League and the government is aware of the deadline for submitting the bid to the Rugby League International Federation. The government will make a decision in due course, ahead of this deadline.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times she has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

    George Eustice

    The Secretary of State has visited Scotland on two separate occasions since the 2015 General Election and met:

    Diageo

    Scotch Whisky Association

    Scotland Food and Drink

    NFU Scotland

    Quality Meat Scotland

    Ian Duncan MEP

    Ruth Davidson MSP

  • Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to reform UK Trade and Investment.

    Greg Hands

    UKTI’s functions have been elevated and integrated into the Department for International Trade. In line with the Secretary of State’s ambitious plans, we will focus resource on 191 priority global high-value export campaigns, and 250 campaigns for Foreign Direct Investment. We are also creating new, targeted digital support services and working closely with an increasing breadth of commercial partners to drive both export value, and the number of UK companies exporting.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to review regulations on food and drink packaging after the UK leaves the EU.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Government is developing its 25 Year Environment Plan, part of which will consider our regulations for resources, waste and recycling.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice, CM 9141, what steps he is taking to implement the commitment to double the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education by 2020.

    Joseph Johnson

    We have already taken significant steps. In particular, from 2015/16, we have removed the cap on student numbers. Publicly funded institutions can now recruit as many students as they wish if they deem them to be suitable. We have also established a stronger framework with increased responsibility placed on providers to widen access. The Director of Fair Access has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 containing an estimated £745m to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

    The Green Paper Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice, CM 9141 set out steps the Government plan to take to increase the proportion of students from disadvantaged background entering higher education. Further progress will come from the new guidance that we plan to issue to the Director of Fair Access, and through the social mobility taskforce being set up by Universities UK.

  • 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 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients are receiving nivolumab for locally advanced or metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer in (a) England and (b) Strangford; and when NICE plans to complete its appraisal of that drug.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that it understands that the manufacturer of nivolumab (Opdivo), Bristol-Myers Squibb, received 73 registrations for nivolumab for locally advanced or metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme before the scientific opinion expired in July 2015. A geographical breakdown of this figure is not available.

    NHS England does not currently fund nivolumab for metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer and has advised that its funding position will be determined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s final technology appraisal guidance which is expected in May 2016. Further information is available at:

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-tag506

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question HL5030, how much his Department on the feasibility phase for undertaking a diesel generator upgrade to the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers; when the feasibility phase for that work was concluded; when his Department made a decision on whether to proceed with the upgrade programme; how many options for undertaking the upgrade work were initially presented to his Department by BAE Systems; whether BAE Systems was asked to present further options to his Department, in addition to those initially presented; which option his Department chose to proceed with, and for what reasons; what estimate he has made of the cost of carrying out that work on each of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers; on how many destroyers such upgrade work has commenced; and on how many such destroyers the upgrade work is complete.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As referenced in the answer given on 2 March 2015 by the then Under Secretary of State for Defence, Lord Astor of Hever, to Question HL5030, the initial feasibility phase of upgrading the Type 45 diesel generators concluded in March 2015. Following this, further feasibility studies were completed in November 2015 at a cost of £4.7million. A range of technical options and a variety of delivery models are currently being explored with competing industrial partners and when the way forward has been determined, will be subject to the Departments formal approvals process. This approval will constitute a decision to proceed.

    BAE systems initially presented a range of options. The MOD was satisfied with the range of choices presented and has since selected the three leading options to be taken forward into the Assessment Phase.

  • 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 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the national bed occupancy rate average was for (a) adult and (b) child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric wards in each year since 2010.

    Alistair Burt

    The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the following table.

    Average daily availability and occupancy rate1 for consultant-led beds open overnight in the mental health sector, in each quarter from 2010-11

    Quarter

    Number of available beds open overnight

    Occupancy rate

    2010-11 Q1

    23,515

    87.1%

    2010-11 Q2

    22,929

    86.7%

    2010-11 Q3

    23,740

    85.9%

    2010-11 Q4

    23,607

    86.6%

    2011-12 Q1

    23,253

    86.8%

    2011-12 Q2

    23,208

    86.8%

    2011-12 Q3

    23,016

    87.2%

    2011-12 Q4

    23,121

    87.2%

    2012-13 Q1

    22,550

    87.5%

    2012-13 Q2

    22,269

    88.3%

    2012-13 Q3

    22,496

    87.2%

    2012-13 Q4

    22,268

    88.6%

    2013-14 Q1

    22,109

    88.3%

    2013-14 Q2

    22,025

    89.2%

    2013-14 Q3

    21,931

    88.1%

    2013-14 Q4

    21,731

    88.6%

    2014-15 Q1

    21,750

    89.8%

    2014-15 Q2

    21,618

    89.6%

    2014-15 Q3

    21,446

    89.4%

    2014-15 Q4

    21,374

    89.5%

    2015-16 Q12

    18,569

    89.9%

    2015-16 Q2

    19,249

    89.1%

    2015-16 Q3

    19,273

    88.6%

    Source: Bed availability and occupancy, NHS England

    Notes:

    1. Numbers of occupied beds are collected every quarter by consultant main specialty. Numbers of available beds are not collected by consultant specialty, because some beds may be available for more than one specialty to use depending on need. Instead, available beds are collected by four sectors within which beds are used flexibly. These sectors are general and acute, mental health, learning disabilities, and maternity. Occupied bed days by specialty are added to calculate occupancy rates for each of these sectors.
    2. In 2015-16 Q1 several mental health providers ceased to submit a return, as a validation of beds data concluded that they were not satisfying the required criteria for consultant-led beds. This is the major factor behind the drop in the number of consultant-led, available mental health beds.