Category: Speeches

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost to the public purse has been of all (a) salaries, (b) transport, (c) hotel stays, (d) redundancy payments, (e) pension entitlements and (f) all other associated costs since the announcement of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

    Sarah Newton

    On 12 March 2015 the former Home Secretary established the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse under the Inquiries Act 2005.

    Its remit is to look at the extent to which state and non-state bodies have failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. The Inquiry is independent of the Government and is responsible for the management of its own budget.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the most significant key risks to the UK’s food security; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Food supply is one of the UK’s critical national infrastructures and Defra produces an annual sector resilience plan as lead Government Department.

    The UK food sector has a highly effective and resilient food supply chain, owing to the size, geographic diversity and competitive nature of the industry. The resilience of the sector has been demonstrated by the response to potentially disruptive challenges in recent years, although it is dependent on other critical services such as fuel, energy, transport and communications. The Government and industry work together closely to identify and mitigate risks and ensure the continued resilience of food supply.

    The Government is developing a 25 year food and farming plan to further grow our food and farming industry. We want to export more and produce more for the domestic market. We aim to improve productivity and profitability through greater efficiency, the deployment of new technology and by building on the strong international reputation of British food at home and abroad.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of recapitalising the Command Support Air Transport fleet.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    A full assessment phase will be undertaken to ensure that any recapitalisation decisions provide the most efficient way of delivering capability and offer best value for money.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement of 4 January, The Government will directly build affordable homes, whether the £1.2 billion starter home fund to prepare brownfield sites for new homes is additional to (a) the £2.3 billion to support the delivery of starter homes between 2016-17 and 2020-21 announced in the Autumn Spending Review 2015 and (b) the £10 billion allocated to housing in the Autumn Spending Review 2015.

    Brandon Lewis

    The new £1.2 billion starter home land fund, announced by my rt. hon. Friend, the Prime Minister on 4 January, forms part of the £2.3 billion announced in the Autumn Statement to support the delivery of starter homes following the outcome of the Spending Review 2015.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of sepsis there were in children and infants under five years of age in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The figures provided in the table refer only to hospital admissions and are not a count of patients as a patient may have had more than one episode of care within the same year.

    Data for finished discharge episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of sepsis for patients aged 0 to 4 years, in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

    Information is not held centrally on patients diagnosed in a primary care setting.

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Finished discharged episodes

    18,417

    20,080

    22,915

    23,840

    26,725

    Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    1. Finished Discharge Episode – A discharge episode is the last episode during a hospital stay (a spell), where the patient is discharged from the hospital or transferred to another hospital. Discharges do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one discharge from hospital within the period.
    2. Number of episodes in which the patient had a primary or secondary diagnosis – The number of episodes where this diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. Each episode is only counted once, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.
    3. ICD-10 codes for Sepsis – “A02.1 Salmonella sepsis, A20.7 Septicaemic plague, A21.7 Generalized tularaemia, A22.7 Anthrax sepsis, A26.7 Erysipelothrix sepsis, A28.0 Pasteurellosis, A28.2 Extraintestinal yersiniosis, A32.7 Listerial sepsis, A39.2 Acute meningococcaemia, A39.3 Chronic meningococcaemia, A39.4 Meningococcaemia, unspecified, A40.- Streptococcal sepsis, A41.- Other sepsis, A42.7 Actinomycotic sepsis, B37.7 Candidal sepsis, O85.X Puerperal sepsis, P36.- Bacterial sepsis of newborn,
      The following pair of codes is a dagger/asterisk code pair (D and A) which must be present together: A39.1 Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome, E35.1 Disorders of adrenal glands in diseases classified elsewhere.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the National Screening Committee next plans to meet to review its recommendations on group B streptococcus screening for pregnant mothers.

    Ben Gummer

    In December 2015 the United Kingdom National Screening Committee commissioned a review into antenatal screening for Group B Streptococcus.

    More information including how to contribute to the public consultation will be available using the following link:

    http://legacy.screening.nhs.uk/screening-recommendations.php

    “

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the change in capacity of GPs to conduct their NHS Health Check obligations resulting from changes in funding for those obligations in the last 12 months.

    Alistair Burt

    There are no statutory obligations for general practitioners (GPs) to provide the NHS Health Check. The programme is one of the mandated public health functions of local authorities in England. They are responsible for making provision to offer an NHS Health Check to eligible individuals aged 40-74 years once every five years. It is for local authorities to decide on the provider for the NHS Health Check. They can commission a combination of providers including pharmacies and community trusts, as well as GP practices.

    Public Health England has recently commissioned a stocktake of the NHS Health Check to understand how best to support local implementation of the programme. The results will be published later this year.

    Since local authorities became responsible for providing the NHS Health Check, we have seen year on year improvement in the number of people accessing the NHS Health Check, with an additional 100,000 checks received during 2014/15. A recent national evaluation has also shown that people from deprived communities are benefiting the most.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps police and social services take when a girl is identified as being at risk of female genital mutilation.

    Karen Bradley

    On 1 April the Government published updated multi-agency guidance on female genital mutilation (FGM), which we have placed on a statutory footing for the first time. The guidance applies to all frontline professionals in England and Wales, and includes steps police and social services should take when a girl is identified as being at risk of FGM. The guidance will help increase awareness of FGM; improve compliance with good practice in order to afford victims of this terrible abuse the greatest possible protection. It will also help to support effective training of frontline professionals and a more effective multi-agency response. The guidance is available on GOV.uk

    The Government has introduced FGM Protection Orders through the Serious Crime Act 2015 which can be used to protect a potential victim or other family member who may be at risk of FGM. Data released on 31 March 2016 shows that 32 FGMPOs were issued between their introduction in July 2015 and December 2015.

  • 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 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding streams are available for the construction of new rail stations in the North of England.

    Andrew Jones

    We have made available up to £20 million towards the construction costs of new and re-opened railway stations through the New Stations Fund, details of which, including bidding criteria, will be published shortly. Promoters of new stations may also be able to bid for funding from Local Growth Deals and to seek contributions from local authorities or other third parties. Under the first round in 2013, funding was awarded to five stations, three of which are now open (New Court, Pye Corner and Lee Bridge).

  • 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 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many horses have been euthanized by his Department in each of the last 12 months.

    Mark Lancaster

    The numbers of horses euthanised by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in each month up to June 2016 are provided in the table below.

    2015

    July

    August

    September

    October

    November

    December

    2

    0

    0

    2

    0

    1

    2016

    January

    February

    March

    April

    May

    June

    0

    0

    2

    2

    1

    0

    Decisions to euthanise any animal in military service are only taken by a veterinarian officer after all possible treatment avenues have been exhausted and where it is considered to be the most humane option for the animal. The only other scenario where an animal would be euthanised is where it is considered to pose a risk to public safety.

    Where possible, Military Working Animals (MWAs) at the end of their service life will be rehomed however sadly there are some occasions where veterinary reasons indicate that re-homing would compromise the welfare of the animal, or rehoming would pose an unacceptable risk to public safety as a result of the animal’s service life. The decision to euthanise an MWA must always be balanced and pragmatic, and consider a range of factors including the MOD covenant with society which allows us to use animals in Defence. This covenant requires us to:

    Make decisions regarding animal care, use, and welfare by balancing scientific knowledge and professional judgment with consideration of ethical and societal values; and

    Ensure animals are treated with respect and dignity throughout their lives and, when necessary, provided a humane death.