Category: Speeches

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

    Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much is paid to GP practices for (1) advising a person to have a flu jab, and (2) giving a person the flu jab.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Under the General Medical Services contract, general practitioners (GPs) are paid £9.80 for each dose of influenza vaccination that they administer to patients who are eligible for the vaccination. GPs are not paid for advising patients to have the influenza vaccination.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the likely causes of changes in the size of the UK Ship Register since 2010.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    A decline in UK shipping interests, including in the size of the UK Ship Register, was one of the reasons government launched the Maritime Growth Study in 2014. The evidence into the Study included an assessment from the independent UK Ship Register Advisory Panel, which was commissioned by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) to review the current performance of the UK Ship Register and consider the conditions which would enable the Register to become more internationally competitive. The Panel’s report includes their views on the reasons for the decline in the Register and was published on 16 July 2015.

    The wider Study, published on 7 September 2015, considered the increasing international competition faced by the UK maritime sector as a whole, but contains a number of proposals specific to the UK Ship Register.

    The Government will respond formally to the Maritime Growth Study by the end of 2015, but is taking immediate action in response to some recommendations. This includes the establishment of a Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth and taking steps to support the improved operation of the MCA such as appointing a commercial director to lead the UK Ship Register separately from the Agency’s regulatory functions and a business case exploring the costs and benefits of options for more significant reform of the MCA.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about reports that Israeli vehicles entered the northern Gaza Strip near Jabalia and created earth mounds to prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing their land.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not made representations on this specific issue, our Ambassador in Tel Aviv discussed the need to create economic sustainability in the West Bank and Gaza with the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, Public Security and Information on 19 November. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv also discussed the issue of access to Gaza with the Head of the Civil Department of the Israeli Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) on 24 November. During this meeting we welcomed the indefinite continuation of permissions for agricultural exports to Israel and the lifting of restrictions on exporting textiles, furniture and scrap metal to Israel.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the use of private companies to arrange foster care placements.

    Edward Timpson

    The arrangement of foster care placements is the duty of local authorities. All placements must be made with consideration to the child’s assessed needs through a robust care planning process.

    The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 set the statutory framework for all fostering services, including Independent Fostering Providers. The regulatory framework for the provision of foster care placements is clear that local authorities must have access to sufficient placements to meet the needs of the children they look after. As long as placements meet the needs of the child, it is for local authorities to determine whether placements are provided in-house or by independent providers.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action, if any, they plan to take as a result of the recent report of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers that 40 per cent of teachers in the UK have experienced violence from pupils in the past year.

    Lord Nash

    The government has already taken steps to empower teachers to tackle poor pupil behaviour in schools. We have extended teachers’ searching powers; allowed them to impose same-day detentions; and clarified their power to use reasonable force. In 2014, we updated our advice on pupil behaviour to make clear the range of sanctions it is permissible to use in order to manage poor behaviour. We also produced a range of case studies showing good practice and issued separate advice for schools to help teachers identify and support pupils whose behaviour may be related to an unmet mental health or special educational need.

    The Teacher Voice Omnibus survey, a nationally representative survey of teachers in England, found that 76 per cent of teachers say that behaviour in schools is ‘good or better’ compared to 70 per cent in 2008. However, we recognise that poor behaviour is still a problem in some schools. On 16 June 2015, the Secretary of State appointed the behaviour expert, Tom Bennett, to lead a behaviour review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in dealing with disruptive children and to consider all of the challenges of managing behaviour in the 21st century.

    To complement this review, Tom Bennett will lead a further review of behaviour management in schools with a particular focus on leadership, culture and systems used to tackle disruptive behaviour.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many civil law suits have been brought against his Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

    Brandon Lewis

    The information requested is not held centrally.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has allocated to Kent County Council for local road maintenance for (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

    Andrew Jones

    This Government is providing both tools and funding to local highway authorities in England, outside London, to tackle the condition of our local road network. In the Spending Review 2015, the Government announced that we are allocating a total of £6.1 billion funding for local highways maintenance between now and 2021. This funding includes an additional £250 million between 2016 and 2021 for a potholes action fund to improve local roads, to promote innovation within the sector and to ensure that taxpayers get greater value for money.

    For Kent we are providing the following funding for local highways maintenance for the financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17:

    Funding Stream

    2015/16 £m

    2016/17 £m

    Highways Maintenance Block Needs Element

    27.277

    25.006

    Highways Maintenance Block Incentive Element

    1.377

    Pothole Action Fund

    1.473

    Total

    27.277

    27.856

    Further details of the funding we are providing to all local highway authorities in England outside London can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/6-billion-funding-to-tackle-potholes-and-improve-local-roads

    Local authorities are able to use revenue funding for maintaining their local highways and this is allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant.

    “

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent by (a) Highways England and (b) the Highways Agency per head of population in each region of England in each year since 2009-10.

    Andrew Jones

    Figures on Highways Agency spend in each region of England can be obtained from the HM Treasury Country and Regional Analysis (CRA).

    Data from 2010/11 to 2014/15 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477115/CRA_2015_Combined_Database_for_Publication.xlsx

    Figures for 2009/10 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/382214/CRA_2014_Combined_Database_for_Publication.xlsx

    The ONS publishes figures on regional population estimates.

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of officials of his Department working on decentralisation and growth are based in London.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Decentralisation and growth are cross-governmental issues, supported by officials in all relevant departments.

    The Cities and Local Growth Unit is a joint BIS-DCLG team that supports areas in developing and agreeing devolution deals with the Government. It currently has approximately 140 officials working on a range of devolution and growth agendas, with just over 60 of these officials in six local teams based across the country.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times in the last two years the Northern Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham has had staffing levels below what is considered safe.

    Mr John Hayes

    The operational concepts and procedures that underpin Her Majesty’s Coastguard’s national network mean that the Coastguard Centres within it no longer have fixed geographic boundaries. This enables Coastguards at either the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) or any of the 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast irrespective of their location. As a result workload is now managed on a national basis rather than Centre by Centre as was previously the case. National capability and Coastguard staff from any Centre are now available to provide additional support to any individual Centre within the network when it is considered necessary by senior operational managers.

    Due to this inherent flexibility Her Majesty’s Coastguard sets ‘Optimum Suggested’ staffing for the network as a whole rather than for each centre. Over the last two years since the national network became operational out of a total of 1,427 watches (both day and night) the network has been staffed below ‘Optimal Suggested’ levels on 137 watches.