Category: Speeches

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a national pay scale for teaching assistants.

    Nick Gibb

    The government believes that decisions on the use, deployment, and pay of teaching assistants are best made in a way that reflects local needs.

    Support staff rates of pay are determined by employers: in maintained schools, these will be set by the local authority; in Academies and Free Schools, these will be set by school or the Trust.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve the system for reporting cybercrime.

    Mike Penning

    Action Fraud is the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, and takes reports on behalf of all police forces in England and Wales. In June, it was extended to cover Northern Ireland. Action Fraud was set up to improve reporting of what has traditionally been an under-reported crime type. Official figures support the decision to centralise reporting: in the year ending June 2015, recorded fraud offences more than trebled from 72,000 before the centralisation of reporting to over 230,000.

    Action Fraud works in conjunction with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB): as of April 2014 both are operated by the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, which means one organisation is responsible for the whole process of taking reports and analysing them. The NFIB analyses Action Fraud crime reports and attempts to match them with other crimes and identify viable lines of enquiry so that an intelligence package can be passed to the police force best able to launch an investigation (usually where the suspect is believed to be located).

    Not all crimes recorded by Action Fraud and analysed by the NFIB will have viable investigative leads: fraudsters and cyber criminals may be based overseas or use false details. Nevertheless, in 2014/15, the number of crimes sent to police forces was almost 62,000. This was an increase of over 50% on 2013/14. The City of London Police are working with local forces to share expertise on how to investigate these types of crimes. City of London Police will be introducing a new IT system in May 2016, comprising of a new and much easier to use online reporting tool and a new data analytics platform within the NFIB. It will improve the identification of viable crimes to be passed to police forces, and the ability to provide improved victim service and care.

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22204, what action he took in relation to Medway Secure Training Centre between 30 December 2015 and 6 January 2016.

    Andrew Selous

    The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is responsible for the commissioning of the youth estate. They have been keeping the Secretary of State’s office updated on the situation and actions they have regularly taken.

    The Youth Justice Board was informed of the allegations on 30 December. They suspended placements of new children and young people into the centre with immediate effect. They increased the presence of the YJB Monitor and the availability of the independent advocacy service provided to children and young people by Barnado’s at Medway. They sought immediate assurances from G4S that the staff named in the allegations had been suspended. The YJB suspended the certifications of all staff named in the allegations on 30 December.

  • 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 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to implement the recommendations for Government of the report, entitled Old Problems, New Solutions: Improving acute psychiatric care for adults in England, published on 9 January 2016.

    Alistair Burt

    We are currently considering the report’s recommendations and work is already underway to address the issues it raises.

    The draft Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) improvement and assessment framework will require CCGs to monitor and reduce out of area treatments, with reductions from 2016/17.

    Additionally, NHS England is planning a significant programme on acute care in 2016/17 for both in-patient and home treatment.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department collects on applications to the Healthy New Towns programme.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department does not hold information on the applications to the Healthy New Towns programme.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 27141, what estimate he has made of the number of independent pharmacies which will lose their NHS support funding as a result of the Pharmacy Access Scheme.

    Alistair Burt

    We have been in discussions with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) since December 2015 regarding the Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. In parallel, we have sought views on our proposals from other pharmacy organisations and from patient groups. The details of the Pharmacy Access Scheme, including any criteria and a timetable for implementation, form part of this consultation.

    We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

    Once we have carefully considered the outcomes from the consultation, we are looking to communicate final decisions as soon as possible, so that pharmacy contractors are fully informed some months before the funding reduction starts from October 2016.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce the reliance of universities on state funding.

    Joseph Johnson

    It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

  • Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-06-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Public Health England’s Strategic plan for the next four years: better outcomes by 2020, what plans they have to work with the Association of Directors of Public Health to support the commissioning of local contraceptive services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE) is committed to supporting the health system to provide appropriate contraceptive services. PHE, supported by the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), has undertaken a review of sexual health, reproductive health and HIV commissioning services. Currently, it is planned to publish the results of the survey in the autumn (September 2016). PHE is committed to continue to work with ADPH in order to improve sexual health outcomes using the findings from the survey, outcomes data and other relevant information.

  • Lord Foulkes of Cumnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Foulkes of Cumnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock on 2016-09-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions have taken place with Comair, the preferred bidder for commercial air services to St Helena, and with what outcome.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The current contract for air services is between the St Helena Government and Comair. Comair remain engaged in discussions about flying to St Helena when the time is right.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2015 to Question 13044, what assessment she has made of reasons for the delays in constructing reactors in China as requested in that question.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Whilst being a minority partner in the Taishan project, EDF expect Taishan to start generating power before the EPR at Flamanville in France, which EDF have estimated will be by the end of 2018.