Category: Speeches

  • Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Vernon Coaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the investment rate in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

    Anna Soubry

    The ONS only publishes investment data at a country level, for which the latest published data was in the 23rd December Business Investment release, available on the ONS website. Investment data is unavailable on a regional basis.

  • 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 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of substance addiction in people aged over 50.

    Jane Ellison

    Local authorities are responsible for commissioning effective drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services based on an assessment of local need. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work, by providing bespoke data, value for money tools, topical briefings, and advice on good practice to help local authorities meet the needs of their local population, including older people.

    PHE is engaged in a series of work programmes which aim to reduce the incidence of substance addiction and help provide support to older people; an alcohol misuse screening question has been part of the national NHS Health Check since 2013. The Health Check programme is offered to three million 40-74 year olds per year.

    An independent expert group updating the United Kingdom drug misuse clinical guidelines, Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management[1] is considering specific advice for clinicians on managing and addressing substance addiction in older people.

    [1] http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/clinical_guidelines_2007.pdf

    “

  • 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 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many former employees of British Rail were entitled to receive Safeguarded Travel benefits on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    This information is not held by the Department. This benefit is managed by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), and they may have this information; they can be contacted at rstl@atoc.org.

    “

  • Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the staff who manage the gardens in Chevening country residence are employed as civil servants; whether such staff are enrolled under the civil service pension scheme; and under what terms and conditions such staff are employed with what pension entitlement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    No members of the Civil Service are employed at Chevening.

  • Jenny Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jenny Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services on the health, wellbeing and performance of young people in schools and colleges.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We want children to do well academically. Attainment is supported if students have good health and mental wellbeing and when they have access to specialist mental health services where they need it.

    The Government is investing an additional £1.4bn in children’s mental health this Parliament. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across the country have worked with partners, including schools and colleges, to produce local transformation plans for children and young people’s mental health services. These should set out what will be done locally to make the best use of the resources available – changing how child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are delivered in response to the challenges set out in the Future in Mind report and increasing the focus on preventative activity. NHS England has put the plans through an assurance process before releasing funds and is carrying out an analysis of plans to identify practice that can be shared to inform future planning.

    In addition we have contributed to a £3m joint pilot with NHS England which is testing how single points of contact in CAMHS and schools can secure effective mental health support to pupils. The pilots are involving over 250 schools in 27 CCG areas through joint training, which supports schools and CAMHS leads to identify specific activity to improve support in their area.

    The Department of Health has commissioned a new survey into the prevalence of mental health conditions in children and young people in England, the first since 2004. They expect this to be published in 2018.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to improve the rail network and services between London and Stafford.

    Claire Perry

    As part of the Rail Investment Strategy, Network Rail has delivered a package of major infrastructure improvements in the Stafford area. This includes the grade separation of Norton Bridge junction – which was been brought into use almost 12 months early this May – and has created additional capacity for services on the West Coast Main Line.

    Rail services between Stafford and London are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast earlier this month. The outcomes of those consultations will be published in due course.

    Looking to the future, HS2 will deliver high-speed services between London and Stafford from 2026.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she intends to allow children with refugee status to sponsor their parents for the purposes of refugee family renunion.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The current family reunion policy meets our international obligations and strikes the right balance. There are no plans to extend the criteria. Allowing children to sponsor parents would create perverse incentives for them to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their family and risk hazardous journeys to the UK to sponsor relatives. This plays into the hands of criminal gangs who exploit vulnerable people and goes against our safe guarding responsibilities.

    Where a family reunion application fails under the Immigration Rules we consider whether there are exceptional circumstances or compassionate reasons to justify granting a visa outside the Rules.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will undertake an Equality Impact Assessment of the proposed changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government consulted on its reforms to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme and considered the responses it received from civil servants and others carefully. It held several meetings with unions during the consultation and then further meetings with unions that agreed to participate. An equalities impact assessment was published on 26 September alongside the Government’s consultation response.

    The Government believes its proposed reforms will provide a firm foundation for the management of the Civil Service and its people for a generation. The new terms compare favourably with exit terms in the wider economy and will align the Civil Service Compensation Scheme with reforms across the public sector. It will support employers in managing their workforce and simplify the exit process while treating employees respectfully and fairly.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of safety measures used on the road network to protect road maintenance workers.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport and Highways England are working closely with the Highways Maintenance Term Association and the wider construction sector on safety initiatives to ensure the safety and protection of operatives working on the highway network in England.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times explosive ordinance officers were deployed to deal with incidents in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2015 and 1 July 2015.

    Penny Mordaunt

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my predecessor, the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois) on 27 February 2015 to Question 225158. The Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 which contains the requested information is published annually. The next report will be published in January 2016.