Category: Speeches

Alan Whitehead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the membership of the body which will oversee the proposed review of neonatal services in England; and whether that review will examine (a) admissions rates, (b) length of stay and (c) outcomes by (i) singleton and (ii) multiple pregnancies.

Mr Philip Dunne

The NHS England Maternity Review, Better Births (published February 2016), made a number of recommendations including a review of neonatal critical care. NHS England’s Women and Children’s Programme of Care and its Neonatal Critical Care Clinical Reference Group (CRG) will take this work forward. The review will focus on a number of themes and variables including admission rates, length of stay, outcomes and pregnancy profiles.

NHS England’s Women and Children’s Programme of Care Board will oversee the review and will also report progress to the Maternity Transformation Programme. The membership of the team that will oversee the review is not yet finalised, but Dr Peter Wilson, the Clinical Co-Chair of the Women and Children’s Programme of Care Board will be the Senior Responsible Officer.

Membership is also expected to include the Chair of the Neonatal Critical Care CRG Professor Neil Marlow, Lead Commissioner Natalie Hariram, and National Programme of Care Manager for Women and Children’s Services, Mary Passant, who are currently working on the scope of the review. The review team will also involve all Neonatal Care Operational Delivery Network Managers.

The Maternity Transformation Programme has asked that the review report initial findings in December 2016.

01/01/2023
Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 7 November 2015 on broadband access, whether the Government will consult on the Universal Service Obligation for broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey

As announced by the Prime Minister on 7th November, the Government plans to launch the consultation in early 2016.

01/01/2023
Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question HL2604, what the cost to the public purse is of salary, expenses and bonuses of the 3.5 full-time staff who worked under the JSi brand.

Andrew Selous

As was stated in the Answer to HL 2604, the 3.5 full time equivalent staff who worked under the Just Solutions International (JSi) brand also worked on other core business within the National offender Management Service. Exact calculations were not made to apportion staff time, salaries, expenses or bonuses on JSi.

01/01/2023
Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many officials have worked on the impact assessment for the Trade Union Bill (1) in total, and (2) by job title; and how many hours, and over what period, each official has worked on it.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government has published detailed Impact Assessments for the Bill – on the Trade Union Bill, on the Reporting of Facility Time in the Public Sector, and on the Prohibition on Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector. At a meeting with Peers in December, Ministers committed to publishing prior to the Lords Committee stage of the Bill, and they were published in good time on 21 January.

The Trade Union Bill’s impact assessment has been subject to scrutiny by the independent Regulatory Policy Committee, and its opinion has been published alongside the impact assessment.

They were reviewed and approved by the relevant Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office. The Permanent Secretary has been kept informed of progress on all stages of the Bill.

Policy officials and analysts in both Departments have worked together to produce the impact assessments as quickly as possible while ensuring that the analysis was thorough.

We have not asked civil servants working on the Bill in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office to fill out time sheets.

We do not record which particular documents each special adviser reads. Special advisers have access to departmental papers in line with the Special Advisers’ Code of Conduct and provide advice to Ministers.

I am placing copies of the relevant documentation in the Library.

01/01/2023
Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a mixed-competence agreement that will require ratification by the national parliaments of all EU member states.

Anna Soubry

We expect that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will be a “mixed” agreement, covering areas of both EU and Member State competence. In that case, it will be subject to agreement by each EU Member State, the EU Council and the European Parliament. As part of this process the agreement will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny before it is ratified by the UK.

01/01/2023
Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on passenger revenues of an extension of driver-only operation on services operated by Govia Thameslink Railways Ltd.

Claire Perry

No assessment has been made of the potential effect on passenger revenues of an extension of driver-only operation on services operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.

01/01/2023

Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 28689, how many staff in his Department received overtime pay in each of the last 24 months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The number of FCO staff who have received overtime payments in each of the last 24 months is:

2014
April	326
May	219
June	226
July	352
August	363
September	271
October	429
November	213
December	191
2015
January	188
February	208
March	278
April	294
May	220
June	320
July	200
August	241
September	477
October	309
November	247
December	258
2016
January	167
February	255
March	197

Staff can only claim overtime when required by management to work more than their conditioned hours. In the majority of cases claims are made after exceptional demands on Foreign Office staff during times of global crises.

01/01/2023

Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of when all exchange-only lines will have access to fibre broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The vast majority of phone lines across the UK connect to the nearest telephone exchange via a street cabinet, which can be upgraded to deliver fibre broadband. Estimates are not available of the number of premises served by exchange only lines and therefore when they will all have access to fibre broadband. Exchange only lines present a greater engineering challenge to deliver fibre broadband than those connected via street cabinets but technical solutions are available; one solution is to rearrange the existing network, lay new cables to reroute lines to new cabinets – a technique developed as part of the BDUK Superfast Broadband Programme.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support the updating of the European NCAP and (b) promote new road safety technology.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport, as a founding member of Euro NCAP, takes a keen interest in their work on improving car safety through financial support and active participation on the Board of Directors.

Euro NCAP regularly updates the assessment criteria to reflect new technologies and improved designs. As such it has been fundamental to improving the safety of new cars in the UK, and the organisation provides a valuable source of information to UK consumers.

The British Road Safety Statement, published in December 2015, sets out a range of measures to improve vehicle safety. These include actions to increase the awareness of the Euro NCAP star rating system so that consumers are better able to consider safety in their purchasing decisions, as well as engaging with fleet buyers in both public and private sectors.

01/01/2023
Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unsolved murders there are in cases where the remains have not been recovered in (a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland.

Brandon Lewis

The Home Office Homicide Index contains information on homicides recorded by the police in England and Wales. Information on whether a body was recovered in a homicide has been included in the Homicide Index since 2007/08.

In the eight years from 2007/08 to 2014/15, there were 30 homicides where no body has been recovered and no suspect has been charged and a further seven where suspects have been acquitted of homicide at court or proceedings have been discontinued.

The data refer to the position as at 13 November 2015, when the Homicide Index was frozen for the purpose of analysis.

Information on homicides in Scotland and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Scottish Government and Police Service of Northern Ireland respectively.

01/01/2023