Category: Speeches

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what evaluation he (a) has made or (b) plans to make of the effect of local authority commissioning of long acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) in primary care on the number of GP surgeries offering LARC fitting and removal.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s Framework for Sexual Health Promotion in England (2013) sets out our ambitions and objectives to improve sexual health for all people. It takes account of the commissioning arrangements from 2013 including the new role for local authorities (LAs) as commissioners of most sexual health services. Later this month Public Health England (PHE) will undertake a survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health. It has also produced sexual health and reproductive health profiles to help LAs and others monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their populations and the performance of local public health related systems.

    It is for LAs to decide on what research and evidence they need to inform their tenders for sexual health and reproductive health services in line with procurement requirements and good practice. In 2014 PHE published Making it Work, a guide to commissioning for sexual health across the whole system, to improve the sexual health of both individuals and the wider public.

    We have made no formal assessment of the effect on sexual health services of reductions in the Public Health Grant to LAs for 2015/16, although PHE continues to monitor relevant outcomes data for every LA in England. Decisions on local public health spending are a matter for LAs. They are mandated by legislation to commission open access sexual health services that meet the needs of their local population. Officials meet regularly with sexual health organisations who would raise any concerns if LAs were not meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services.

    The Framework for Sexual Health Improvement includes as a priority reducing unwanted pregnancies and highlights the need to increase access to long acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods and emergency contraception for women of all ages. We have no plans to evaluate the effect on general practitioner surgeries of LA commissioning of LARCs.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has (a) received from and (b) made to the Israeli government on a ruling by a military court on 28 January 2016 ordering the residents of Ern ar Rashash to demolish their homes and vacate the area.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have not received any representations on this issue. While we have not raised this issue with the Israeli authorities, we do, however, regularly raise our concerns with the Israeli authorities over demolitions.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NICE and NHS England on the availability of Erbitux for metastatic colorectal cancer patients.

    George Freeman

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 February 2016 to Question 27585.

    “

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what value and proportion of central government procurement was made by each department in each year since 2010.

    Matthew Hancock

    Total central government procurement spend is published as part of the annual reporting of spend with small and medium-sized businesses at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2014-to-2015

    “

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what timetable is in place for the publication of the new National Litter Strategy.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government have started work on a litter strategy to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. We will publish the strategy as soon as we can and a great deal of work will be taken forward in the coming months.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to close attainment gaps between the best and worst performing local authority areas as judged by GCSE and A Level results.

    Nick Gibb

    Our recent White Paper, ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, set out our intention to place a new focus on ‘Achieving Excellence Areas’ where too few children have access to a good school and there are insufficient high quality teachers, leaders, system leaders and sponsors. By doing this we will enable the school-led system to deliver rapid and sustainable improvement.

    We want to eradicate the pockets of underperformance in our school system and will do so by targeting the Department for Education’s programmes in the areas of greatest need. We intend to pilot this approach from September 2016.

  • Theresa Villiers – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Theresa Villiers – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Theresa Villiers on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the pollution of urban waterways caused by the misconnection of household drainage pipes.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    I recognise that misconnection of household drainage pipes can cause problems in urban areas. Defra and the Environment Agency have been working with water companies to highlight and target areas of greatest risk. Water companies that have a greater risk of pollution have also allocated resources for dealing with misconnections over the next five years.

    Defra and the Environment Agency are working with Water and Sewerage Companies and the Consumer Council for Water through a National Misconnections Strategy Group (NMSG) to develop good practice for the industry, as well as looking at measures to limit misconnections being made in the first place. We see that continued proactive communication direct with customers, white goods manufacturers and trade organisations, is a key preventative tool.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for retrospective reviews for continuing healthcare in the North of England have been successful in each of the last five years.

    David Mowat

    NHS England does not collect this information.

  • Jessica Morden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jessica Morden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) standard and (b) fast-track passport applications were made in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    I refer to the table below which provides the volume of (a) standard and (b) fast-track passport applications received by Her Majesty’s Passport Office in each of the last five years.

    Year

    *Standard

    Fast Track

    2010

    4,976,745

    184,332

    2011

    4,912,102

    184,147

    2012

    4,855,678

    213,088

    2013

    5,056,826

    275,067

    2014

    5,313,409

    401,320

    Notes

    *Standard applications exclude counter applications and collectives

    Intake is cashiered intake

    Time period is 1st January to 31 December

    UK applications only

    “

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria she plans to include in the national funding formula for schools; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The government is committed to delivering our manifesto pledge to make school funding fairer. It was announced at the Spending Review that we intend to introduce a National Funding Formula for schools, high needs and early years in 2017. We will set out our detailed plans for a National Funding Formula, including the criteria to be included in the formula for schools, in the New Year and will consult on our proposals extensively.