Category: Speeches

Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Glasgow and (d) Glasgow East constituency are in receipt of both the state pension and carer’s allowance in the 2015-16 financial year.

Justin Tomlinson

The information as requested for 2015/16 is not available.

However information on the number of people in receipt of both the State Pension and Carer’s Allowance is published by the Department on a quarterly basis. The latest data available is February 2015 which can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool

Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:

http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

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01/01/2023

Nadine Dorries – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to driver illness in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Claire Perry

Figures for driver attributed cancellations the whole of the TSGN franchise in the last four periods are below. This data represents the first four periods since Southern Railway joined Govia Thameslink Railway at the end of July. This data does not differentiate between cancellations due to driver shortage and operational issues.

	Rail Period 1605 26/7-22/8	Rail Period 1606 23/8-19/9	Rail Period 1607 20/9-17/10	Rail Period 1608 18/10-14/11
Full cancellations	1093	1331	723	706
Part cancellations	458	410	406	411
Total	1551	1741	1129	1117

The Department does not hold information on cancellations due to sickness.

01/01/2023

Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support unaccompanied trafficked and asylum seeking children; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office takes its responsibility for the welfare of children very seriously and recognises the additional vulnerability of unaccompanied children. The best interests of the child are a primary consideration in every decision taken in respect of children and we work closely with local authorities, children’s services and other agencies to ensure unaccompanied trafficked and asylum seeking children receive appropriate support and care.

Immigration staff are trained to identify potential victims of trafficking and to refer them to the National Referral Mechanism – a multi-agency victim identification and support process for responsible agencies to co-operate, share information and facilitate access to support. The Home Office also has dedicated asylum decision makers for children’s cases who receive additional training on specific child related issues.

01/01/2023
Baroness Grey-Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Grey-Thompson on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the cost of operating wheelchair services in England in the last year for which figures are available.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Information on the cost of operating wheelchair services in England is not available centrally. Such information as is available is from reference costs, which are the average unit costs to National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services to patients. The total cost of operating wheelchair services reported in 2014-15 reference costs was £143.4 million.

NHS England advises that as clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning wheelchair services, it does not collect data on how much is spent on the purchase of wheelchairs. NHS England is however supporting improvement in wheelchair services and has just established a new national data collection. This will enable tracking at local and national levels of issues such as the number of wheelchair users, the costs of services and the length of time people have to wait.

01/01/2023
Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the Government plans to provide to each local authority to meet the costs of the apprenticeship levy.

Mr Marcus Jones

All new Government policies which impact on local government are assessed for whether they will represent a new burden on local authorities, against the criteria published in the New Burdens guidance. The New Burdens doctrine does not apply to policies which apply the same rules to local authorities and to private sector bodies, such as the apprenticeships levy, the national living wage and changes to national insurance. The guidance is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-burdens-doctrine-guidance-for-government-departments.

In setting the future funding settlement for local government at the Spending Review in November 2015, the Government took account of a wide range of factors, including some which fell outside the New Burdens doctrine but nonetheless represented new costs for local authorities such as the apprenticeships levy, the national living wage and changes to national insurance.

01/01/2023
Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many outstanding (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payment assessments for Scottish claimants there were in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

Justin Tomlinson

The number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) initial work capability assessments still in progress in Scotland as at the dates below were:

Quarter

Total

31 December 2014

30,700

31 March 2015

28,800

30 June 2015

28,200

30 September 2015

27,500

Source: Data is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by the healthcare provider.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearance levels are within expectations. The number of cases in progress in Scotland as at the dates below were:

30 April 2015 6,100

31 July 2015 6,800

31 October 2015 8,900

31 January 2016 13,000

Source: Data taken from the PIP computer system management information

01/01/2023
Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the remote Scottish islands projects will be eligible to compete in the forthcoming Contracts for Difference auction process.

Andrea Leadsom

The announcement at Budget on 16 March 2016 of £730M for the three ‘Pot 2’ (less established technologies) auctions this Parliament demonstrates this Government’s firm commitment to supporting renewable deployment.

The Budget 2016 also reconfirmed plans to run the first Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction this Parliament at the end of the year – with a budget of £290M – enough to support around 1GW of new deployment from 2021/21.

We are currently finalising plans and priorities for the 2016 round and plan to announce further details in relation to the next round, including technology eligibility, later this Spring.

01/01/2023
David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has made an assessment of how the uptake rate for cervical screening in England compares to that in the rest of Europe.

Jane Ellison

NHS England closely monitors the coverage rates for cervical screening in all age groups. NHS England is committed to improving coverage and reducing variation between all age groups.

Local NHS England commissioners analyse coverage rates within their area and work with general practices to improve coverage by sharing best practice. In addition a primary care cancer screening best practice guide has been developed jointly with the transforming cancer services team, clinical commissioning groups and local authority public health representatives.

NHS England is working in partnership with Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support on the ACE (Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate) Programme aiming to generate knowledge about effective approaches to achieve earlier diagnosis. A number of ACE test sites are evaluating approaches to increase screening rates in a range of groups.

A range of research studies are also underway, such as Imperial College conducting a randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of texting non-responders on improving coverage. In addition, the Department’s Behavioural Insight team has undertaken a trial to investigate the use of behavioural insights to optimise the content of the invitation letter for cervical screening. Results are due shortly.

The Independent Cancer Taskforce recognised the importance of screening for cervical cancer and the potential of the new human papillomavirus (HPV) test in their report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as National Cancer Director to lead the implementation of the strategy, and an implementation plan outlining the key first steps for the national cancer programme was published on 12 May. In addition, the routine HPV vaccination programme, offering immunisation to girls aged 12-14 years, is expected to reduce the already low rates of cervical cancer in these young women and allow them to be protected for years to come.

Ministers welcome cervical cancer prevention week and we are fully supportive of the work Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust does to raise awareness of cervical cancer and the importance of cervical screening for eligible women.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, Health at a Glance 2015: How does the United Kingdom compare?, the UK has cervical screening rates well above the OECD average. Further information is available at:

https://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/Health-at-a-Glance-2015-Key-Findings-UK.pdf

http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/8115071ec053.pdf?expires=1465810879&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=102E30B1A256588EDD14918B5BE3AA4C

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01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the total number of patients who have received a second allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant for relapsed disease in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

The information is not held in the format requested.

01/01/2023
Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Northbourne on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to require all schools, including academies, to provide high quality sex and relationship education as part of their syllabus.

Lord Nash

The Government is clear that all schools should make provision for high-quality sex and relationship education, which is a vital part of preparing young people for life in modern Britain.

Academies, like maintained schools, must teach a broad and balanced curriculum and in respect of sex and relationship education, they must – under the terms of their funding agreement – have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory Sex and Relationship Education guidance published in 2000.

The issue of statutory personal, social, health and economic education and sex and relationship education was raised during the Education Select Committee session in September. The Secretary of State agreed that we need to look again at how schools deliver high-quality personal, social, health and economic education including sex and relationship education. The Government is considering all the options and will come to a view in due course.

01/01/2023