Category: Speeches

Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her policy is on the future funding of BBC Gaelic language broadcasting.

Matt Hancock

During the BBC Charter Review public consultation we have listened to views across a range of issues in relation to the BBC, including Gaelic language broadcasting.

There is a successful partnership between the BBC and MG Alba for the delivery of Gaelic language broadcasting. The White Paper, published in May 2016, sets out the Government’s intention to require maintain a commitment to minority language broadcasting through the new Charter.

The level of funding dedicated to BBC ALBA and the number of hours of in-house Gaelic language programming broadcast are matters for the BBC Board to consider when fulfilling this requirement under the new Charter.

01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 11782, what discussions he has had with the professional regulators regarding the level of mental health training offered as part of the mandatory training course for (a) student doctors, (b) student nurses and (c) midwives.

Ben Gummer

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with professional regulators about mandatory mental health training. It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified doctors and nurses are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care.This includes mental health training as required.

Health Education England will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

01/01/2023
Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that funding is sufficient to meet patient demand in (a) community mental healthcare and (b) inpatient mental healthcare; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2015/16, Forward View into action: planning for 2015-16, sets out the expectation that clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs) spending on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s allocation increase to support the ambition of parity between mental and physical health. Compliance with the Planning Guidance is being assured at national and Area Team level.

01/01/2023

Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the average length of time taken by Concentrix to determine applications for mandatory reconsideration of a tax credits decision.

Mr David Gauke

The number of requests for mandatory reconsideration of a decision about a tax credits award that Concentrix have received since the commencement of their contract with HM Revenue and Customs in November 2014 is as follows:

Month	Number of MRs
November 2014	0
December 2014	2
January 2015	6
February 2015	38
March 2015	29
April 2015	137
May 2015	100
June 2015	45
July 2015	71
August 2015	108
September 2015	1221
October 2015	925
November 2015	871
December 2015	2371

The total is about 1.6% of all decisions Concentrix made in the same period.

As of 15 January 2016, there are 566 mandatory reconsiderations in progress that have been opened and Concentrix are waiting for customers to provide further evidence. Concentrix have 30 further mandatory reconsiderations that are awaiting determination.

The average length of time taken between Concentrix starting to work a mandatory reconsideration and making a decision is 24 days. This includes the time needed for customers to provide any further evidence.

01/01/2023

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the experience that Bain and Company has to assess evidence to support transformation and potential for replication in terms of health services in the NHS context.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) commissioned Bain and Company to support vanguards as an extension to work previously commissioned from the company as part of a programme called Future Focused Finance, an initiative sponsored by the Department of Health and arm’s length bodies. This earlier work for the HFMA had focused on the design of a value-based decision effectiveness tool, piloted in Mid-Cheshire and Liverpool. The HFMA, in partnership with NHS England, commissioned the extension to this work so that the tool could be used to support value-based decision-making in the 2016-17 New Care Models programme.

Alternatives were not sought from competitors because the vanguard support built on the original Bain and Company work for the HFMA.

The value of the vanguard support contract is £650,000. Value for money was obtained by negotiation, having been benchmarked with other commissions made by the National Health Service to external health consultancies.

As part of the contract, Bain and Company will be handing over its approach to NHS England, so that NHS England can support other areas in implementing new care models.

Bain and Company has not been commissioned to assess evidence to support transformation and potential for replication of new care models in other areas. The company is commissioned to develop and implement a framework that appropriately experienced NHS staff can use to assess such evidence. Intellectual property rights in respect of the framework in the future are assigned to HFMA under the terms of the contract. The NHS is entitled to use the framework free of charge in perpetuity.

Bain and Company is involved in the development of the tool used to make the assessment, and in the implementation of the process to use that tool. The company is specifically commissioned to help vanguard sites to use the tool and to summarise the resulting value propositions to facilitate decision-making by NHS England.

No conflict of interest arises as decisions concerning funding allocations for individual vanguards are made by NHS England’s Executive Team and Investment Committee and not Bain and Company.

01/01/2023
David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the additional revenue councils will receive from local business rates as a result of devolution deals.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government has announced that, by the end of the Parliament, we will give all local councils new responsibilities in return for keeping 100% of locally raised business rates. In advance of 100% retention, devolution deals are already giving some areas the ability to keep 100% of the actual growth in business rates they achieve above a pre-determined baseline. This will give them an added incentive to grow their local economies and increase their income from business rates.

01/01/2023
Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) received from the Government in the last three years; for what reasons that funding is provided; against what criteria the decision to fund that organisation was made; and what obligations the ETI places on its member companies with respect to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Mr Desmond Swayne

In the last three years the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) has received £1.2m in funding from DFID, through a Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA). PPA funding supports ETI to improve working conditions for poor and vulnerable people, this includes workers in top tier farms and factories, as well as those in the lower tiers of supply chains (such as women homeworkers, smallholders and migrant workers) who are harder to reach and more vulnerable to exploitation. PPA funding is not tied to specific initiatives or interventions but ETI are expected to meet objectives set out in a robust performance framework, agreed between DFID and ETI.

PPA funding was based on competitive selection and open to organisations who were regarded as leaders in their field and who could deliver on DFID’s objectives. Organisations were selected following a rigorous assessment and quality assurance process.

Freedom of Association and collective bargaining is a component of the ETI Base Code and therefore every ETI member commits to taking action to support this right.

01/01/2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward regulations to allow re-sentencing of people serving imprisonment for public protection sentences on defined principles specially enacted by Parliament.

Dominic Raab

IPP prisoners are released where the Parole Board is satisfied that they can be safely managed in the community.

01/01/2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports his Department has received on the progress of Iraqi forces in recapturing Fallujah.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We welcome the progress made by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in recapturing Fallujah. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi declared the city fully liberated on 26 June. Iraqi forces continue to clear pockets of Daesh resistance along with the thousands of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that have been placed by Daesh in schools, mosques, hospital and homes. The United Kingdom is providing support to the ISF through RAF air strikes, military assistance and training, alongside our coalition partners.

The UK is also working with the Coalition to support the Government of Iraq in developing plans to stabilise areas, like Fallujah, which have been liberated from Daesh, and by working to provide the governance, services and security necessary to enable the safe return of Iraqis to their homes, including the management of explosive hazards such as IEDs.

01/01/2023
Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of grammar school entrants were previously educated in fee-paying preparatory schools in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

Nick Gibb

The data requested is not collected by the Department or local authorities.

The School Admissions Code[1] sets out that admission authorities must not “take into account any previous schools attended, unless it is a named feeder school” (para 1.9b) or “name fee-paying independent schools as feeder schools” (para 1.9l).

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code–2

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01/01/2023